As the days passed by, Alkahest had still not contacted me regarding our upcoming match together. I could somewhat understand what was going on, as I was only just promoted to Rank Five, so he likely did not believe that I had anything valuable to offer as a trade. Either that, or he was still consolidating his growth after he had to reset a few years ago.
It was also possible that he was simply too busy. From what I recall, he was the type to get extremely involved in his own worlds, whether it was managing them directly or simply helping out with construction projects. Personally, I wasn’t comfortable doing something that would make me such an easy target, especially when there are so many abilities in my world that could apply instant death if a target was out in the open like that.
I was sure that his world wouldn’t have had so many such things, if he were willing to stay out in the open like he did. After all, he was a far more experienced Keeper than myself, having been around back when James was in charge of things.
As I was thinking that, the door to my office opened. Turning my head, I saw Dana walking in with a small smile. “Did you finish your joint project with Tubrock?” I asked, and she let out a low groan.
“Yeah, I really didn’t expect him to be so excited about it. Even when we had the item done, he insisted that we go through a long series of detailed tests. Anyways, here it is.” She said, opening her inventory and retrieving a jet black ring.
Looking at the ring curiously, I couldn’t help but question. “So… what does it do?” I could see a bit of information, thanks to my abilities as the Keeper, but it was still better to have a more comprehensive explanation.
Dana smiled a bit wider at that. “Simply put, it’s a Void Stability Ring. It has the passive ability to weaken or eliminate void-related effects in the bearer’s vicinity, depending on the strength. Simply having it on you will make Origins uncomfortable around you, but it will also protect you to a degree against their abilities, as well as the abilities of Fallen Gods or memetic monsters.”
“If you infuse your mana into it, you can temporarily strengthen this effect. However, I should note that with the ring on, you won’t be able to access void gates to travel anymore. Every type of void gate that we’ve tested has immediately closed itself around the ring. Even manifesting an Origin power related to travel through shadows didn’t work. According to our theory, it’s because transportation effects are highly complex, so weakening them like that will completely unravel the power.”
I blinked in surprise, looking down at that ring. “If it makes Origins uncomfortable, wouldn’t that apply to you, too?” I asked, and Dana chuckled slightly.
“Yeah, but it’s not too bad. It’s not a discomfort as if I feel like my body is about to break down. More… as if I’m around something with a strong smell. I feel an aversion to it, but as long as I understand the source, I can generally ignore it.” She explained, before blinking.
“Oh, and I should add a bit more to that explanation from before. The ring can be safely stored in your inventory. However, even if it’s in your inventory, the energy from it will leak out, providing the passive effects. I wanted to try to find a way to seal it off in the inventory, but we couldn’t come up with a solution that didn’t involve weakening the ring itself. Additionally, you won’t be able to supply mana to the ring when it’s in your inventory, so it is generally better to wear it when you can.”
Nodding, I reached out to take the ring, slipping it on my finger. Dana let out a sigh of relief, shaking her hand slightly. “Sorry. Like I said, uncomfortable. Basically, felt like I was holding sludge. Anyways, do you have any other questions regarding the ring?”
I thought about that for a moment, before looking at Dana. “How strong is the protective effect?”
Dana grinned, as if she had been expecting that question. “Follow me, boss.” She said, turning to leave the office. With a nod, I stood to follow her. Thankfully, the teleportation elevators of Olympus didn’t use void travel as their means of transportation, so we were able to travel to her territory without any issue.
I guess I’ll be relying more on Aurivy’s travel powers again in the future. I thought to myself, since I was unlikely to be able to get around as I had been up until now.
As I was thinking about that, Dana led me to a large testing room, which looked similar to a firing range. At one side of the firing range was an empty pedestal. “Go ahead and put the ring over there.” She gestured, and I did so. Thankfully, the pedestal seemed to be far enough away that the effects didn’t seem to bother Dana at that range. Afterwards, I returned to her side to watch the performance.
“So, let’s focus on basic attacks, since that’s what you really need to be concerned with here.” She said, stretching her arms out to her sides. Black droplets of darkness rose from her shadows, congealing into the form of two large spears. “The more simple the attack, the less the weakening will affect it. Right now, this is one of the simplest methods of attacks I have, but it still involves redefining shadows into a tangible material to craft weapons out of them. Because of that…”
She threw one spear towards the end of the firing range that did not have the ring, and it crashed heavily into the wall, embedding itself more than a foot deep and causing the room to shake. After that, she threw the remaining spear towards the area under the ring’s coverage. The spear still crashed into the wall, but did not pierce through. Instead, it seemed to splash against it, turning into a liquid before dissolving.
“There was still the impact of the attack, but it lost its piercing effect. Now, I’m going to use a much more complex ability. This time, I will wield a weapon made of sentient darkness, with properties similar to acid.” Once again, Dana held her hand out, manifesting another spear. This time, I could see writhing veins along the spear’s length, as well as red eyes that kept opening and closing. “I call it the shadow that melts the flesh.” She grinned, before throwing the spear towards the ring.
However, this time, the spear seemed to entirely unravel and vanish moments before it struck the ring, as if it had hit some invisible force. “See? The more complex the power, the easier it is to unravel by weakening its key parts. Because of this, you have more to worry about from something like an Origin of Fire than you would an Origin of Death. The Origin of Death would need a rather complex ability to wield death itself as an attack, but the Origin of Fire would be able to wield all manners of natural flames with very little complexity.”
I nodded my head in understanding, my eyes focused on the ring. “I see… though, I doubt that Terra’s Origin side will be able to operate around me when I’m using that.”
Dana blinked at that, before nodding. “Yeah… we actually ran a test for that with her help. We tested it through an educational stream, to ensure that it would be safe, but the twins can’t combine around the ring. The fusion process just outright fizzles out. If they’re already fused, the Origin of Fate becomes incredibly weak around the ring.”
“At least it doesn’t pose an immediate threat to their life.” I said with a sigh. “Is there anything else that you need to demonstrate?”
“Yeah.” Dana nodded again. “This next bit isn’t likely to be as relevant to you, but it’s worth pointing out. The ring also has a very slight restraining property on raw mana. Most of the time, you won’t even notice. The only time it will be relevant is when the mana usage is on the level of the Absurdity of Fate. After all, that technique is all about twisting the world with one’s thoughts, and starts to touch the level of information control.”
To demonstrate, Dana slashed her arm out, her palm flat like a blade. Immediately, a thin cut formed along the far wall, though that stopped once the cut neared the pedestal where the ring was. “Like I said, it won’t do anything with normal magic. I tested with the first through fourth tiers, and even asked Gerard to see if it had any effect on him like it did me. All of our tests concluded that the only restraining effect it had on mana was when it was targeted by something like the Absurdity of Fate.”
I nodded my head in satisfaction. Given that this was still the passive protection offered by the ring, I was curious what the mana-empowered protection would be like. However, I knew that Dana wouldn’t want to throw spears at me while I wore the ring to test that. If anything, she’d call Lena or Tsubaki in and ask them to wear the ring for those tests. And personally, I didn’t want to see them getting attacked like that.
Walking over to the pedestal, I picked the ring up and put it on again. “At least with this, I’ll have a certain degree of protection. The more esoteric Origins won’t be able to hurt me much, which has been the biggest concern we’ve had since you discovered how to create Origins in the first place. You did good, Dana.” I said, and she smiled at the praise. “How hard is it to make these rings?”
Dana pulled a face when I asked that, and I could already tell that it was not something that could be mass produced. “Ignoring the cost of the tools, or the advanced magic that I had to use, and focusing purely on material costs… Each ring costs about a thousand black gold coins. And that’s assuming that you’re able to craft it properly on the first try.”
My eyes went wide at that. As I had recently come to understand the value of a black gold coin, I knew that meant a single ring was equivalent to a billion dollars. And since she mentioned her magic, I can only assume that a normal mage wouldn’t be able to craft it as reliably as she had. Suddenly, the ring felt far more heavy on my finger. “What materials could have possibly cost that much…”
Dana chuckled, crossing her arms. “The condensed heart of a neutron star, the blood of a thousand year dragon, and the tears of a perfected World Spirit. That last one doesn’t really have a price tag, by the way. If you aren’t close with her, she’s definitely not going to give you her tears, no matter how much you pay.”
“So… the heart of a neutron star, and blood from a dragon that has lived for a thousand years… okay, I can understand the price tag a bit more now. How did you even find a dragon that old? I thought that they’d all have died during the apocalyptic invasion.” I asked, incredulous.
“There are a few compatible draconic races in the new Metong universe.” Dana answered with a grin. “The ones that live that long are pretty rare, but we managed to negotiate for a blood sample from one of their elders.”
Honestly, the heart of a star alone could easily be worth a billion dollars. I thought to myself, nodding my head. “Got it. Any final notes about the ring?”
Dana tilted her head in thought. “Hmm… oh, it will feel like it has gained additional weight whenever it comes into contact with an ability it defends against. Not much, but it’s worth noting. Basically, I had to use magic to reduce the weight of the heart of a star, and whenever it starts working, that magic is very slightly impacted.”
I couldn’t help but pause at that, looking down at the ring. It definitely felt heavier than it did when I first put it on. “Does that include when you’re around?” I asked, and she nodded her head.
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t be close enough to activate it right now. I don’t feel the effects of the ring.” Dana shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, it seems a Fallen God somewhere is targeting me with something.” I pointed out with a wry smile, causing Dana’s face to stiffen up.
Don’t worry. Terra spoke up mentally with a light laugh. This isn’t a malicious attack or anything. It’s actually one of your fans. They’re trying to watch you through their fallen domain.
…I have fans that are bored enough to watch my daily life with void powers? I asked, eyes widening slightly.
Oh, definitely. Not many can get past the protections Tubrock put on Olympus, so I keep a close eye on the few that do, just to make sure they don’t do anything they shouldn’t.
