World Keeper

Chapter 63: Like Fish in a Barrel

Not long after Ryone left, Irena appeared in the room. On her face was a small smile, her wings pulled back slightly. “Good evening, Dale.” She gave a polite nod to me as she appeared. “Has everything been prepared on your end?”

I nodded my head in return. “Hey, Irena. Yeah, everything’s ready. Your room is just down the hall. It should look just like the one you had in your castle. How did everything go on your end?”

When I asked that, Irena’s smile grew a bit wider. “It went very well. I have to thank you for sending your Host to the Underworld. Without Dalin, it would have been far more difficult to choose an intermediate ruler to replace me.”

“Pardon me?” I asked, surprised by the sudden thanks. Sent the Host? I’ve only ever used it once, so it could only mean the one I sent down to the centaurs.

Irena blinked in surprise as well, tilting her head slightly. “The World Host. That was the system you created, and an entity you sent down to the world just before fast forwarding, right? I assumed you had sent it to help me take care of matters, as it arrived with the highest Spirit Hunter level any new spirit has had so far. It made it considerably easier for him to climb the rankings.”

“Ahh…” I wanted to pretend that I had sent it on purpose, to help her as she had guessed. “Tryval’s people were on the verge of a civil war that could wipe out the population, so I had to send a Host down to handle that. Though, I am glad that he was of help to you after he died.” As much as I wanted to look good for the people under me, that didn’t mean I wanted to lie and pass of an accident as intentional.

However, Irena seemed unphased by the admission. “Is that so? Still, it was much appreciated. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to visit the other gods. Due to my past circumstances, I have not received some of the same education as they have, which is now necessary.”

After she said that, Irena bowed deeply, giving me one last smile before leaving. Once she left, I went ahead and turned to the map, taking a look at the situation in the Underworld. To my surprise, there were already hundreds of small cities scattered around, though they gradually became bigger as they neared the center where the capital was. And at the capital, there seemed to be a great many people singing and dancing, with representatives from all the different races.

There were even a few people who began flying up into the sky, heading towards the castle that Irena had constructed above. Of course, there was an invisible barrier to stop anyone from approaching. It wouldn’t be too good for people to enter the flying castle and find that she wasn’t even there, would it?

Thinking back to what Ryone had explained to me, I decided that it was time to pay another visit to the world below. Though, there was no pressing matter that would require my intervention, and no plot that needed to be set in motion. Rather, I wanted to enhance my ki. If it were possible to do this in the Admin Room, I would happily do so. Sadly, according to her explanation, it required you to expel your entire ki pool into the surroundings. How was that even possible in a situation where all of the energies came in an unlimited amount?

Grabbing the piece of paper that Terra had sent me to communicate with the others, I wrote a simply message saying that I was going to descend for a little while. I wasn’t sure how long it would take, but I would probably need to stay down there the entire time until the process was complete. After all, if I came back up to the Admin Room, the unlimited raw ki might wash away the partially refined energy. It would only be stable once my body began to naturally produce elemental ki on its own.

Considering my last experience releasing large amounts of energy down in the mortal world, I decided to set myself somewhere far away from civilization. I did not want there to be another incident where I accidentally created a holy site. As such, I chose one of the uninhabited continents, the one directly west of the centaur continent.

For my race, I left it as a default human. Humans were well suited for training as a monk, and it took less effort for me to simply select my normal body to descend in, rather than create a new one. Once I was ready, I received the normal messages prior to descent.

When the blue light faded, I could hear the sounds of various insects and birds, as well as the sound of running water. The area I chose to place myself was at the edge of a forest, next to a large lake. I wanted to make sure I chose an area that would be easy to live in, just in case I ended up staying here for a while. With this spot, I would have easy access to food, fresh water, and some easily constructed shelter.

“Well…” I said to nobody in particular. “Might as well get started.” Ryone said the method needed to be repeated over a hundred times before it could work. Even if I managed to speed up the process by using my Keeper mana, I couldn’t see me being done before I needed to eat.

At the same time, though, I did not know how to clean and cook any of the animals I could find in the forest. I could pray and discover if fruits were edible, but I had a different idea. Tilting my head up to the sky, I sent a silent prayer. Terra, mind sending one of my swords down?

No sooner had I finished wishing for it, then a flash of light appeared beside me, my sword appearing stabbed into the ground. One look at it confirmed that it was one of the swords that was enchanted to increase both sharpness and strength. That was good, considering what I planned to do. Though, before I got started, I wanted to take a look at my stats, seeing just what I had to work with now that I didn’t need to hold back.

I was surprised by how many more classes had been unlocked since the last time I came down, but that just showed how quickly the world was beginning to discover them. By my estimate, almost all of the classes had been acquired by now. Most of the ones that were left required special conditions to receive, like the Black Knight and Templar. Still, it was only a matter of time.

Picking up the sword, I gave a brief swing to confirm the effects it had on my strength. Without tapping into my Keeper reserves, it caused my normal strength to triple. If I did tap into those reserves, the increase was far less notable. Still, what I wanted right now wasn’t really a weapon of great power… I just didn’t have an axe or a spear.

Walking over to a nearby tree, I studied it for a long moment. Like many other trees around the forest, it stood tall, almost a hundred meters by my guess. The lowest branches were about five meters above me, so I crouched down slightly. Using only my normal level of ki, I jumped into the air, a small explosion erupting from where I stood.

In only a moment I had reached one of the thicker branches, and with a full powered swing of my sword it was easily chopped off. A bit overkill to cut down a single branch, but I didn’t have much that was less powerful. If I used my Spirit Hunter powers to create a spear with the lion spirit, I doubted I’d ever get what I wanted.

Instead, I landed on the ground, and picked up the branch that was thicker than my arm and longer than my body. Okay, so it was heavy, but I managed to lift it without too much trouble thanks to the enchantment on the sword. After which I carried it back out of the forest, setting it on the ground and began carving with a knife I had delivered via prayer-mail. Thanks to the training I went through with Terra, I was well versed on how to make a wooden spear, though this was my first time doing so outside of the Admin Room.

The carving of the spear itself took roughly ten minutes, likely shortened due to the high quality carving tools, and when it was done I had a passable wooden spear with a sharp tip. I gave the work a quick appraisal, making sure that it wasn’t too fragile. Though, at the same time I also received an annoying message pop up in front of me.

I had not wanted to get any levels in this class, given that I had a very limited supply of levels. In fact, I would prefer not to get any levels at all until there was someone suitable to train me in the classes. Even if the levels carried the same statistical value now as they would in the future, the knowledge on how to use the classes was indispensable. Just imagine if I already had a proper monk to teach me how to use that class. I wouldn’t have to blindly stumble through the abilities.

Regardless, I could only accept the level. I wonder if there is a way to remove levels… I’ll have Ryone check the market for something like that later. If there was, it would be a big help. I’d also probably need to raise the level limit again soon, since people seemed to be approaching it.

Shaking my head, I stopped distracting myself, and stabbed both the sword and dagger into the ground. Before coming down, I had confirmed that there were no giant monsters or anything like that hiding in the lake or the nearby forest, so I didn’t have to worry too much about self-defense. Rather, it was more important to take the spear with me so that I had a chance to catch the fish. This is also the same reason I couldn’t use the lion spirit for this job, as I had no doubt that it would scare away any fish I might catch.

Channeling ki into my eyes, my vision increased drastically. I was able to see deep beneath the surface of the water, watching the  movements of the fish as well as the different smaller monsters that inhabited the lake. Steadying my breath, I held the spear at the ready, making sure to keep my Keeper powers fully locked down. If I could make normal people nervous with my aura, it was likely that sensitive creatures like fish would get as far away as possible.

I stood there, waiting for a fish to swim near me. I didn’t bother keeping track of how much time passed. To my surprise, my ki did not seem to deplete when I used it in this manner, so I was able to maintain my state of super-sight all the way until one rather large fish swam near me. Finally, I thought to myself. Adjusting slightly, I watched the direction the fish was swimming. There were no larger predators near it, so I didn’t have to worry about my dinner being stolen.

Just before I threw the spear, I fully released my Keeper abilities, enhancing my speed and strength to the very limit. I knew that there was a large chance of me missing the fish if I used my normal stats, due to me not being very experienced fishing like this. But, like this, the wooden spear flew from my hands and instantly stabbed straight through the fish. The tip of the spear even continued to stab into the lake’s floor.

Although the strike had not hit the fish in a vital location, evident by the health bar above its head only emptying halfway and it flailing around madly, it was thoroughly pinned on the spear, unable to escape. With a simple hop, I was standing before the fish, reaching down to grab onto it. Together with the spear, I lifted it up and threw it onto land. “Okay. Dinner’s taken care of.”