World Keeper

Roughly ten minutes after I had bought the pair of ores, Ryone suddenly appeared in my room. In the manner that she loves to manipulate the Admin Room, she simply appeared from thin air. Her face seemed somewhat tired, making me think that she had just returned from having descended down to the world. ìDale! I found it!î

Judging by the wide grin on her face, I knew ëití was something important. ìFoundÖ what?î That still didnít stop me from asking what it meant, though! The pronoun game shall not be played today!

Ryone blinked in confusion, but then seemed to realize that I had no way to read her mind, and that I hadnít been spying on her to figure out what she was up to. ìI found the next level of enchanting. Itís one of the key requirements to build the inventory system we bought.î

ìOhh.î I nodded, understanding why she was so excited. For Ryone, this must seem like a major breakthrough indeed. ìSo, what is it?î

The elven goddess took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down before she began to explain. ìItís three dimensions. I figured out two different ways to do it, though they have different results. The first is to make a sphere, and carve the enchantment diagram on the bottom, with the pattern mirrored at the top so that they meet in the middle. Then you put the enchanting object inside.îìThis seems to work best to slightly increase the efficiency of enchantments, but the increase isnít by much. The main method is a shape with hard sides, like a pyramid or cube. Then, carve an enchantment pattern into each side. Doing it this way lets you vastly increase the number of enchantments you can apply to the same item. Though, naturally that makes each enchantment weaker.î

I let her finish explaining before I gave a nod. I was much calmer about this discovery than she seemed to be. ìOkayÖ What about how to make enchantments triggered? For instance, voice activation or specific actions?î

Ryone raised a finger as if she was about to give a further explanation, and then paused for a long moment, slowly lowering that same finger. ìIÖ havenít figured that part out yet. But this is still a major discovery! Itís a big step towards getting advanced enchantments!î She declared, as if pleading her case.

I gave a slight chuckle, again nodding my head. ìI know, I know. Listen, Tubrock is going to be working on making godly items for everyone. Iíd like you to help him with the enchanting side of it. You might even be able to learn something by working with him on this. For instance, what happens if you enchant the raw ore before it is refined? Or the bars before they are made into items?î

As I gave these suggestions, Ryoneís eyes seemed to light up. She seemed like she was going to leave immediately, but before she could I stopped her. ìDonít go just yet, I have a question for her.î I could see an impatient look on her face right away, as if urging me to get on with it so that she could go conduct more research. ìHow much do you know about the use of divine energy?î

Ryoneís face went blank for a moment in confusion, seeming surprised that I had asked that. ìYou mean, how we send it to our priests?î

ìNo, I mean the raw use of divine energy. I think someone unlocked the cleric class, because I can suddenly use that energy myself.î

When I said that, Ryone furrowed her brows together. ìI canít help you there. A godís divine energy is naturally attuned to a specific set of domains, which limit their powers. †Iíve never gone out of my way to force my divine energy to do something it shouldnít, because of the implied cost.î

ìI seeÖ You can go meet Tubrock now. Be sure to let me know if either of you need anything.î As soon as I said that, Ryone gave an eager nod, vanishing into a black mist that dispersed into the air. The mist was a new touch to her transportationÖ

In the plains surrounding Tryís Hold, a large herd of centaurs were gathering. Among them, there were only the normal breed, not a single variant. This was not unusual, as the variants were still much less common than a normal centaur. This particular herd was composed of nearly fifty, all of whom were armed with stone spears or wooden bows.

One among the crowd seemed to be arguing with the rest. A young centaur who had just turned of age a few moons ago. ìPlease, there must be another way.î He begged, looking to the older members of the herd for assistance. ìThis canít be the answer.î

ìThis is the only answer.î The eldest says, his hair starting to gray. He walked unsteadily on his four legs, clearly showing his age. A scar crossed the right side of his chest, a wound from an earlier battle. ìThey are an abomination to our people and our god.î

ìGreymane.î The youngling pleaded, looking to the elder that spoke. Greymane was not the manís name, but a title he earned for living as long as he had. ìHow can they be an abomination to our god? Youíve heard the stories! Tryval once stood with the ëcursedí, sheltering them.î

ìSilence, boy!î The elder snarled out, reaching for his bow. ìYou donít know what youíre talking about. Those are just stories made up by them to buy acceptance.î As he spoke, he grabbed a single arrow from the quiver on his back. ìThey preach of following Tryvalís teachings, to accept one another, yet they hide in their walls to disguise their shame.î

The boy wanted to continue talking, but he saw that the greymane was nocking the arrow on the bow, clearly intent on attacking him if he did not stand down. ìI canít agree to this.î He said simply, turning his body away. ìI will follow the teachings. The plains are my home, and its people are my people.î As he spoke, he began to trot away. Not in the direction of the nearby city, but out into the open plains. He refused to look back, to choose either side in the coming battle.

ìAt least one knows.î A quiet voice seemed to be carried on the wind. The remaining centaurs all quickly turned to find a new person standing only a dozen meters from them. His blonde hair flowed down his back, his muscular body untainted by scar or dirt.

ìWho are you?î The greymane asked, his hands still holding the bow and arrow. He had come too far and prepared too much for this attack to let it be ruined by an outsider.

ìNobody important.î The man spoke in a solemn voice, his steps slowly advancing. In his eyes could be found a trace of sorrow, and reluctance.

Seeing that the newcomer had no intention of identifying themselves or leaving, the greymane pulled his bowstring back, aiming at the manís human heart. ìForgive me, Tryval, for what I must do for your people.î As he finished his prayer, he let the arrow loose from the bow, watching as it flew straight towards its target.

However, it was doomed to never hit. Just before the arrow arrived, he seemed to disappear, crossing the entire distance in a moment. ìNo.î He looked to the greymane, his hands covered in blood. Suddenly, two of the closest centaurs fell sideways to the ground, their heavy bodies crashing down. Each of them had two gaping wounds in their bodies. One was located at the left side of their human torso, while the other was at the front of their horse underbelly. The locations of the two hearts of a centaur.

ìKill him!î The greymane shouted, causing the others to all rush towards him. Men, women, even some smaller ones like the centaur that left earlier charged to the man. Arrows flew, spears were thrust, but the man simply stood there.

ìIím sorry.î He said in a small voice, his figure once again vanishing to appear in front of the greymane. This time, the blood covered all the way to his shoulders, and one of his hands were sticking through the greymaneís chest. ìI canít let you start a war. If they did it, I would do the same.î

As his voice fell, nothing answered him but the crashing of bodies. Every centaur that had gathered for this raid, regardless of age or gender, now littered the field. Like before, each had a pair of identical wounds on their bodies. For a centaur, losing one heart was crippling, but not lethal. They still had a chance to maintain their bodily functions to a degree. Losing both hearts or the head guaranteed an instant death. Instant, and painless.

Faint tears trickled down the manís face as he released the greymane, who similarly crashed into the ground. For seemingly no reason, he turned his head to look at the sky. ìI guess I have to leave for a while, now.î

Without removing the gore from his arms, he turned to walk off into the distance, nobody left to see his departure. Some hours later, a herd would pass over the area, concerned by the bloodstains littering the ground. By then, the bodies would have long since been lost, moved to a place where they could not cause trouble for either side. But, this was not a true solution. Whether it was the variants in Tryvalís Hold, or the centaurs that wandered the plains, tensions were rising.

ìHey Dale.î I turned and saw Terra greeting me as I sat on the couch in the living room of the Admin Room, not feeling the desire to doÖ well, anything really.

ìHey. Finally got Udona settled in?î I asked, only to see a trace of guilt crossing her face.

ìNotÖ quite. I had to tell her a harsh truth, and sheíll probably need a couple days before she is ready to see anyone. But, Bihena said you were looking for me?î She smiled sadly, moving to sit next to me on the couch, leaning her body against me and holding me close.

ìYeahÖ Is there something you need to talk about?î Right now, she looked like someone desperate for a friend. My curiosity could wait until that was taken care of.

ìItísÖ The system can be a real jerk at times, you know?î She looked up to me, her eyes slightly watering. ìYou wanted her to be our sister, so thatís what it gave her. Memories of me, her, Keliope, and Accalia growing up together. Always alone, depending on each other. She had never known anyone besides the three of us, and in her mind the other two were already awoken.î

Terra gave a slight sniff, bringing a hand up to wipe her eyes. ìAnd I had to tell her that none of that was real. That it was just something the system gave her to set a personality. That I had never spoken with her before today, and that her other two sisters had never said a word to anyone since their birth.î

I reached up, gently rubbing her back as I listened to her. ìIím sorryÖ I didnít know that it would do something like that when I asked your permission. I thought itíd end up like any of the other gods.î

Terra nodded her head slightly. ìI know, Dale. I donít blame you. If I knew, I wouldnít have agreed to it. ButÖ I had to tell her. Otherwise, she would have hated all of us once she found the truth out herself. At least this way, thereís something left to salvage.î

I gave another nod, still rubbing her back. ìDo you need to talk about it more?î It was obvious that doing this hurt her, and the fact that she might have to do the same thing two more times didnít make it better.

ìJustÖ let me stay like this for now.î She buried her head in my shoulder, speaking with a weaker voice than I had ever heard from her. In this kind of circumstance, I really couldnít deny her this, so I let her silently cry against me for as long as she wanted. My questions could wait a little while longer.