World Keeper

Chapter 414: Long Live the Queen

Empress Margold looked over the reports with a furrowed brow. She had known that Spica would naturally be different from their own world, but she hadn’t suspected how much. After eight years, they had not been able to figure out this new magic system, even with the hint that Ryone had given them.

The Mother of Magic had once said that the magic of Spica came from the stars, and that mana rested in the upper atmosphere. As such, in order to get closer to that source of mana, the colony on Spica built numerous towers. Yet none of them were able to properly sense and control that mana.

Perhaps it was simply because people of Earth had always controlled their mana from within themselves, so it was more difficult for them to connect with an external source. Either way, the magic was hardly the only thing different between their worlds.

After making contact with the emissaries of Demacry, a report had been sent back to the empress about the political situation of Spica. Two kingdoms divided the entire, massive world. Such a thing was unheard of anywhere else, save for perhaps Fyor. And these Kingdoms appeared to be irreconcilable enemies simply due to their views on technology.

The elven empress was certain that putting the full backing of the Legion of Allied Worlds behind either kingdom would allow them to decide the fate of that eternal war. However, she did not want to do that.

The Keeper had placed the gate directly on the border between these two nations. The only explanation for this that she could come up with was that he wanted them to be allies with both, and favor neither. If the gate had appeared within the capital of Demacry, then there would be no question, she would convene a meeting of world leaders and urge that they support that nation.

As it was, the only order that she could give was for Jassar to declare the colony as neutral territory. So long as neither side attempted to provoke hostilities, they would not become involved in this war. In doing so, she also sent an order for Jassar to make contact with Solace, declaring these terms with both parties.

“Tsuba!” Dana called out as she ran down the hall, now wearing a black and white dress that matched Tsubaki’s. One that had been sewn personally for her by the kitsune maid. She had a wide smile on her face as she ran towards the courtyard, where Tsubaki was already waiting for her. “I’m not late, am I?”

“No, Dana, you’re right on time.” Tsubaki told her with a gentle expression that had become more and more natural for her as of late. Even after finding Dana, she did not forget the mission that had been given to her. She kept up her regular training schedule, with only one small adjustment.

Tsubaki no longer needed to go to Hell to find an opponent worthy of her full strength. Once she had properly measured Dana’s energy, Tsubaki had noticed that it even surpassed her own. Although Dana did not know any true fighting skills, her raw power was beyond what Tsubaki could unleash.

After tearing open a hole in the air in front of her, creating a wide portal, she ushered herself and Dana through. “Today, we’re going to try working on ki again.” She spoke, the two of them arriving atop a large mountain. Dana quickly noticed that a portion of the area had been carved away into a flat clearing, with two large carpets laid out. The corners of these carpets were held down by heavy stones to ensure that they did not blow away.

“But Tsubaaaa….” Dana drawled out with a pout, her cheeks puffing up. “You know I can’t use ki… It’s not com… compatible? Compatible with me!”

Tsubaki gave a small nod of her head, moving to sit on one of the mats. “I am aware, Dana. However, I believe that I have created a plan that could potentially allow your body to cultivate ki. Please.” She motioned towards the other carpet, and Dana moved towards it with a huff.

“You see, the reason you cannot use ki is that your body does not have any. Without ki, you can’t create a ki heart, which will enable you to produce more ki. Originally, I had thought that I could use my own ki to construct a ki heart within your body, but…”

Dana paled, reaching a hand up to grab her chest. “No thank you! That really hurt last time! I seriously thought I was going to die!”

Tsubaki simply nodded her head. “Right… you can’t use someone else’s ki to establish a ki heart. Only your own can be used for that.”

“But I don’t have ki.” Dana pointed out with a small whine.

However, Tsubaki did not take offense to the complaint, simply smiling. “What if there was a way for you to make some?”

Dana sat there, simply blinking in confusion. “What are you talking about…?” This was the first time that she had heard of being able to create ki without already having ki, so she was understandably confused.

“In order to resolve this issue of yours, I’ve been going through the library’s archives, when I stumbled upon something that allowed me to recall a special fact.” Tsubaki explained patiently, lifting one hand to create a familiar diagram in the air. At the center of the diagram, a black void opened up, and grey mist began to slowly seep through.

“A feeding portal!” Dana called out in surprise. It was hard for her to mentally associate these portals with anything other than food, given that it was the only thing she was really able to eat.

Tsubaki simply gave a light laugh, shaking her head. “We’re not eating right now, Dana. I want you to gather this spiritual energy as if you were going to create one of your dolls.”

Dana blinked in confusion, but did not argue. She stretched her hand out, and the spiritual energy immediately reacted to her call. It surged towards her outstretched hand, gathering in her palm in a squirming mass.

“Good. Now, compress it. Although the exchange rate is fairly poor, it is possible for spiritual energy to be converted into ki, mana, even natural energy. As long as we do this, it will be possible for you to gain ki that is entirely your own.”

Dana’s eyes went wide, but she did not lose her grip on the energy. She simply nodded, closing her eyes and focusing. She knew what ki felt like, she used to have it, back when she was a normal girl. So she concentrated on that memory.

As Tsubaki watched, that squirming grey mass began to shrink, specks of yellow appearing within it. Soon, it had turned entirely into a small strand of earthen yellow light, sinking into Dana’s hand. “Oh, this feels weird…” Dana shivered, feeling the foreign energy now residing in her body.

“It’s okay, you’ll get used to it soon.” Tsubaki promised gently. “Now, you’ll need more ki than that to establish your ki heart. Keep going for now, and I’ll let you know when to stop.”

Dana gave a small nod of her head, drawing more and more spiritual energy from the void Tsubaki opened. Only now, it was gradually beginning to convert itself into ki before even reaching her hand. Once it got to her, it directly sank into her body while Tsubaki monitored her condition.

It took roughly ten minutes of this process before Tsubaki closed the gateway to the Underworld. Thanks to the use of the cultivation mats, there was no risk of Dana’s newly gathered ki simply disappearing before she had enough to properly cultivate a ki heart, allowing it all to stay within her body until they were ready.

“Okay, now this is going to be the hard part, Dana.” Tsubaki said as she held a hand out, a small strand of ki appearing in her palm. “I’m going to show you a pattern, and I need you to guide your ki to move along that same pattern inside of your body. These mats we’re using will help, but this is still dependent on your own effort.”

Dana nodded, opening her eyes to watch the light above Tsubaki’s palm. Normally, a master would guide their students with their own ki to establish a secondary ki heart, but they had already discovered how Dana’s body reacted rather explosively when someone else’s ki tried to settle in it.

Still, she trusted Tsubaki, and she had more than enough experience when it came to controlling energy. Reaching inwards, to the ki that she had just created, she grabbed the scattered threads of ki and began to weave them together. After which, she grabbed the very tip of the new thread, and began to pull it along the pattern that Tsubaki had told her.

This time, the process lasted more than an hour, Dana staring intently at the pattern until following it was simply a second nature. At one point, it felt almost as if the pattern Tsubaki was showing was controlling her ki, rather than Dana herself. But that was fine, Tsubaki knew what she was doing, and Dana trusted her.

At the end of the hour, the beginning and end of the pattern seemed to slowly merge together. When Dana matched this, her eyes went wide. She realized that she no longer needed to control the ki, that it was now truly acting on its own, and that more was slowly being produced within her body.

At this point, Dana truly had overcome her own limitations, cultivating an energy that was not meant to exist within her body. At the same time, she had opened the path to reach a higher realm of training.

Tsubaki had similarly received an achievement for assisting someone in breaking their limits. Unlike Dana’s, her achievement was Transcendent Teacher. When she checked the information, she noticed that the title had an active ability, which allowed her to ‘view the energy of another’. Although she was tempted to test it, she held off, noticing a troubled look on Dana’s face. “What’s the matter?”

Hearing Tsubaki speak up, Dana hesitated before responding. “I… did I do something wrong, Tsuba?”

Tsubaki was surprised that Dana would think something like that, and moved over to join her on her own cultivation mat. “Why would you think something like that, dear?”

“I got a new title…” Dana spoke in a guilty tone, her head lowering. However, her words only confused Tsubaki even further.

“Why do you think that a new title would be something bad?” Her voice was soft, and she held an arm around Dana’s shoulders to attempt to comfort her.

“I… the panel-voice always used to give me mean titles. Monstrous, Tyrant Soul, Queen of Hell… I thought this might be a bad one, too…”

Well, those were certainly unusual titles, and Tsubaki was a bit curious about their effects, but she held those thoughts in. “No, no, it’s nothing like that. Achievements are simply gained through performing various special actions. There’s nothing good or bad about the achievement itself, only what you do to earn it…”

Dana hesitated, before nodding her head, shifting over to lean against Tsubaki. “Okay… thanks, Tsuba.”

I gave a small nod of my head as I watched the progress of the worlds, as well as that of Tsubaki and Dana. Eight years had passed in the world, but it had taken a full day on this end, due to me taking things a bit more slowly. Unlike Tsubaki… I was unable to hold myself back from checking the effects of Dana’s titles.

Monstrous was a pretty simple one, which she had gained for crushing monsters that others would fear. If she equipped the title, it would apply a passive intimidation to those around her. While not equipped, that effect was far lessened, such that most would simply rather avoid her.

Tyrant Soul was somewhat similar, but was more special for Dana. From the records, she had gained it by forcibly suppressing the creatures of Hell while trying to look for her father. This title provided an increased affinity with spiritual energy, without offering any other bonuses.

And then finally, the Queen of Hell. This was a special title, an upgraded form of Tyrant Soul. It was obtained once she became the most infamous ‘monster’ in Hell. Thanks to that title, she gained an increased affinity with spiritual energy, and overall increased stats when residing in the Underworld.

Just by looking through her titles, it was clear the type of life that she had been living until now…