World Keeper

Chapter 556: The Essence Of A Meeting

The rest of the meeting was mostly spent playing around. I enjoyed a few of the smaller games, while most of the others likewise did their best to earn points. Although they rarely spent the points that they earned in these meetings, they still had the mindset to save up for when they needed it. That situation was proven when it was time to buy the fourth tier of the various branches of magic.

In the end, when it was time to leave, I looked at the tallied points. The one with the most was Aurivy, with nearly eight thousand points. That much didn’t surprise me, as the ‘winner’ of the last meeting had over six thousand already. What did surprise me was the fact that both Tsubaki and Dana came in a close second and third with sixty-five and sixty-six hundred points respectively.

Dana seemed infinitely pleased by her results, even though she didn’t know just how valuable those points were. After adding in the points that I had gotten from Grimor, and the points from defeating the invading forces, my total balance had risen to a bit over two hundred and thirty thousand.

It was likely that this number was quite high, even for a second rank Keeper. However, I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to spend those points, as it was more important to allow my worlds to develop on their own first. At most, I would create a new world for Leowynn, if she decided that she wanted to control one of her own.

We decided to go back a few hours before the time limit was truly over, that way I could host the meeting in my own Admin Room between myself and my various gods. Aurivy had told me that there was something that she wanted me to buy, and with her performance I saw no reason to refuse. Furthermore, I had to discuss how we were going to be expanding the trade platform.

As we returned, I promised Tsubaki and Dana that I would meet them soon. The rewards that they brought in from this meeting were by no means small, and I wanted to give them something to show my appreciation.

Tsubaki initially tried to refuse, before being stopped by Dana, who accepted on both of their behalf. The flustered kitsune and youthful elven spirit walked through the golden door, returning to their place in the mortal world while the rest of us appeared in the Admin Room.

“Meeting time!” Aurivy shouted out suddenly, surprising everyone. There were several among our group that weren’t aware of the purpose of this meeting, since I wanted to save it to tell everyone at once. The halfling goddess immediately ran to the hall, moving towards the doors for those who had chosen not to attend the Keeper Meeting to call them over.

Naturally, this included Chel as well. While she wasn’t a god herself, she was the research assistant for James, who had a specialty in void-folding mechanics. If there was anyone that would be able to help Leowynn learn how to control her power to create materials from the energy of the void, it would be her.

While Aurivy was gathering everyone, I set about preparing the meeting room. Creating it was an easy enough matter, as I just had to place it near the living room. Then, I filled it with a large, circular table that had a grand total of fourteen chairs. Well… thirteen chairs and a long matt for Tryval.

“What’s this about a meeting?” Ashley asked, yawning slightly as she walked towards the room I was preparing. “You guys come up with something while you were away?”

“Yeah.” I nodded my head, not wanting to dive into the specifics yet. “Sorry, did she wake you?”

“It’s fine. I was just napping.” Seeing Ashley wave it off like it was nothing, I simply offered her a small smile.

It didn’t take much longer for the rest of the party to file into the room, though Chel seemed quite surprised that she had been included as well. “You need me for something? I mean, I don’t want to get in the way or anything.”

I gave another nod towards her as well, waiting for everyone to get seated. “There’s a part of this meeting that has to do with you, so I’d like to ask you to stick around.”

Chel simply shrugged, walking over and choosing a chair at random, placing her in between Accalia and Aurivy. Meanwhile, I found my own seat in between Terra and Ryone. Only once everyone was seated did I speak up again. “I’d like to call this meeting to order. Today, we have a couple of different topics to discuss. First of all… Aurivy, you can begin.”

I could see the halfling goddess practically bouncing in her seat from excitement, and knew that the entire table would begin to shake soon if I did not allow her to go first. “Thank you!” She spoke up eagerly, before hopping up to stand on the table.

“Ladies, gentlemen, horse.” She nodded at Tryval, who returned it with one of his own. “I come to you today with a simple dream. A dream that I hope to see fulfilled. With everyone’s help, I’m sure that we can make it happen!”

“You see, for so long now, the classes of our world have remained stagnant. Though our people grow, the options for them to pursue do not. I feel that this cannot continue!” Aurivy slammed her small fist into her hand for emphasis.

“Yes, I am aware of the reason why there have not been more classes added thus far. Dale wishes for people to evolve beyond the class system by pursuing divinity. Do I blame him for that? Not at all! However, in the age we find ourselves, there is one class that I believe can no longer be overlooked! One class that I feel must make its debut!”

Her overly energetic speech had drawn the attention of most of the crowd, though only Udona and Terra really seemed to know what she was getting at, a small grin forming on their faces. Aurivy turned, sweeping her eyes over the crowd. “I would like to petition for the Pilot advanced class to be purchased!”

Bihena furrowed her brows, not quite understanding. “Pilot… as in for vehicles? What sort of abilities would that have in order to qualify as an advanced class?”

Aurivy stomped her foot, pointing dramatically towards Bihena. “I’m glad you asked! You see, I’ve done my research on this particular class, with Terra’s help. This Pilot class does not simply pilot vehicles! It allows the user to pilot any object with moving parts.”

“This is because the Pilot class corresponds with a special energy type. A mix of–”

Aurivy’s words were cut off by a wide-eyed Chel. “Oh! I know this one. Ki and mana stirred at a ratio of three to two, gradually soaked in sixteen units of spiritual energy, and swirled together with another infusion of two units of ki, producing eight units of viable energy and fifteen units of explosive waste. The Pilot’s Essence energy type!”

Aurivy appeared slightly deflated as Chel not only knew the name of the energy from its description, but even the process of creating it. However, after a moment she still regained her vigor. “That’s right! The Pilot’s Essence! This energy allows the user to directly interface with any object containing moving parts, controlling them as if it were the user’s own body.”

“At higher levels, Terra even says that the Pilot should be able to shed their physical body, becoming an avatar of essence! This would allow them to become a new type of energy being similar to the Perfect Self, offering another path for our people to pursue to godhood!”

While Aurivy was giving her speech, I was already looking up the class and relevant energy. Before the meeting, I had promised that I would use the points she had acquired to buy what she wanted, so long as it wasn’t too expensive. The class itself was fine, only a total of sixty points to buy it.

The energy, on the other hand, required a full six thousand points to buy the first tier. Certainly, Aurivy had saved enough to afford this after the meeting, but… “If Chel and James know how to make this energy, would you rather leave it to them to introduce the class to the world, to save the points on buying its knowledge?”

Aurivy brought a finger up to tap on her chin in thought. “Hmm… it would probably make it easier that way. And we’d have a plausible means to distribute the class. Plus, I did kinda want this mostly for Deckan’s mech units anyways.”

I couldn’t help but have my eye twitch at that. “I thought you were buying it for your world?”

Aurivy glanced left to right with a shifty gaze. “I-I am. Definitely. It’ll have loads of applications on Fyor, too! Armored suits could be designed to work with this energy, allowing people to use greater fighting ability on higher floors than they would normally be able to!”

I shook my head, giving a small sigh as I bought the class. Seeming to sense that it had been purchased, Aurivy gave a wide grin before running over and jumping back down to her seat.

“Now… our second order of business. This one involves you too, Aurivy.” Aurivy blinked, clearly not understanding, before I turned and nodded my head towards Irena.

The winged goddess smiled, turning her head to face Aurivy. “I would like to ask for your cooperation to create a joint law, similar in essence to the trade platform created by Ryone and Leowynn.”

“I don’t think I can do trading things.” Aurivy answered in a confused tone.

“Not a trading platform, per se. More taking advantage of both of our divinities to create a beneficial effect.” Ashley, off to the side, let out an audible sigh of relief when she heard that it wouldn’t be a new trade platform.

“Oh! Well then, what kind of thing are you wanting to make?” Aurivy seemed far more confident now that she knew it would truly have something to do with her domains. Given her nature as the Goddess of Love, she had no shortage of followers.

“I wish to jointly create a divine law that will automatically transport souls to the Underworld ten days after they pass, so long as they do not die in a dungeon. With the expansion of our worlds to include extraterrestrial territory, I find myself quite lacking in manpower to collect the souls of every planet.”

“Ohhh!” Aurivy nodded rapidly. “Sure thing, Irena!” She beamed a smile, and I could tell that Irena was happy to hear that the request was approved so easily. “Once the meeting’s over, I’ll head over to your room, and we can work out the details!”

Irena nodded her head in agreement, before turning to face me again. “Now, Dale, do you recall the idea I mentioned while we were meeting with Balu?”

It took me a moment to remember what she was talking about, before it hit me. “Right. You said that you would be able to tell me what it was once we got back home.”

Irena gave a small nod. “I believe it would be wise for Tsubaki to establish her own church. She is the first mortal god, and an increase in her power would directly feed into increasing your own. So long as she can establish a few priests of her own and spread a series of teachings, I have no doubt that it would increase both her ability as well as yours.”

I gulped, trying to imagine just what kind of church Tsubaki would create. The Church of Servitude? She’s been a Servant for so long, it’s become her identity to most of the world. Would her teachings be about pledging oneself to something or someone that they truly believe in?

Regardless, I had to admit that Irena had a point. Even if it had the potential to turn a bit… chaotic, I’d still have to consider it. “Alright. I’ll talk to her later.”