World Keeper

Chapter 634: Conference

Tsubaki sat atop a large, stone plateau within the vast world of Lorek. This was a location that she had personally chosen in order to conduct her research for the Keeper. When it came to the geometric spells of Earth, Dana was by far more proficient at creating the diagrams. However, she had a small problem when it came to adapting those diagrams to Lorek’s system, leaving this work to Tsubaki herself.

I can’t simply recreate the diagram in the same way that we made it on Earth. She shook her head when she realized that, knowing that she would have to completely reinvent the way that the reality gems were constructed. Not only was fourth tier magic different between the two worlds, but the laws of the world itself would make that dangerous.

In Spica and Lorek, mana was typically generated from a celestial body, and then radiated out along with its light and heat. This mana would continue to go forever until it was stopped by a layer of atmosphere, at which point it would pool along the surface of that atmosphere. Ki worked in much the same way, which served as the basis for cultivation.

In other words, ki and mana were fundamentally external energies that people captured and took into themselves to refine internally. This was a drastic change compared to the other worlds, in which mana was radiated from every sentient creature, and every living thing contained its own ki.

Taking that logic in reverse… it meant that objects which produced mana on such a large scale would similarly generate an intense amount of heat. If the reality gems of Earth were brought directly into Lorek, and they were allowed to detach from their scepters… Tsubaki was positive that the explosion could easily destroy a continent, if not the entire planet.

In order to make this work, I am essentially creating a miniature sun. However, all of its light and heat need to be self-contained. If even a fraction of it is allowed to radiate out, that fraction will grow exponentially to create a disaster.

As Tsubaki thought about this, she reached over for a talisman paper from a large stack next to her, and began drawing various patterns on it. This was the fundamental difference between the fourth tier of magic found in Earth and Lorek, the need for anchor points.

While such a change seemed small, it actually increased the difficulty of a spell by several fold. When designing a spell in Earth’s system, it was constructed three-dimensionally as one object. However, such was not the case in Lorek. Here, each portion of the spell required an anchor, and these anchors would then overlap to form the finished spell.

In theory, this was not much of a difference, but Tsubaki knew better. She knew how easy it was for spell lines to intersect on such a complex model. The original creation of reality gems had been delayed because of that very problem.

The first step should be the containment field. According to the tests that Spica has conducted in the past, it is the layer of ozone around the planet that blocks the movement of ki and mana. In this world, ozone acts as a seemingly absolute shield against these two energies. Of course, this means that weapons utilizing the raw form of those energies are unfit for warships. But there is another answer, as well.

Tsubaki had done her research into this subject when considering how she would build her containment field for the reality gems of Lorek. Obviously, the elves of Spica would not cast aside their oxygen supplies in order to allow their ships to fly into space. Instead, they studied the connection between ozone and these energies. This led to the discovery of a mineral that showed massive resistance to both forms of energy.

This mineral was commonly known as hematite. This mineral was originally considered as little more than a side-product of mining iron, used in such things as pigments or radiation shielding. However, there was a key aspect of hematite that drew the interest of several researchers. That was the fact that its molecular structure had three parts oxygen.

When this correlation was made, people began to gather hematite in large batches, performing tests on them. Through these tests, it was discovered that a sufficiently dense layer of hematite was capable of harmlessly dispersing both ki and mana along its surface.

Furthermore, it was possible to create a layer of energy through magic that replicated the natural structure of minerals. In doing so, ships became capable of creating ‘atmospheric shields’ that replicated the effects of hematite. Or, more specifically, the effects of the oxygen within hematite.

Naturally, there is also magic to directly replicate the structure of a gas, such as oxygen. However, in doing so, the replicated magic will disperse as a gas, thus rendering the shield unusable.

What Tsubaki was doing now was quite simple, as she was creating the containment array which would siphon energy from within a small sphere to maintain three layers of shields. The first, innermost layer would stop the heat. The middle layer would stop the light. Finally, the outer layer would replicate a hematite shell.

After thinking about it for a moment, Tsubaki added in another barrier between the outer two layers in order to increase physical durability. Hematite itself was rather brittle, after all. The last thing anyone needed was for this item to fully mature before receiving a crack along its outer shell.

Once she was satisfied with her design, she focused, creating a stone orb from the ground that she began drawing on next. While talisman papers could hold the contents of a flat surface such as a cube or a pyramid, different object steps had to be taken for rounded shapes like spheres or cones.

It took three years for all four of the races to finish submitting their preliminary designs for the new generation of technological warships that the Legion of Allied Worlds would be using to combat threats. At this time, the magical team of Lorek and Spica were still hard at work debating how they would produce their own ships.

For the technological branch, their first meeting was held within Deckan, due to it being the most accessible of the worlds involved to possess a large-scale orbital assembly. Present at the meeting were the leaders of each of the four races, accompanied by two of their lead researchers. Finally, overseeing the meeting was the servant of the Keeper, Dana Jafer.

The elven girl smiled as she saw everyone gathered together, crossing her arms behind her back. “Thank you all for coming here today, and to Udona for hosting us.” She nodded towards the resident God-Queen, who answered her with a kind smile.

“The Citadel has been keeping track of everyone’s progress when it comes to the creation of this ship. As the last of you have now completed your initial designs, it is time for everyone to come together and share, so that we may develop the true structure of the ship.”

“May I speak, favored child of the Keeper?” The High Mother gave Dana a gentle look after hearing her explanation.

“You can just call me Dana, but please be my guest, High Mother.” Dana nodded her head to the silver woman.

“Thank you. I believe I speak for most of those present when I raise this concern. When this project was initiated, we were given the condition that we were designing these systems for a power source of unlimited energy. To my knowledge, such a thing does not exist in the world, though I have seen things with vast amounts of power. I think, in order for us to construct the ship to fully maximize its potential, we would need to see this energy source.”

Udona’s lips curved into a knowing smirk, but both the Desbar and March leaders agreed with the High Mother. “It should be fine to show them, Dana.”

“If you say so.” Dana chuckled, knowing that this topic would have come up sooner or later. “In truth, this is a product created solely by the Sky Citadel, and we have no intentions to release its production method. Once you all see it for yourselves, I believe you will agree not to pursue it as a field of research.”

After saying that, she held her hand out to one side. Her shadow shifted, and a tall scepter began to rise from the darkness beside her. At the top of the scepter was a dimly shining, blue gem. The High Mother immediately sported a look of alarm, her liquid texture stiffening. “You plan to use an explosive device such as that as our power source?”

“Explosive–oh! You mean that incident a few years ago, right?” Dana let out a light laugh, shaking her head while her free hand held her stomach. “I’m sorry, High Mother, but these aren’t explosives. That energy outburst Tsubaki showed you was simply the process of one of these being destroyed.”

“You see… in my hands, I hold the key to potentially limitless energy. This scepter is nothing more than a sealing device for the gem nestled atop it. For if I were to remove the gem, this room would be destroyed by the raw outburst of mana in under a second. In less than an hour, a storm would sweep across this entire planet. Within a day, I can almost guarantee that this planet would no longer be habitable.”

Hearing her dramatic presentation, the various researchers couldn’t help but take a couple of steps back from Dana. Udona simply shook her head before explaining. “The reality gem is a closed, growing world isolated within a physical structure. It passively produces mana in accordance with its size, and then expands using whatever mana it cannot contain.”

“A newly produced reality gem will create one drop of refined liquid mana every five to ten seconds. However… when left alone for twenty-four hours and allowed to grow, it will flood a room like this in under a minute. The one that Dana is holding currently… if I’m not mistaken, is over a decade old.”

“According to the ratio of growth, the material structure of the gem itself might not be able to contain the output of energy if it is released.” Udona shook her head at that. “Meaning that it could likely break under its own pressure. And in doing so, destroy the world long before that storm were to form.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem!” Dana assured with a smile. “We tested that a few years ago. These things don’t have a limit when it comes to their output, because their external structure strengthens to match the size of the world within. However, the sheer pressure from all of that refined mana leaving the gem at once… we had to use another gem with a sealing spell just so that we could get close enough to reattach it.”

The High Mother hesitated, before offering a small nod. “I see. So the core power source of these ships will be those gems. That is a rather… small energy source, I will admit. However, the power behind it would be more than enough to live up to your claims, so long as it is as you say. I recall that there were four varieties of these scepters… do they each share the same principles?”

“That’s right!” Dana confirmed her words readily. “Each of the four primary energies have been given their own reality gems. For these vessels, we will be supplying whichever gems you require as the power source. However, you must each first agree not to attempt to damage the gems or perform any more… invasive tests on them.”

The leader of the demons, a fit man with one of his horns broken, cleared his throat. “If they are as you say, that will of course be the case. I don’t believe that any of us would wish to lose our lives over something like idle curiosity.”