In the grand scheme of things, twenty years was by far not my longest skip. In fact, it could be considered quite short. However, my truly long skips had typically been back before society reached a significant stage, or when we needed time to recover rather than focus on advancement.
In that case, I knew that this twenty-year skip was going to be quite significant indeed. There were no major disasters left to recover from, and my worlds could focus fully on developing their technology and culture without fear of devastation. Granted, there was still a significant threat from the memetic monsters, but they were now a manageable threat, especially after the sensor was installed on the internet.
To nobody’s surprise, Lifre had chosen to remain in the mortal world during the twenty year period. She wouldn’t refer to it as a skip, because she wasn’t skipping anything. She was in it for the long haul, and would be around to see every adventure that she could find in that time!
To that end, Lifre was exploring the sixty-sixth floor, seeing if there were any predators that had developed in response to the special power that turned everything within the floor into a delicacy. She could have easily found the door to the next floor, but held off on it for now. What was the point of pushing ahead to a new zone when there was so much left to see of this one?!
Had it not been for the Black Bombubbles, she would have continued to stay on the previous floor. However, she didn’t have a way to safely determine which bubbles were safe to poke, and which ones would eat her fingers. Additionally, there was that whole ancient civilization on the ceiling that she didn’t want to disturb. She did have some respect for history. Somewhere. She usually kept it in a box.
As she flew through the air, her eyes scanning the ground, she was honestly surprised that she didn’t see any natural predators. There were beasts, admittedly. However, they were all plump creatures that were happily grazing in the fields. I’ll have to get Aznod to see if they’d make a good meal.
Licking her lips at that thought, Lifre caught sight of another figure. This one wasn’t a beast, but a person, a short girl with white skin and blue eyes, waving up at her. “I’m sorry, what?”
I let out a long sigh as I saw that the timeskip had settled. Given that there was no prompt saying that I had advanced to the next rank, it would appear that either James’s research hadn’t progressed as far as she had initially predicted, or else simply copying a world wasn’t enough to trigger the advancement. If that was the case, we would simply need to make our own.
With that in mind, I stood from my seat, Tsubaki following behind me as I left my office. “Let’s head back. Maybe Dana completed her Sky Chariot.” I said in a hopeful tone. Tsubaki nodded her head, a smile on her lips at the idea of Dana’s accomplishments.
When I descended, I saw that Dana and Lifre appeared to be waiting for me. Dana had a spherical gem in one hand, and Lifre was rocking on the heels of her feet, arms behind her back as she smiled.
Or… that’s what I thought at first. “Who are you?” I asked towards Lifre, eyes narrowed slightly. I had taken it for granted that I could see people’s information at a glance, so I never really bothered with it. However, when ‘Lifre’s’ name was empty above her head, just a blank entry and a level, I knew that something was wrong.
Dana’s eyes twitched, and the room was immediately filled with blue threads as she turned on Lifre, the threads curving through the air to pierce at her.
‘Lifre’ simply giggled, skipping through the air with bizarre footwork, adeptly ducking and twisting through the chakra threads. “Aww, you got me!” She laughed. “You’re the only one that’s ever gotten it right in one go!”
“What did you do to Lifre?” Dana asked, her voice dripping with venom as darkness began to spread out along the ground.
“Easy, easy, I’m not here to fight!” The girl laughed, coming to a stop standing on the wall. “Lifre’s hiding in her room, waiting for me to call her! We had a little bet on whether or not you would be able to tell it wasn’t her.”
“Hermes!” I shouted, my intention clear. Darkness rose along the wall, forming a circle around the unfamiliar girl. Dana was ready to attack at any moment, this time with a truly omnidirectional assault.
“Confirmed. Lifre is residing within her room. She asked me not to mention it unless specifically asked.” The artificial intelligence covering the communications system of Olympus responded. “I have sent her a message to appear, and she is on her way now.”
Despite this confirmation, Dana did not draw back either her threads or her darkness, eyes narrowed in barely-concealed fury. With a small amount of focus, I could see that Dana was ashamed not to have noticed an impostor of someone she knew so well, as well as anxious whether the one coming was actually the real Lifre.
Soon, the door opened, and a short girl with white skin and hair, and soft blue eyes entered. Dana glanced at her, and then to me, only retracting her power when I nodded my head. “Lifre… explain yourself.” She said in a firm tone, Lifre giggling as the impostor jumped down next to her.
“See? I told you he’d notice right away.” Lifre said, the other shrugging her shoulders.
“Yeah, but Dana didn’t. That’s like, half a win, right?” Though she said that, the real Lifre stuck her tongue out playfully, shaking her head.
“Nope! The bet was for the boss!” After Dana cleared her throat to get Lifre’s attention, the two of them turned to face us again. “This is someone I met about… two months after the start of your little ‘vacation’? Yeah, that sounds about right! She’s totally awesome, too! At first, I thought Rivy had let another slime ascend to godhood or something!”
It was at this time that Tsubaki arrived in the room, looking at the two Lifres and furrowing her brows. However, Lifre simply continued to explain. “She’s from the ninjas, like Tsubaki!”
“I can handle it from here.” The impostor chuckled, before her body began to morph. Her white skin gained some color, her hair going from white to blonde with violet tips. The blue in her eyes turned to a dark purple before the blonde hair fell over her right eye. Next, fox ears sprouted out of her hair, and a tail behind her.
Now, she was wearing a shirt that was blue on the bottom half, and white around the chest and shoulders. She had a silver guard on one shoulder, and thick, leather gloves. Two thick pouches were strapped to her hips by tightly fastened belts, and she wore tight, brown leather pants with cloth wraps on her feet. “Yo! This is the real me, don’t worry!” She announced proudly, though I still couldn’t see a name over her head.
“And who exactly are you?” I asked again, the kitsune shapeshifter giggling as her tail swayed.
“Anyone I wanna be! That’s my thing! As for names, I don’t have one, not yet! I’m something of a special training project for the ninjas.” As she spoke, she spread her arms out, lightly spinning. “Take a young child, make sure she has never been given her own identity, and teach her how to be anyone and everyone.”
She winked back towards Tsubaki after she said that. “No offense, Tsubaki, but the old Servant ways are really outdated now, so that’s not why I don’t have a name or anything. Same with the ‘super serious maid’ theme. Nowadays, you’d stand out like a sore thumb if you walked down the streets.”
“You’ve gotta keep up with the times, and that’s where I come in! I can be anyone, and hide in any crowd. I’m totally not as good in combat as you, but when it comes to gathering information or hiding from a target, I’d totally say I’ve got you beat there.”
Tsubaki’s eye twitched slightly, an icy tone entering her voice. “Are you saying that you are here to replace me?”
The smaller kitsune jumped, putting a good ten meters of distance between herself and Tsubaki, quickly shaking her head and waving her hands. “No, no, not at all! Peace, sister! I’m not here to steal your job or anything like that. I’m here to complete my final mission for those that trained me. Wait, that made this sound like it was a suicide mission. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not here to fight!”
I let out a long sigh at that, shaking my head. “Then what are you here for? What is your mission?”
The smaller kitsune turned on one heel to face me with a grin. “I am to emulate a feat of the greatest ninja in our history.” After saying that, she dropped to one knee, her head lowered. “I am to enter the Keeper’s presence, and get him to bestow upon me a name.”
Tsubaki twitched again, though even she couldn’t tell if she was pleased at the compliment, or annoyed at the implication. I brought a hand up to massage the bridge of my nose. “Why do you need me to give you a name? Can’t anyone do that?”
“Nope!” The girl shook her head firmly, but kept it lowered. “I was told that the only name that I can accept is one from you. As someone that can become anyone, the only person that has the right to label my existence is one who stands above everyone.”
A faint groan escaped my lips. This was not how I imagined my descent would begin. “I don’t sense any divinity from you. How is it that you’re able to change like that?”
“Hmm? Oh! Right, sorry, force of habit.” She said, and immediately her divinity filled her body, as if it had always been there. Even my World Sight hadn’t sensed the hidden divinity, and the reason why became clear once I saw her domains.
“Transformation, Identity, Alteration, Disguise, Substitution, Stealth, Understanding, Information, and Mimicry? How did you even get nine domains?” My eyes widened as I saw what I had only ever theorized, a single person with a true set of nine natural domains.
“Well…” The girl began, and I could hear the grin in her tone, even with her head lowered. “The first one was the old fashioned way. Then I trained in Lorek. Had my divinity forged. Commissioned a meal from the King Consort of Deckan. Obtained a Fragment in Fragments of Acidia. Mastered the art of Stealth in Ascension…”
“That’s where things actually got hard. My seventh domain came from Ascension, too, but that was really tricky since I almost lost my first one a few times, so I didn’t go for another one there. The eighth was from a golden material harvested from Fyor. And finally, I got my last domain from a black market relic that the ninjas managed to obtain!”
My eyes twitched as she listed off her various methods. It seemed like she used practically every method available in order to obtain domains. “Weren’t you worried about instability?”
“Nope!” She answered honestly and immediately. “The elders have done a lot of research, and determined that nine is the limit and perfect balance. Although there was a lot of discomfort getting to that point, I can easily say that I am satisfied with my progress.”
I gave a slow nod at that. “But… this doesn’t make sense. I sensed other domains from you when you were disguised as Lifre. As well as her specific Saint Energies. Right down to her soul, I was looking at Lifre.”
“Yup~!” The girl nodded, but kept her head lowered. “As long as I understand my target, I can assume everything about them, from their memories to their specific powers and mannerisms. Even the elders can’t identify me when I have transformed into someone, unless they see it happen.”
Her tail was wagging happily behind herself as she explained, still eagerly awaiting a name. However, I wasn’t done. “What are you going to do after I give you a name?”
Finally, the girl lifted her head, one visible eye sparkling. “I will do whatever work my senior in Olympus asks of me! If there is anything that troubles you, feel free to tell me. I was not trained to become a tool, as were the old Servants, but I am aware of my uses. I would like to enter Tsubaki’s care as her cute junior.”
“Most people don’t call themselves cute, you know…” I muttered, and her eye went wide and shaky.
“Are you saying I’m not cute?” She asked, voice trembling.
Changing the subject, I coughed and shook my head. “Regardless, I would ask for Tsubaki’s opinion on this, before assigning you to her.”
With that, I looked over at Tsubaki, who seemed to be thinking things over. “An information specialist would be helpful. Although the Greater Pantheon can see anything that they wish to see, it is difficult for them to see everything at once.”
As if taking that as approval, the new kitsune jumped to her feet and lunged to hug Tsubaki. “I knew that you’d understand! You really are like a big sister to me!”
Tsubaki’s lip twitched at that, and she sent a pleading glance in my direction. I let out a long sigh, thinking it over. “In that case… you shall be called Lena.”
The moment I said that, Lena’s body began to glow, her name appearing over her head. Everyone looked at her strangely, and we could sense the name from her. She turned to face me, lightly sticking her tongue out. “It’s a little divine ability I set up. After receiving a name from the Keeper, those in attendance will always know who I am. No matter what disguise I use or how I try to hide this information, everyone here will be able to identify me. I thought you’d all prefer it to thinking I was walking around, looking like any of you while talking to the others.”
That was… not a horrible idea, and certainly something that would have likely been worrying for the others. As for me, I could identify her with my abilities as a Keeper, but even Dana had been completely blind-sided by Lena’s reveal.
