World Keeper

Chapter 113: Necessary Education

After Leowynn finished absorbing the information, I let her return to my ‘spiritual realm’ so that she could begin practicing. This part of her training wasn’t something she needed my help in, and was actually more effective if I was not involved with it. I let her know to inform me when she was done, and began looking over the world.

It’s grown quite well, hasn’t it? I mused to myself, thinking about everything that had happened. However, there was still more to do yet. Not only for this world, but I wanted to get a second one going before too long, now that I had an idea of what I was doing.

Pulling out a paper, I began writing a message to Ryone. I considered using the mental communication again, but there was the chance that might distract Leowynn. Is there anything you think we should get for the world?

When I glanced at my points, I happily discovered that some more royalties and advancements had come in. By now, my points totalled at 1975, meaning I could essentially buy whatever I wanted for my world at this stage, within reason of course. Unfortunately, it seemed like I didn’t get any new special achievements, though in some ways that was a good thing. They didn’t always give a beneficial effect, after all.

“Is she already training?” I heard Ryone ask from the doorway. When I glanced over, I could see her searching the room, likely looking for Leowynn. “She said she was going to head back here for that. Or did she get lost?”

I chuckled lightly when I heard the second question. “No, she’s training the spirit techniques right now. So, I take it you found something you want me to get, since you came here in person?”

Ryone nodded her head slightly, moving over to sit on the bed. With a soft smile, she rubbed at the spot where her and Leowynn were sitting before. “Right, there’s a few things I have in mind. Honestly, the world is just advancing so much faster than I thought it would, by what Terra explained to us.”

“Probably because all of you are actually helping your people.” I mused aloud as I glanced at the map again. It had been around two thousand or so years since the ‘start’ of the world, yet they were already in the early metal ages. That’s several times faster than what it was in my world.

“Exactly, and… I think that’s a bit of a problem, in some areas.” Ryone explained. “With us offering guidance to our people, their advancements in magic and technology have both been quite amazing. Even I’ve been able to learn a few things by watching them. But that’s leading to certain other areas being underdeveloped.”

As she said that, she closed her eyes, sighing softly. “The biggest example would be ki. It has the potential to be every bit as powerful as magic, yet because people have been discovering more and more about magic, they haven’t developed much for ki. Yes, they stumbled upon elemental ki and ki paths, but that’s it. They haven’t developed the ki paths into a proper form, nor explored any of the abilities that are possible with elemental ki.”

“So, you’re saying that we should encourage a bit more of a focus in ki for a little while?” I asked, somewhat confused. I could get why ki being overlooked might be a problem, but it didn’t seem as bad as she was saying.

“Not quite. What I’m getting at is that we need a system of education beyond classes. Something to help people gain a rounded education, without information being lost to time. I’ve already started trying to implement that with the elves, and I noticed Terra convincing the beastkin goddesses to do the same. But… this is creating another problem with the level limit.”

Ryone knit her brows together as she continued her explanation. “With my system of education for the elves, it is an almost mandatory process for children to learn of the basic classes. Before graduation, each student will have five levels in scholar, mage, monk, and druid. If they choose to, there is also an extra course that teaches the priest and warrior classes.”

“Now, five levels is by no means a grand boost in power. So, by the time they’ve finished, and have either twenty or thirty levels, they’ll also likely have some as a chef or a farmer, depending on their home life, maybe even others. There was one student my race had that managed to reach a total level of eighty before graduating, because he was taking multiple production classes in order to provide for his family.”

“So, I should raise the level cap again?” I had noticed a while ago that there were a large number of people who were stuck at the current cap, so it didn’t seem too much of a stretch to raise it again. “Maybe buy some information, and whisper words to certain people to get the lacking areas caught up?”

Ryone nodded her head with a smile when I asked that. “Right. Also, I think we could do with some advanced classes. Aside from the elemental monk, there are others that people are beginning to discover on their own, so having the classes available would serve as a good way to guide them down those paths.”

Well, raising the level limit was easy enough. I could do that anytime I wanted. I’d have to check which areas needed to be more developed before buying that stuff, though. “Alright, anything else?”

Ryone nodded her head once again. “I think it’s about time we purchase the guild system. There are several organizations starting to appear, ranging from the temples, your wraith group, or kingdom guards. That being the case, the world could definitely benefit from a unified guild system.”

I considered that for a moment, thinking back to what I had read about the guild system. It didn’t seem to be too much of an issue to buy it, and it wasn’t exactly expensive. “Alright. Anything else before I start buying things?” I asked as I looked to Ryone.

“Hmm… No, but there is something to tell you. Tubrock just finished up the last of the god weapon prototypes. He plans to make upgraded versions whenever I am able to enchant them better.”

“Alright, then what fields do you think are the most lacking, so I know what to buy?” I already knew ki was one, but I wanted to hear what else she had in mind.

“Well… they haven’t really been doing much in the way of travel aside from their own two feet. They’ve started ship construction, and some races are already sailing a small distance from their continent. For mundane travel methods, we can teach them with Terra’s help, though. Right now, we need ki and natural energy guides. The druid and shaman classes are even less developed than monks.”

That was true, I had barely seen anyone with those abilities in the few times I’ve descended. I knew that there had to be people training the classes, due to my Keeper level in them, but they still fell a bit behind the others. “Alright, I’ll go ahead and get started on that. By the way, have you found anything else of interest lately?”

When I asked that, Ryone had a somewhat embarrassed smile. “Well, I haven’t been as focused on my research ever since Leowynn was born. I guess I can get back to it now that she’s up here with us, though. I’ll go do that now. Let her know that she can come find me anytime she wants, okay?” I gave a brief nod, before watching Ryone hop up and walk out of the room.

First, I took care of the easy parts, buying the new classes and the guild system. For the classes, I started with the Basic Energy Masters class package that I had seen previously for a hundred points. While I was at it, I perused the list of advanced spirit classes, so that I could give them something new as well. It didn’t take me long to find a suitable one.

After purchasing that one, I grabbed the Guild System for another seventy five points. To my surprise, this system had various options that could be set, such as requirements to form and enter a guild, how many guilds one could be a part of, or the defensive capabilities of a guild base. There weren’t many systems that I had purchased so far with customization options, so I was quite happy to have these choices.

For establishing a guild… let’s set the requirement to be divine permission. People can pray for their guild to be accepted, and if it is something that at least one god approves of, they can have it. No limit for the amount of guilds someone can join. I definitely don’t want the guild names to be displayed in any way for others to see. Hmmm… And for the base defenses, let’s set them to minimal, leaving most of the work to the guild members themselves. This left the primary use of a guild being communication and production, as people within a guild base received a small boost to tasks they attempted.

But that was fine with me. Next up, I began looking for the ki and natural energy guides. Since Ryone didn’t offer a suggestion which one to get, then either there was only one of each, or she wanted me to choose it myself. That, or she just forgot, which is entirely possible.

For ki, I bought the basic ki path that I had noticed before for seventy five points, as well as a ‘Tier 1 ki guide’ that cost a hundred points. I was a bit surprised that it only cost half as much as the first tier magic guide, but considering that I had to buy the ki path as well, that did make up for most of it. After all, there was probably only so much you could do with ki before setting up a ki path.

Finally, I began looking for guides on natural energy. This one took quite a bit longer, because I had to skim past the guides concerning natural spirits. I had a feeling I’d be looking at them later, but right now it wasn’t what I needed.

I let out a small sigh as I purchased this guide as well. One by one, three spheres of blue light floated down to appear in front of me. With that taken care of, I wrote a message to Ryone saying that the information was ready. I didn’t want to absorb them myself because that would definitely distract–

Father, I am finished. Leowynn’s voice spoke up from deep within me, almost like a phantom thought. It felt distinctly different compared to the mental communication I was used to, or even how it was when she prayed to me before. This felt like I had heard someone saying my name in a room I knew to be empty, only to find it was my imagination. Accurate, even, for the most part.

Closing my eyes, I cast my perception into my spiritual realm, where Leowynn now resided. The grey, misty landscape that had existed when any other spirit had lived there was no more. Instead, a flat grassy plain spread out, with a star filled sky above. This was the first step of her training, to reshape my spiritual realm into a form that could communicate her abilities. She herself likely didn’t know what she was creating until it was already done.

So, what were the results? I asked curiously. By now, she should at least have some idea what path she’d be taking in the Aki Seppo art.

Seated on the grassy field, Leowynn jumped briefly when she heard my voice. “Uhm… if I am understanding this right, I should be a ‘transformative array’ type. I don’t know what different forms I can take yet since we haven’t practiced, but I feel like it is related to that.” As she spoke, she pointed up at the starry sky above.

Looking over the sky again, I noticed that quite a few stars seemed to be missing. It looked as though someone had cut out all but the stars necessary to form constellations. I couldn’t help but chuckle at that, shaking my head. You really are our little star.

From what she had said, Leowynn should be quite a powerful spirit, which did not come as any real surprise. In this art, there were several classifications for the bonded spirits. An array type was one which had many varied abilities, though each ability was typically weaker than a focused one. A transformative type was one that allowed the shape of the spirit to be altered for different uses. Naturally, the two types complimented each other.

While Leowynn sat there with a slightly red face, I comforted her softly. We’ll test it out soon. Your mother told me to let you know that you can find her any time you want. And as long as we are up here, you can roam around whenever you’d like. Hearing that made a small smile surface on her face, followed by a brief nod.

Following that, I withdrew my perception from my spiritual realm, and focused on the map in front of me. First, I am finally going to see what has happened with the centaurs and halflings. No more distractions! It’s been hundreds of years, so something has to have happened by now!