World Keeper

Chapter 446: A Bargain

Sure enough, it was less than a month later when the video had been released to the public. Naturally, it was edited, with certain key details cut out. For instance, it did not show the summoning ritual that Dana used to call forth the Mad King. Nor did it show the aftermath, how the Mad King had ultimately survived and become Dana’s summons. What it did show was the scale of the battle, the sheer enormity of the opponent, and how the Sky Citadel had used careful preparations to defeat an otherwise insurmountable foe.

This video created a stir within the communities of both Vision Expanse, and those who were studying space travel. Given that the world of Vision Expanse was indeed a real world, it meant that anything which they encountered in the game could theoretically be encountered in real life. There was the chance, however remote, that they could encounter similar titans on their space journeys.

Because of this, there were numerous individuals requesting an interview with Julia. As someone who could be considered the most experienced space traveler, they asked her technical questions. These included things such as the speed of her vessel’s propulsion systems, the mana tension of its barriers, or the wavelength that the weapons had been attuned to.

Naturally… Julia did not actually know most of this information just off the top of her head. Dana had been the one in charge of most of the alterations for the ship’s design. While Julia knew the process to replicate these changes in the game, the exact results were something that eluded her. As such, she had to log in and get the information directly.

Even so, the information that she gave helped pave the way for the development of real-world space exploration. In fact… the first orbital launches had already been performed on Deckan, Desbar, and Earth. With the information obtained from Julia, they were busy modifying their own designs, and preparing an interplanetary launch.

Due to the planetary scale being smaller, Desbar was chosen as the first to travel to other worlds. It was estimated that a vessel would need roughly ten percent of the fuel to move the same relative distance between two planets in Desbar’s plane as opposed to any other.

It was also decided that the pilot for this voyage, as well as the mission’s captain, would not be a demon. Instead, an elf would play the leading role. This was not due to any desire to steal the spotlight, but rather a practical decision. An elf’s extended lifespan ensured that even if something went wrong in transit, they would be able to survive long enough to guide the ship back home.

If possible, they would have chosen a ‘Perfect Self’ to pilot the craft, as their lifespan was essentially endless. However, the number of people that had successfully made that leap following Jonas’s research could still only be counted on one hand. Too few people that learned about the process were willing to risk their lives in such a manner, and that directly caused the research to receive less publicity.

Only when the process was more refined and the risk lowered would it likely spread to the public. Secretly, Jonas had already been envisioning ‘conversion centers’ established in major cities to help those whose strength had grown too far, and were ready to seek perfection. Before that happened, though, he wanted to reach the end of his own journey. He wanted to pioneer the next step before anyone else.

As Jonas sat in his workshop, he focused his senses on his own improved body. His divine spark had fully merged with his physical form, allowing him to naturally produce divine energy. Even without singing, he could stir his divinity for a number of lesser effects. And in fact, he had come to realize that he had to do so regularly.

After a few weeks in his enhanced form, he began to feel a suffocating pressure originating from his own body. His divine energy had grown too strong for the rest of his essence to contain, and he had to spend it on ‘miracles’. Without a divine soul, his essence could not properly hold the divinity he was creating. Without a divine mind, he could not properly control it.

And so, every few days Jonas would leave his home, moving out to the town. His divine energy was spent in small doses, keeping it at a level he could manage. He used it to heal the sick, to aid the crippled, or simply to help acquire food for the hungry. He spent it freely, asking nothing in return. After all, he did not feel right asking any payment for an act he was performing out of his own need.

The longer this went on, the more that he felt like his own capacity to store divine energy was slowly being improved. He was tempering his own soul, improving it step by step. But lately, he felt that pressure again, and it was even sooner than he had previously.

It did not take him long to realize that he was suffering a backlash of the constant growth of his soul. His essence had been stretched too thin, and was in danger of breaking altogether if he did not allow it to evolve as his body did.

Originally, his idea was to allow his soul to gradually evolve under this tempering, unaware of the dangers that had now made themselves evident. But time was short, and he needed to act quickly. Unfortunately… this step was not one that he could take by practicing with his slimes.

Jonas was no fool. The Direct Control technique used a portion of one’s own soul to control a tamed monster. This meant that his own soul’s fragment would be caught up in the conversion process when he was guiding his slimes to evolve. If that happened, and the connection leaked back to his own soul, it could spell his doom.

No, Jonas had already decided that this was as far as his research could reliably take the slimes. While the thought might have been amusing, he could not afford to take the risk of truly allowing a group of monsters to ascend to godhood. Especially monsters who grow stronger by consuming everything in their wake.

Just as he was imagining how he would dispose of the two remaining slimes, a voice entered into his mind. My child, I would offer you a deal.

This voice was one that Jonas was instinctively aware of, causing his eyes to widen. “Mother Goddess.” Ever since he had become Ryone’s champion, he had only rarely heard her voice, and never dared by the one to call for her attention.

I would like to buy those two slimes from you, my child. Ryone spoke softly, her voice echoing in his ears. In exchange, I will offer a shard of crystalized divinity.

As he was planning to get rid of the slimes anyways, he had been prepared to tell the goddess that she could take them freely. However, his words were cut off before he had the chance to voice them. As the Goddess of Merchants, I cannot simply take something for free, my child. This deal will benefit us both. With this shard of divinity, you will be able to craft your own holy relic, once you have reached the end of your path.

The words Ryone spoke were still soft, but they echoed like thunder in his ears. She had personally acknowledged the path that he was taking, and even granted him an item to assist him upon reaching his goal. This meant that not only did she approve of his actions, the possibility of a mortal ascending to godhood was within his grasp!

This was the greatest validation that he had ever received, and he had only offered a faint nod to answer her request for a deal. A moment later, he could feel his connection with the two slimes outside being severed. Instead, he felt a small item resting in his hand.

Looking down, it looked to be a triangular piece of golden glass, no larger than Jonas’s palm. It gave off a faint, ethereal glow, and he could feel the divinity radiating off of it. As he was starting to grow worried, Ryone’s voice soothed his thoughts once again. I have placed a seal on your house. So long as you keep the shard within, none of its energy shall be leaked out.

Jonas let out a sigh of relief as he heard that, nodding his head. Moving back to face his desk, he placed the shard within one of the drawers. And then… he grabbed his notebook again, writing out theories and formulas to help him think of how to properly merge his divinity with his soul, and then finish his ascension.

“Yes!” Aurivy’s previously sour mood was lifted, a bright smile floating across her face. I could only guess that it had something to do with what happened to Jonas, the two of us having changed the view on the television to watch him following the news of the space mission.

“You seem unusually happy about something.” I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“Ryone just got me the best present!” Aurivy smiled wide. “I asked her to get the slimes for me, so that I could put them in my dungeon. Just think, semi-divine slimes! That would make the best dungeon ever!”

I thought about it for a moment, nodding my head. “I wonder if the dungeon cores would be able to learn the secrets of divinity by studying these slimes.”

When I said that, Aurivy’s eyes went unnaturally wide. “Dale, that’s brilliant! Dungeon gods! Dungeons made to test and train gods! Oh, wait, their Akashic link! Maybe all the dungeons would combine to become a single god!”

Now that she put it like that… I had to wonder if the wills of the different dungeons would indeed end up combining as they trained divinity together. An evolved dungeon… now that could be a God of Monsters.

Jana faced her homeland, feeling herself a stranger in it. Since the Water Clan had departed so many years ago, and the other clans followed after them, the homeland had never been the same. With her senses, she could not sense a single person who surpassed the ‘Elder’ rank in cultivation. And this was after the events where the system of power had been introduced.

Back in the current home of the Durak Nomads, she was certain that the elder rank had now become the new ‘beginning’ of the path. This meant that the strength of their own home was… pitiful to say the least. But they had grown in other ways.

Forges prospered throughout the island nation, technology a thriving art. She could see metal towers rising towards the clouds, harnessing the power of storms to produce energy. Something that she had seen from the other world, using electricity to power mundane devices.

While these dwarves had not yet fully modernized, they had found their own ways to use this electricity. Instead of storing it within transformers and batteries, they channeled it into their forges. It appeared that they had learned how to use rudimentary formations, for they were able to enhance the flames themselves through this method.

Weapons and armor made in this way were known as Stormforged, and they possessed the power of nature, as well as some of the mana and ki that were trapped within the atmosphere. This allowed even an elder to battle on the same level as a master. It was probably also the only reason why the nation had not been destroyed by wandering star beasts.

While they had truly fallen in terms of cultivation, that was only because they had nobody to guide them. Without access to the inheritances of the mainland, it was impossible for them to advance beyond their current strength. Thankfully, they had learned how to make up for this defect.

As she considered that, Jana landed soundlessly within the stone streets, her presence concealed from the people around her. If she wanted to bring her nation into the wide world, she would have to do so carefully. Aside from her nomad tribe, these were likely among the last dwarves left on the planet. It would be too sad to allow them to be defeated by the monsters which she knew would soon be strengthened as well.