World Keeper

Chapter 394: Firsthand Look

Wanting to get a bit of a closer look, I decided that it was best to see the world of Spica up close. This was the first time that I had been to an entirely new world for a while, so the first thing that I did after descending in a fairly remote location was firmly suppress my Keeper abilities. There was no guarantee that the same masking technique I used on Earth would work here, especially given that I did not have the Perfect Soul that made it possible.

Father, this feels… uncomfortable. Leowynn spoke up before I had the chance to open my eyes, and I could feel her shifting within my spirit. The same classes existed in this world that would allow me to keep her with me, but… once again, my spirit had been reverted to a lower state.

If I had to put an analogy to it, she had just gotten used to living in a luxury apartment, and was suddenly forced to stay in a cheap motel room. Sorry, Leowynn. I’m just going to check this place out for a little bit, and then we can go back home, promise.

After saying that, I began walking. From what I had seen on the map, I was a good ten minutes away from the nearest settlement, one of the trade cities of Demacry. As a little experiment, I had chosen to model my body for this descent after the wood elves. Although the races themselves had not been recognized by the system as individual species, it wasn’t hard to get the look right.

My body was slim and tall, my ears sharply pointed back. My hair was a chestnut brown, and I chose to wear a shirt and pants with leaf embroidery. To complete the look, I had a bow on my back, though I did not have any arrows to use with it. From what I had seen, though, that wasn’t uncommon. Many wood elf archers relied on alternative means to create their arrows.

“Serith, we’ve got a wanderer.” A man spoke from atop the high city gate of Theodorn, looking through a telescope towards a lone elf walking towards the gate. “Looks like a… wood elf?”

His partner, Serith, responded with a raised eyebrow. “All the way out here? You sure it’s not a disguise?”

The one manning the telescope reached down, adjusting a few dials at the base of the device. “I’m not seeing any ki fluctuations, and he’s not carrying any magic items. If it’s surgery, it’s a pretty good one.”

Serith brought a hand up to caress his chin in thought. “I haven’t heard of any of their colonies around this area… But you said he isn’t carrying anything magical? Maybe he ran away from the slavers.”

“You know those are just rumors.” Serith’s partner rebuked him, standing up straight. “The mother’s church would never allow something like that.”

“Well, how would you explain one of the treefolk to be so far from home?”

The man thought about it for a moment, before shrugging with a shake of his head. “Maybe he is just a traveler. Not everyone wants to stay cooped up in the forest.”

Serith had to give a small nod of acceptance at that. “Well, I’ll go greet him, either way. Maybe he’s here for trade, and just keeping things in scrolls.”

His partner nodded as Serith jumped down from the wall, landing along the road. This was a trade city, and yet… the roads were quite clear outside of town. It was overhead where the real traffic took place, flying vehicles burning mana to stay aloft. There were too many beasts on the ground, and it was easier to access mana from a higher elevation, so most traffic within Demacry was like this.

“Hail, traveler.” The guard raised an arm to stop the wood elf. “What brings you to Theodorn?” He tried to keep his tone as a mix between professional and friendly, not wanting to alarm the traveler.

The wood elf simply smiled, his voice a bit deeper than what Serith had expected. “I’m just passing through, for now.”

Serith gave a nod, as if he had expected such an answer. “Alright, friend. I’ll just need your name for the registry, and you can be on your way.”

The traveler’s brow deepened a bit at that, either concerned or confused. “Is that a common practice around here?”

“Hoo, boy.” Serith laughed merrily, shaking his head. “You’re really not from around here, huh? Sorry, but yeah. Standard procedure, whenever someone enters or leaves a city, they are entered in a registry. That way, if anyone goes missing or is needed for questioning, we can use the registry to find out where they were last.”

After saying that, he pointed up to the various vehicles flying overhead. “You see those? Each of those has an identification chip, and are scanned whenever they enter or leave a city. But… for people going around on foot, such as yourself, we need to come down and get your name manually. To be honest, I’m not sure how you managed to get so far into Demacry without getting stopped sooner.”

The man shook his head briefly. “I try to avoid the cities. They’re… quite loud. As for my name… I am Dalin. Dalin Highbranch.”

Serith raised an eyebrow. “That’s an unusual name, but very well. I’ll mark you in, and you can be on your way.” As he spoke, he opened his hand, and a small, handheld computer appeared in his palm. He typed in the name, making sure to ask for the correct spelling, and filed it away. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Serith turned, kicking off the ground as wings of light sprouted from his boots, carrying him back up towards his post. He faced his partner with a knowing smile. “Just a traveler. One that is a long way from home.”

I watched as the guard returned to his post, thinking about what he had told me. Such a registry system was pretty easy to overlook when it was largely automated, but it wasn’t so bad of an idea. Either way, I was now free to enter the city.

As I did, I soon learned that my guess about it being loud was quite close to the mark. Whether it was the people walking around and conversing, the traffic overhead, or the machinery found in every building, there was a fair amount of noise. Maybe it was just because I had chosen to be a wood elf, and thus my ears were more sensitive. But with how this felt, I would definitely not be able to see myself living in a city like this. Or even being able to sleep, unless the noise lessened considerably at night.

My first reason for descending as a wood elf was quite simple. I wanted to see if the residents of Demacry would be prejudiced against me, as ‘my people’ were quite rare in this country. That also made it more convenient for me, not knowing much about the area.

If they can’t even accept wood elves, it’s unlikely that they would be able to accept the various races of the otherworlds. I mused inwardly as I walked through the streets, being careful to avoid any foot traffic. It was… quite obvious that I was drawing attention from those that I passed, but they were looks of curiosity, not of anger or disgust.

This isn’t really anything odd, Dale. Ryone’s voice suddenly entered into the back of my mind. Or… were you expecting it to be closer to what the centaurs went through?

I gave a subtle nod, which could have easily been mistaken as me greeting one of the onlookers. Not just them. Even in my world, a long time ago, those who were born with any kind of deformity were… put down. Sometimes, they were seen as devil spawn, or simply freaks of nature. Thankfully, the practice ended long before I was born, but still…

I can’t say that the same thing didn’t happen with the elves of Earth at first. But here… evolution has become such a normal part of life that people accepted it early on. If you have more than three generations of elves spending their lives in the same environment, then that third generation would have already started to change to better suit their home.

It’s hard to say how they will react to other races being introduced to Spica, but at the very least they are accepting of each other.

I smirked slightly when I considered that. Another thing you have to think about… Different types of elves are able to interbreed in Spica, right? Due to their genetic adaptation?

After receiving a confirmation from Ryone, I continued. I wonder if that feature is strong enough that they will actually be able to breed with other races. The elves of Spica might end up being the catalyst for generations of mixed breeding within the other races. A child between an elf and a felyn then goes on to have a child with a lycan, or a human.

It’s hard to say which race the children would be considered as. Maybe, because of the elven genes being the necessary ‘ingredient’, they will all be considered elves by the system. Maybe each pairing will need its own designation. Either way… if elves are able to have children with other races… that is going to cause a big change to the other worlds.

Ryone went quiet for a few long moments after that, and I turned the corner, narrowly avoiding being run into by a hurrying elven woman. I… actually had not considered that part. It’s not a problem, is it? There was a touch of concern to her tone, as if she was worried that Spica wouldn’t be able to join the other worlds due to this possibility.

No… it’s fine. We’ll just have to figure out what the results are like when that happens, so that we can plan around it. I assured her with a gentle tone of my own. This feature would definitely cause a bit of extra work on our end to keep everything stable within the system, but it wasn’t anything bad enough that I would ask her to reset her world.

As I wandered through the town, I was quite happy to find that nobody seemed to show any malice towards me, apart from those shadier individuals. But, I couldn’t really count them, as they showed that same intent towards everyone. And, after about a half hour of wandering, I decided that I was satisfied with the results.

Finding a secluded alleyway, I first checked it for any monitoring devices or people who would be able to witness my ascent. Then, once I was sure that I was alone, with a flash of blue light, I returned to the Admin Room. Almost immediately, I was able to feel Leowynn relax, more comfortable now that we were no longer on Spica.

Are we going to visit Kione next? Leowynn asked hesitantly. I could tell that she was in no rush to visit another world that had different ‘laws’, and shook my head.

They don’t have the ability to control spiritual energy there. I can’t guarantee that you’d be safe if we visited Accalia’s world. I could still look at it through the monitor, but I didn’t want to take the risk that something might happen to Leowynn by visiting a world that was incompatible with her existence.

My words seemed to cause her to relax again, thankful that we would stay in worlds that she was ‘comfortable’ with again. Thank you, father. She muttered softly, and I could feel her slowly falling asleep. It must have really felt nice to get back to her ‘old place’ after being in Spica for a little bit. Or maybe the difference in energy levels temporarily weakened her, and she needed to recover.

Either way, I wasn’t going to disturb her rest.