World Keeper

Chapter 216: Lord of Nature

I quickly ascended once again after I had dealt with the blackened world spirit, and called out for Irena to meet her in the halls. Once I got there, she was already waiting for me outside her bedroom door. Her stoic expression was betrayed by the quick glance she gave me when I came out of my room. “You wished to see me, sir?” She asked, clearing her throat and looking at me directly.

“That’s right… I want to do something, but it will require your help. I want to make sure that you are able to do it.” I explained, seeing her nodding for me to continue. “I need you to open a portal between the area I descend next and an unoccupied region of the Underworld. I’m going to need to pull as much spiritual energy in as I can, and the world spirits have likely made it so that there isn’t enough for what I need even in the entirety of Earth.”

Irena’s eyes narrowed in focus for a moment, before she nodded her head. “This is entirely possible, sir. A gate between the two planes can easily be created with my power. However, pulling, the energy through will require your own power.”

I gave a small smile at that. “I think I can handle that bit. I just needed to make sure that the energy was somewhere that I could reach it.”

“Very well, then. I’ll be watching to see where you descend to.” She nodded again, before turning and walking into her room, one of her long wings gently brushing over my arm as she moved.

Father, just what is it you have planned? Leowynn asked, briefly surprising me. This was the first that she had actively spoken ever since returning to my spiritual realm to train.

“Feeling better now?” I asked inwardly, turning to move back to my own room.

I think that I’ve gotten full control over the energy that I absorbed last time, if that’s what you mean. I could almost feel the smile that was on her face as she said that. Once you are done with this, I’d appreciate it if we could pay another visit to the Underworld so that I can continue training.

“I’ll add it to my list.” I said with a brief chuckle. “As for right now… well, it’s a bit difficult to explain, so it would be best just to wait and see.” As I prepared to descend again, this time in an elven body, I closed my eyes and focused on summoning an item that I knew was in the grove. An old, familiar staff, similar to one that I had received previously.

The staff of Tebor had been left with him after I ascended, but it had originally been obtained from a dungeon. And, as I had been told, nearly all of those equipment that could be found in dungeons were based on items that the gods had introduced to them from what Tubrock or Ryone made.

Once I felt the staff resting in my hands, I felt my smile growing. It felt almost comfortable to hold it again, even as the light surrounded me and I descended. This time, my location was on an island far removed from where I had destroyed the world spirit, just to prevent the others of its kind from immediately surrounding me.

I was just about to call for Irena, to let her know that I was ready, before I hear something that sounded like cloth tearing. Off to my right, I saw a gap forming in the air, an empty void peering at me from beyond. When I pushed my mana into my eyes, I saw the Underworld through the gap, and Irena standing within it.

I watched as the portal grew more and more, far wider than the fist-sized hole that I had created while training my summoner abilities. By the time that she was done, the hole had a diameter of nearly fifty meters. Is this a suitable amount? Irena asked me mentally as she stared at me from beyond the veil.

With a gulp, I nodded my head. In truth, that was far more than I had ever expected. But, that means that it should expedite this process even more. Okay… now… both natural energy and spiritual energy respond based on intent. But natural energy has the added flair that Aurivy showed me… so I guess it’s time to make a fool of myself.

Closing my eyes, I struck the base of my staff against the ground, fully releasing my powers as a Keeper. I put enough mana into my staff to activate it, and I felt as if my perception expanded. Tebor’s staff had a simple function, to extend a druid’s control over natural energy.

As I spoke, it seemed that the world trembled around me. “I am the one who stands above the heavens.” Corny, yes, but not inaccurate. “My word is the law of the universe. Spirits of nature, spirits of ages past, gather before me.”

Think grey mist pooled out through the portal from behind Irena, swirling around my body. Natural energy surged, rushing towards me at my command. I opened my eyes, feeling the two energies locked in a torrent, as if I were standing in the center of an invisible tornado.

“The laws of this world are sacrosanct. Yet, there are those who wish to violate them.” Small explosions began to ring out through the air around me like fireworks, the two energies colliding again and again. “I call for a judge. One who stands above those of this world, and the spirits that dwell within their distant home. The wandering spirits of nature.”

All at once, the explosions halted. The two energies began to merge silently, creating a visible green mist that swirled around me. “Come forth, gentle soul. Come forth, ardent ruler. With a kind heart and a firm will, I wish for you to ascend to your throne.”

Closing my eyes once again, I began to visualize the appearance that I wanted for this world spirit. It would be much larger than the others, as it was composed of far more energy. As for its race… A mix of human and elf, with a dress of leaves. A powerful male appearance would only be intimidating, so I imagined a gentle, beautiful woman. Green hair flowing down her back like thin vines. And eyes as blue as still waters.

“Come forth, queen of the natural world. Ruler of wandering spirits. Let them see another way, a better way.” Even with my eyes closed in focus, I could feel the energies settling, condensing at a single point just in front of myself. Only when I felt the last of the energies leave my control did I open my eyes.

Standing before me was the woman I had envisioned, every detail just as I had pictured it. Her height was just short of my own, and she stared up into my eyes with a curious expression. She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but only a brief exclamation came out before she seemed to realize that she did not know any verbal language.

You called for me, my lord? I heard a soft voice speak into my mind a moment later, and saw the woman’s face break into a smile. Even just this short encounter showed that she seemed to be far more intelligent than a normal world spirit, just seconds after being created.

I gave a brief nod, not to her but towards Irena. The goddess nodded back, swiftly closing the gate to the Underworld. Likely, there would never again be enough spiritual energy gathered in one place to create a world spirit like this. At least, not for a very long time.

“Can you understand me?” I asked verbally, rather than sending my thoughts to her through spiritual energy. Natural energy does not have a ‘language barrier’, so I was hoping that she would still be able to understand my words, even if she couldn’t reproduce them herself.

Thankfully, she gave a quick nod to confirm my question. I can. What would you have of me?

I let out a sigh, seeing that communication would easily be possible like this. Speaking through spiritual energy was rather draining, after all. “What do you know about the other world spirits? Do you know what they are?”

World spirits… those like myself, but smaller? The ones that you called for me to lead? I was surprised when she said this, realizing that she had knowledge from before the time that she had been born. At the very least, she knew everything that was used in the ‘incantation’ to create her.

“That’s right.” I took a brief look above her head, and saw that she was listed as a level one world spirit. However… the energy that I felt from within her was far more powerful than even fifty world spirits combined. “I want you to be the World Spirit Queen and guide them.” As I said that, the information above her head silently adjusted, the word ‘Queen’ added to her race.

I understand, my lord. The woman responded with a brief nod. Do you have any laws you wish upheld?

Smiling, I nodded my head as well. “I do. I want you to ensure that no world spirit ever feeds off of the energy of a creature recently killed. Only when the energy has naturally dispersed without being claimed can they receive it. Even if they are dead, those spirits still have families waiting for them in the next life.”

As you command. She simply stared at me with her wide, blue eyes as she responded.

“Next, I want you to protect them, but do not lead them to violence. In the future, there may be those that want to study world spirits, and some might even use unkind methods to do so. But you can never let them wage a large conflict with the world because of that. Do you understand?”

At my question, she once again nodded her head. I do. Is that all, my lord?

“For now. If a problem arises in the future, I hope that you can handle it. If not, I will call for you again. I hope that at that time, you will come to me.”

The world spirit queen simply smiled, her body glowing green. The green light seemed to slowly consume her, shifting her to the ‘home’ of the world spirits. Even this simple action appeared to immediately increase her level, and I watched the number slowly rising before she faded away, one last message sent to me before she disappeared.

Whenever you call for me, my lord, I shall be there. As soon as she left, a pair of system messages appeared in front of me.

…Terra. I called out mentally, not waiting even a moment after I read the second message. Voice of Nature, what is it, and what do I have to worry about now?

In the back of my mind, I heard a light laugh from the catgirl goddess. Nothing to worry about, Dale. The Voice of Nature is just another enhancement of your control over natural energy. Though, world spirits will act more favorably towards you because of it.

Huh… alright. I was simply happy that this wasn’t anything that was going to end up getting in my way later. Though it did somewhat annoy me that I kept getting boosts for Natural Energy, when I had no intention of following that path. Then again, if I did more ‘services’ that involved ki or mana, I’d likely get buffs with those.

So that’s what you had in mind. Leowynn suddenly spoke up from within me, still sounding a bit surprised even after a few minutes had passed. That was… quite amazing, father.