Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Dana to find Ryone, who was currently stationed in her own palace. She was studying fifth-tier magic with Gerard, a common occurrence for her in recent times. The two of them stood before a mana miniaturization table, which assisted them in shrinking down the mana that they released to create the microscopic adjustments needed for magic of the fifth tier.
When Dana entered, Ryone looked over with a smile. “Oh, hey! Did you come to join the research?” She asked, though Dana shook her head at that.
“No, actually. I came to get your help with something. We need Terra’s Origin mode to operate at full power for a short while, so I wanted to get your help. I’ve already made the spell, and can transfer it to you as soon as you agree.”
Hearing Dana say that, Ryone chuckled, waving a hand for Gerard to take a break. Afterwards, she turned to look at Dana again. “If you’re needing my help with this, it must have an exorbitant mana cost, right? I know it can’t be the complexity, since your mana affinity is even higher than mine when I don’t use my divinity.”
Dana’s eyes widened at that, having always assumed that Ryone’s affinity was naturally at one hundred percent. “Sorry, I wasn’t aware of that. But, yes, the required mana is roughly twenty million per cast. The Keeper might have the mana reserves to cast it once, but even if he could, it would leave him drained. That’s why I came to you.”
Ryone tilted her head at that, blinking. “Twenty million? What on earth are you trying to do that requires such an astronomical number?”
A spark of playfulness appeared in Dana’s eyes. “In order to get the Origin of Fate to operate at full power, we need to modify the void-like structure of her body to be similar to a normal Origin, before they have created their world. Additionally, we need to create a world with simulated living creatures and civilization, that way there is a ‘fate’ for her to manipulate in the real world. At the same time, her original state must be saved to ensure a gentle transfer as the effects of the spell end.”
Ryone widened her eyes briefly, nodding her head in understanding. “I see. Using mana to manipulate a void-like body, and then allowing a gentle return. Not to mention creating a simulated world like that… I can understand the cost now. Really, that blessing you got is absurd.”
Dana chuckled slightly, walking over and holding her hand out. A nearly solid blue sphere appeared above her hand, and she looked at Ryone expectantly. “This is the spell I created to share the Origin spell with you. Once you place your hand in it, it will give you a skill that integrates with your system profile, and that skill will store the spell. That way, you won’t have to worry about its complexity, and can just cast it as you need to.”
Ryone blinked, looking down at the spell hovering over Dana’s hand. “I’d say creating a skill-bestowing spell might almost be as spectacular as the Origin spell itself. At the very least, it has more widespread uses.” As she said that, she placed her hand within the spell that Dana created. Sure enough, she received a prompt from the system, informing her that she had learned a new skill.
Dana simply shook her head. “The uses for this are too limited. I can use it to share spells, or energy combination methods, but physical skills are far more restrictive. Also, if I’m not careful with the skill, I’ll hit Ashley’s firewall. Otherwise, there would be dozens of people out there that would have made skills to give themselves unlimited experience.”
“I suppose.” Ryone nodded, closing her eyes as she felt the presence of the new skill, and began to study the spell within it. “I see. Are you wanting this spell cast right away?” She asked. When Dana agreed, Ryone held out a hand wrapped in her divinity, creating a softly glowing blue marble.
“Thanks.” Dana reached out to take the marble. “By the way, what type of fifth-tier spell are you trying to create?”
Ryone’s eyes opened, looking at the table where they had been studying. “Honestly, we’re just trying to create something that works, so we can understand more of the patterns necessary.”
Dana pursed her lips, but nodded her head. “Sure. That seems a little wasteful, though. Like downloading a massive program only to have it print out ‘Hello World’ and shut itself down. Honestly, I’m not even sure what the scope of fifth-tier magic would be, since full intelligence and world creation are the realm of the fourth tier.”
Ryone gave a small smile at that. “It’s more like using a high level programming language, rather than a large program. We’re just learning the code now. As for what fifth-tier magic can do… if my theory is correct, you could create multiple different intelligences, each with their own specialties. Alternatively, you could create a world with far more detail. For instance, the simulated world in the spell you created, a fifth-tier spell could create it for real, creating the world with an already-thriving civilization.”
Dana’s eyes twitched wider, and she nodded again. “Right, that makes sense. Anyways, I need to go find Terra. Good luck with your research.” She said, before turning to leave.
“Oh, hey Dana!” One of the Terra twins said when Dana suddenly appeared within their palace, where the two were playing a video game together. “Did that life story situation get taken care of?”
Dana’s brow twitched when she saw the two playing like this, her lips curving into a small smirk. “Not yet… is this really the time to play games?”
“Big sis upstairs said that if you needed us again, you’d let us know.” The other sister pointed out. “And if you didn’t need us, we were free to do whatever we wanted. So, if it’s not taken care of already, that means you have something you need us to do?”
“That’s right.” Dana nodded her head. “We need the Origin of Fate in order to resolve the issue. Or, at the very least, that’s what our current plan is. Mind pausing the game to help us out?”
As soon as she asked that, the twins paused their game and stood up. “Sure!” They said in perfect harmony. “So, you want the other one, huh?”
After asking that, the two of them began to merge, having long since given up the pretext of needing a fancy ritual to fuse. Within moments, the Origin of Fate stood before Dana, smiling with pitch-black eyes. “You come bearing presents?”
“That’s right. And, if you’re saying that, I assume you know whether or not this will work?” Dana asked, retrieving the glowing marble.
“Of course. The child blessed by magic would not create a faulty spell. As for writing the end of a story… were I still but a goddess, that may prove tricky. After all, it is a story that is already completed, so altering my own works could have damaged the divinity from which it was produced. With that trinket in your hands, however, I can do far more.”
Dana nodded her head with a smile, tossing the marble towards Terra. She caught it in the air, swallowing it as if it were a pill. Her body convulsed, skin seeming to shake all along her body. From her expression, it was clear that this was not a painless process. Dana had anticipated that, as she was fundamentally altering Terra’s energy structure.
The entire process took roughly five minutes, after which she stood with a long exhale. “That was… unpleasant. And you are hoping that I will go through that for any dangerous invasion in the future?”
Dana couldn’t help but chuckle awkwardly. “Well… it would really help if we had the Origin of Fate when we needed to deal with any universal threats.”
Terra arched a brow at that. “I suppose. It looks like I’ll be stuck in this form for the next day or two, until your spell fades. It’s preventing me from being able to separate back into my two halves.”
That was something that Dana hadn’t anticipated, but it made sense. “I see… sorry about that. Do you think that you can handle those stories now?”
Terra thought about it for a moment, nodding her head. Seeing that, Dana called over Lena, informing her that they were ready. Lena blinked, but then handed over the six books to Terra. “Here you go, chief!” Lena said with a smile, and Terra returned the gesture as she took the books.
“Thank you.” She said, before opening the first book and flipping to the end. “Thankfully, Dana provided me with a world with a proper civilization, where stories are shared among one another. With just a little work, I can bring those stories to live within my inner world, granting me the power to influence the world with the written word.”
As she spoke, she manifested a pen from her hand, and began to quickly write. “The gluttonous one will meet his end devoured by a hungry beast. The poisoner will fall prey to her own poisons. The assassin, robbed and left to bleed out in an alley. As they lived, so shall they die.” Her hand seemed to blur, finishing each book in only a matter of seconds. When she closed each book, the covers shifted from soft, golden leather to pitch black.
Once she was done with all six, she looked at Lena and Dana. “The sentences will be carried out in due time. By the end of the week, these six will have fallen.” After saying so, she handed the books back. “Afterwards, the highest Terra wishes for these books to be disposed of.”
“That was the plan!” Lena nodded her head enthusiastically. “Also, is she fine with letting the last one stick around as an everyday worker?”
Terra’s lips twitched at that. “Her wrath faded long ago. In some ways, allowing him to live in a world where he has no influence, and is weaker than most children, would be a greater torment than simply killing him. One day, he may wish to die, and find himself incapable of it. Forced to continue an unending, monotonous existence. All the while knowing that if he ever sought to strike out against those who gave him this fate, he will condemn himself to a far worse torment.”
Lena couldn’t help but blink at that. “You know, you said that her wrath faded, but that was pretty dark.”
“I said that her wrath faded.” Terra confirmed with a chuckle. “I am still annoyed, personally. After all, I only learned about all of this recently. Regardless, she has given her consent for him to live a normal life. Is there anything else that you need of me?”
Dana shook her head, a small grin on her face. “No, that should be it. I’d say that you can get back to your game, but it looks like that will have to wait until after the spell wears off.”
“Quite.” Terra nodded her head in agreement. “Though, it does feel nice to experience what it is like to truly be an Origin. I had long since given up on the idea that I would ever feel this way.”
Dana glanced up at Terra briefly. “Well, it’s not permanent. And, like we said before, we’ll be counting on you when the next big invasion comes.”
Though Dana said that, she wasn’t entirely confident that even the Origin of Fate would be able to turn things around for them in such an event. After all, an advanced civilization capable of creating Origins would likely create countermeasures against various types of Origins as well, just like Dana was trying to do with Tubrock. The most necessary countermeasure would be against one with the power to directly control death or fate, so she was fully expecting that future invasions would be wary against them.
