In truth, the concept of creating a universe was nothing new to Dale’s world, though it was often regarded as an extremely unstable ability. As a prime example, Dana and Tsubaki had conducted numerous experiments when they were producing marbles capable of limitlessly generating energy. Those marbles themselves were a form of manufactured universe. Similarly, the mana-generating worlds within the void that were used for the improved energy cores followed a similar vein.
There were two primary differences between these manufactured universes and what was required to achieve the fifth rank as a Keeper. The first and foremost was the ‘completeness’. All of the universes that had been created thus far had been created with a very limited scope of rules. However, because of this, it was possible to create them purely with mana, rather than needing to use more complex energies, or even the void itself.
The second difference was in stability. Worlds created via such simple means were very easy to destroy, their world barriers unable to take even an average fighter’s strength within the void. On the other hand, a world created by the system was capable of blocking any but the most outrageous assaults.
Chelsea may never have created such a world herself, but she had overseen some early research on the matter. And because this research happened within the world, as opposed to knowledge acquired via the system, she was able to retain this information in her current form.
“Treisha.” Chelsea called out, allowing the lab’s AI to transmit her voice to the elven assistant. “Send a notice to the ninja nation. Let them know that we will be needing skilled laborers on an upcoming, long-term project.”
“You got us a new assignment?” Treisha’s voice spoke back in surprise. “Are we dropping the energy research for the time being?”
“Not exactly. Let the twins and James finish their work, and then they can join us. Until then, you and I will handle the technical side of this, and the ninjas can be in charge of the manual labor. Once you’ve sent the message, meet me in Lab Seventeen.”
After Chelsea said this, she quickened her pace. There were hundreds of individual labs within the research facility. Most of them went unused, and some were still unfurnished. Every lab, once it was completed, had a special purpose assigned to it. Lab Seventeen was a lab dedicated to crafting within the void. For this reason, it was behind more than ten layers of additional void shielding, simply to prevent any energy or entities from leaking out during experimentation.
When Chelsea arrived at the entrance to the security zone, she found Treisha already waiting for them. Treisha seemed surprised, but waited for Chelsea to unlock the lab’s security. This was one of the few labs that allowed absolutely no surveillance, and no communication to the rest of the facility. Furthermore, the only ones capable of opening the security from either side were Chelsea and James.
“So, what’s the project? Creating some new material in the void, like a super metal? Or, something like the black stone?” Treisha asked curiously, though Chel shook her head.
“Unfortunately, it’s impossible to get a clear enough scan of the black stone of Fyor to reverse engineer its creation. From what I can tell, it might not even be made of matter, but rather a solidified energy. But no, we’re starting on a bigger project today.” She said with a small grin, walking over to the holographic display.
Pulling out her multitool, she used it like a pen to write on the display panel. “Currently, we have mastered the method of automatically converting the void to each of the four energy types. Furthermore, we know how to do various types of energy fusion purely with the Digital Conversion system.”
Treisha arched a brow, before widening her eyes when she saw that Chelsea had written the words ‘Universe Genesis Project’ on the display. “You want to achieve a stable genesis? Are we even ready for that?”
“Not even slightly.” Chelsea shook her head, confirming Treisha’s concerns. “However, we need to work on it regardless. Theoretically, we have all of the fundamental knowledge at our disposal. All that’s left is to develop the machinery and the precise techniques to implement that knowledge.”
Treisha hesitated slightly, finally understanding why Chelsea had chosen this lab. “Where do you want to begin?” She asked, Chelsea smiling at the question.
“Originally, I knew that worlds could only achieve true stability through the balance of the four pillar energies, being Ki, Mana, Spirit, and Nature. Once these energies were created in the void and fused together through the proper techniques, it should result in the creation of a primitive world. At least, that was the assumption that I used to have.”
Treisha blinked in confusion, having read the research reports from Tsubaki and Dana’s old experiments. “Isn’t that the case?”
“Not at all!” Chelsea sighed, leaning against a counter. “It wasn’t until I came to this world, and learned about Fyor, that I realized the true form that the pillar energies needed to take.”
“What about Fyor?” Treisha felt like her head was buzzing, struggling to keep up with the energetic kitsune.
“Within Fyor, each of the primary energies has its own realm. This realm exists outside of the known boundaries of the world, but could also be said to be at its core.” Chelsea smiled as she drew four circles on the board, and then a larger one around them. “According to my theory, every universe should have something similar. The only reason we found it on Fyor is because of its unique properties that gave birth to an ore capable of connecting there.”
“So, according to this theory, we need to create these micro-realms first?” Treisha asked, feeling like she was starting to catch up.
“Exactly. I call them Miniverse, for simplicity’s sake. These miniverses need to have a complete law sequence to become stable, and these laws must be compatible with each other. For instance, the laws in Fyor’s mana realm originally only contained runes. Upon the merging of laws with the Earth system, it began to store other information, such as geometric patterns or familiars.”
When Treisha heard this, she felt like she had run into another major roadblock. “But… if that is the case, how do we create a magic system that exceeds our own understanding?” Although the very boundary of the fifth tier of magic had been touched, any magic scholar knew that there was far more left to explore within the realms of magic.
Chelsea actually hesitated when she heard that, crossing her arms in front of herself. “That’s… a good point. They can’t expect a Keeper at the fourth or fifth rank to be able to replicate the completeness of a seventh tier magic system.”
Muttering to herself, she began pacing back and forth in the room, her hand holding her chin in thought. “There are two primary options that I can think of. The first is that the only thing needed to create the miniverse is the ‘seed’ of the magic system. For instance, you wouldn’t need to create everything that the magic could do, but only the equivalent of the first or second tier. Then, sealing that into a conceptual seed, it could be used as the foundation for the magical laws. If that is the answer, it’s likely that the void takes that seed and expands upon it to its limit automatically.”
“What’s the other option?” Treisha asked, watching Chelsea pace back and forth, over and over again.
“The other option is that the miniverse has to be updated for each tier of magic.” Chelsea furrowed her brows as she said that. “For instance, it could start with the first tier as the base, but in order for more complicated magic to be possible within that universe, someone has to edit the magical laws within the miniverse.”
“The problem is that there is evidence to support both of these claims. The fact that laws can merge between worlds shows that it is possible, at least at a system level, to edit the magical laws. However, the requirement for advancement is to create a world that is equally as stable as the ones created by the system. If an incomplete magical law is used, the stability should decrease accordingly.”
Treisha closed her eyes, seeming to think things over. She crossed her arms over her chest, brows furrowing, before suddenly blinking. “It’s the second option. I’d be willing to bet my salary on it.”
“I pay you?” Chelsea asked in mock surprise, turning to look at Treisha. “What makes you think it’s the second?”
“Deckan.” She said in a firm tone. “According to your first theory, the magic system should be complete all the way to the limit from the creation of the world. For Deckan, that would imply that the highest grade magic cards should be available from the beginning. Instead, only the first tier cards were available at first, and others became available incrementally over time. From what you said, this could only happen if the laws were being edited to include the later tiers.”
Chelsea paused, eyes wide. She had to consider the possibility that Fyor was a special world. After all, in other worlds it was possible to achieve a higher level of magic without the Keeper having to buy it. Only Deckan held such a restriction, due to the nature of its magic. Still, this seemed to be an important piece of evidence.
“Perhaps the system automatically creates most worlds with a complete magic system. However, because the system in Deckan allows magic to be dropped by killing beasts, it imposed this limit to allow the world to develop as a safety mechanism.” She mused.
“However, even if that’s the case, that means that there needs to be some method of accessing the miniverse of an already established world by mortal means. Furthermore, these magical laws have to be edited without causing damage to the world itself.”
It seemed like something had lit up within Chelsea’s eyes, and she drew an X in one of the circles that she had drawn previously. “I need one of each elemental stone from Fyor, as well as the Ki, Magic, and Spirit stones. Our first step of the project will be to explore the miniverse and understand its fundamental structure.”
Treisha nodded her head, making a mental note of the requirements. She walked towards the door of the lab, waiting for Chelsea to open the security field and let her out. “The spirit stones may be a challenge, since they come from a rather high floor. However, I should be able to get the others by the end of the day.”
“That’s fine!” Chelsea beamed, running over and verifying her information to open the security gates. “While you’re gone, I’ll go ahead and get started on some scanning equipment to analyze the samples. It… looks like we might not be ready for Lab Seventeen yet. We’ll move to Lab Twenty-Three when you get back.”
Treisha blinked, before nodding her head. While Lab Seventeen was designed to conduct void crafting experiments, having numerous layers of shielding to prevent anything from getting out, Lab Twenty-Three was the opposite. In some ways, it was a bunker, sealed with barriers designed to make access to the void within it theoretically impossible. Though, these ‘miniverses’ should exist within the current realm, so it might be for the best.
