World Keeper

Chapter 996: Insurmountable Barrier

It was another six hours of practical combat training before Tsubaki and I were released by Leowynn. During this time, she drilled into us the necessary ideas to keep in mind when fighting in the void. For instance, concepts such as always maintaining at least two points of reference, always maintaining your void barrier, and to never directly answer an opponent in a fight. After all, with the void relying so much on information, there are many powers capable of attacking someone for so much as answering a question.

After she left, she made sure to let us know that she was setting an alarm for one Standard week before our next training session. Subsequent sessions were not likely to be as long as this one, but more focused on ensuring that the lessons that she taught us became instinct.

That said, I knew that I was not as adept at manipulating the void as a Fallen Deity. No amount of lessons like this would change that, because it was their innate gift. I am the equivalent of a mage mimicking the powers of a druid.

However, although I may not be as good as a Fallen Deity, I had no doubt that I could still fight one. As long as I kept my defenses up properly and followed Leowynn’s lessons, there would be nothing stopping me from using my normal abilities in the battle. As long as that was the case, I was confident in being able to fight any existing Fallen Deity in my world.

“I get why Dana didn’t need this lesson… but shouldn’t Gerard and Lifre have been here?” I asked Tsubaki after we left the training room. However, Tsubaki simply shook her head.

“Gerard is not primarily a combatant to begin with. His forte is in research, and his primary method of combat is by establishing a territory with layered enchantments that he can control. This is why Dana created him to manage the Sky Citadel in your absence.”

“As for Lifre…” Tsubaki gave a somewhat bitter smile. “Lifre’s adventures take her wherever she finds interesting. It would not surprise me in the slightest if she has already conducted a number of fights in the void. At the very least, she will have researched the subject for her novels. It’s safe to say that she is fully capable of unleashing her power within the void.”

I could only give a grunt and nod at that. I had been in the void before, and even briefly fought there. However, my outings were always quick, and I had never had to stay long enough to worry about corrosion or special combat methods. “I’m surprised you needed the training, in that case.”

Tsubaki offered a small smile at my words. “I have done minor combat in the void in the past. However, like yourself, I have never spent much time there. Whenever it was clear that a protracted battle would be required, I would always give the task to Dana. There was a reason that my Keeper wished for her to become a Fallen Goddess, after all.”

That made me hesitate, before deciding to ask something that I had been thinking about for a while. “Are you and the others… trying to walk the path of an Origin?” I asked, causing Tsubaki to look over at me in surprise. “All of you are finding Saint Energies to compliment your domains, and you even completely recultivated your body in order to obtain the Saint Body.”

Tsubaki chuckled lightly, but shook her head. “I admit, I am tempted. However, I do not believe that it is the goal of any of us to pursue this path. Rather, we are trying to temper ourselves as much as we can while ensuring that the path remains open to us in the future.”

Tsubaki looked out through the window, gazing at the Earth visible beyond the sky. “In my belief, the moment that either myself or Lifre become an Origin, we will no longer be your subordinate deity. After all, an Origin is a higher level of lifeform than a god, so that relationship should be broken as a matter of course.”

“It is for this reason that I am in no rush. In fact, based on the context clues available, I believe that I have a key clue to the final step required to become an Origin.” When I heard that, I couldn’t help but look over in surprise.

“Really? You’ve figured something out?” I asked with wide eyes.

“I believe so. According to the information I have received from Lady Terra and the others, an Origin is only meant to be produced near the end of the fifth rank. Meanwhile, the method of entering the fifth rank is to be able to use the power of the inhabitants of your world to produce a fully customized world within the void. Am I correct so far, my Keeper?”

After I nodded my head, Tsubaki continued. “Using these two pieces of information, as well as the knowledge that the Origin is formed by the trinity of God, Saint, and Fallen, I reached a certain conclusion. Once two of the three conditions are met, the only way to fulfill the third condition is by refining a special type of world within the void, and using that as your core for the final transformation.”

“For example, someone missing the key component known as ‘Godhood’ could create a divine world within the void, and then fuse with it to become an Origin. Likewise, someone who is missing the component known as ‘Chaos’ can create a chaotic world to fuse with. According to this theory, it will be impossible to create a true Origin without consuming the energy of an entire universe, using that as the foundation for their power.”

I lowered my head in thought, considering Tsubaki’s words. “That’s… certainly possible. We know that Terra’s incarnation can’t unleash the full power of an Origin due to their improper fusion. Maybe… the energy of the world is just to serve as a container for that power…”

“That is my belief, as well.” Tsubaki said in agreement. “From what I know, people at our level shouldn’t even be aware of the concept of an Origin. We can only speculate because of the existence of Lady Terra’s incarnation. Otherwise, we would be blissfully ignorant until years later. As things stand now, we can make the proper preparations.”

I gave another nod, before hesitating. “Wait… but if a balance is needed from the three sides, wouldn’t you need to create and fuse with three worlds?”

Tsubaki hesitated at that. “It’s… possible. There are two ways that could proceed. Either I must fuse with three separate worlds like you say, or I must create a chaos world of three distinct attributes, letting them maintain a balance before I absorb the world. Personally… I believe that the former option is by far easier. Which, naturally means that it shall be the second.”

I couldn’t help but crack a smile at that. “Probably. Like you said, it’s too early to focus on that yet. As long as you have your goal in mind for the end.”

Lifre gave a soft sigh, looking over her equipment once again. It had been over a decade since the battle with the ‘boss monster’, and she had completely swapped out her divine armor for a higher grade. This armor had even been personally forged by the God of Crafts, Kiria Sorin. 

Of course, she wanted to get Tubrock to make it himself, but he refused. Some nonsense about her basically throwing away her armor in every fight and getting it damaged far too easily. Was it her fault that she only went after the biggest challenges she could find, where she had to push herself to the limit, walking a tightrope between life and death?! Well… maybe it was. But still! The Goddess of Heroes needed the best equipment money couldn’t buy!

“Are you ready?” Petra asked, smiling at Lifre. The two of them had grown close as friends over the years, often going out on adventures together. To Petra, it felt as if she finally had someone her own age to hang out with. Though she was far older than Lifre, she still felt like a child at heart! This was a sentiment that Lifre herself agreed with wholeheartedly.

“Yup! Should be all set! You gonna bring the others along for this, or just the two of us?” The two were standing before the gate leading to the sixtieth floor of Fyor, an untouched land.

Petra giggled faintly, shaking her head as she lifted her massive black axe over her shoulder. “Just us this time. Thelsa’s running a patrol with the others through the fifty-fifth floor. They think they might have found another new mineral there.”

“And they didn’t bring us along for the fun?! “Lifre’s eyes went unnaturally wide, before her cheeks puffed out. “Well, we’ll just have to enjoy this brave new world without them as payback!”

Petra grinned at that, nodding her head. “That’s right. Though, between exploring a new land and studying a shiny rock… I personally don’t envy them.”

There was a snicker from the slime as she agreed, walking over and placing her hand on the black wall to open the gate. “First order of business, finding the pillar for your magic gadget, or look around and see if there’s anything cool?”

Petra pursed her lips for a moment. “We should find the pillar first. The level orbs are an incredibly important resource in Fyor. We might even be able to open the gates up for higher level adventurers from Earth and Deckan.”

“Maybe!” Lifre nodded her head, stepping into the gate. She took a couple of steps in, after which Petra saw her stop. Concerned, she followed in behind her.

“Everything okay… Lifre…” Petra’s words trailed off as she noticed the landscape of the floor. Clearly, this was another very unique situation. Although every floor typically had its quirks, there were only a few that were considered unique. For instance, the spectral landscape of the fifty-fourth floor, or the divine realm of the thirty-ninth.  The twenty-sixth floor’s crystal maze also counted.

“This… is going to take a while.” Lifre muttered, looking at the black pillars the seemed to connect all the way to the sky above. They formed hallways more than a dozen kilometers wide, and Lifre could identify multiple branching paths, as well as islands floating in the sky, seeming connected to these walls.

“I should have called the others.” Petra shook her head. Thankfully, the floor was properly made of stone, otherwise they would have activated another gate the moment that they came in. “How are we going to find the gate to the sixty-first floor, though?”

Lifre’s eyes went wide in realization. “That’s right! That magic gizmo only looks for the black stone gate… but they’re all over the place here! We can’t be expected to explore all of this, right?!”

Petra furrowed her brow, crouching down and placing a hand on the ground. “No. According to the normal formula, the overall radius of the sixtieth floor should reach as high as a trillion kilometers. We could spend thousands of years feeling along every wall at every elevation.” As she spoke, her shadow began to spread out to cover the maze.

“Either there will be something special about the gate we need to take, or we’ll need the help of the Greater Pantheon to pass this floor.” Since her shadow was already spreading to envelope the floor, Petra stood up, glancing back before blinking. “Lifre… we might have a problem.”

“What? Did your shadow power fail?” Lifre asked in confusion, eyes trying to map out as much as she could of the territory.

“Lifre, we have a big problem.” Petra’s words caused Lifre to look back, seeing that the gate that they had come through had closed. Furthermore, it looked no different from the rest of the maze, just another section of the wall.

“That’s nothing.” Lifre rolled her eyes, walking back and following their footsteps. “We came through right here, silly!” She placed her hand on the wall, the portal opening. With a smile, she began to step through, only to jump back as soon as her head had passed. “Hey, Petra… I think we have a problem.”

“It shifted, right?” Petra gulped, only for Lifre to nod her head. Petra thought that might have happened, when she saw the smooth gate extending all the way to the sky. “This is bad… this is very, very bad. If the destinations shift along a set timeframe, we can try to find a pattern and determine when the path to the adjacent floors will open at a certain spot. But… if it randomizes every time a portal opens…”

“We need a way to keep a gate permanently open.” Lifre nodded her head.

“Worse… looking at the size of these gates, the odds of each portal opening leading to an adjacent room with each portal being randomized is less than a trillionth of a percent. We could spend our entire lives opening portals, and never make it back.”

Lifre pursed her lips at Petra’s speculation, seeing the portal she had opened closing. She walked over and opened it again. Sticking only her head through, she confirmed that the layout was different than she had seen previously. “Okay! Nobody panic! I have a plan!”

“Really? What’s your plan?” Petra asked with a bitter smile, already planning to retreat to the void and indirectly visit the lower floors. She could warn Thelsa and get the shadows to scout out the maze. It would take a lot of time, but it was possible.

“All we have to do is get back to the fifty-ninth floor. Then, we just keep opening the portal from there, over and over again. If the destination is random, sooner or later we will get a position where we can see the mana pillar. After that, we can use your gizmo to create a map of the entire floor, and create an exploration map based on that!”

“That’s… not actually a bad idea.” Like with her plan for the scouting corps, it would take time, but it was far safer than exploring an unknown land with foot soldiers.

“Right?! Now we just need to get out of here!” Lifre said in a confident tone, reaching to the side and ripping at the air. The air was torn, ripples flashing through it, but no void gate formed. Lifre furrowed her brow, ripping again, this time with more force. However, again the void gate didn’t form.

“...The black stone walls might be suppressing void interference.” Petra speculated. “Do you have a way to pass a message to the outside? If I can get Thelsa to hold the gate open and send someone through, we can get back through our shadows.”

“Yeah… yeah, I’ve got a way.” Lifre said in a sullen tone, sitting down and crossing her legs on the floor. “Give me a minute, and I’ll be back.” She closed her eyes, a golden ring of light gradually spreading out beneath her body. After roughly thirty seconds, she vanished, causing Petra’s eyes to widen in shock.