I spent a little bit of time learning the different states of the incarnations that the gods and goddesses had been raising. Of them, the only ones that were ‘complete’ and had ascended to their full divine form were Aurivy and Udona. It really came as no surprise that Aurivy had found the time to ascend, given that she spent almost all of her time at least partially descended and working on various projects or playing with her friend.
Of the rest, they were a bit more spread out. For example, Tubrock’s incarnation had just completed his divine soul not too long ago, judging by the divine energy I could feel from him. Meanwhile, Accalia’s incarnation looked to be ready to ascend at a moment’s notice, so long as she cultivated her divine will.
Keliope, meanwhile, had not yet even begun to ascend, nor had the Terra twins. From what I saw of Keliope, she seemed to be seeking a different path, as her incarnation had undergone the procedure for both the perfect soul and body. The Terra twins, meanwhile, could be regarded as high level priests and bards, perhaps even knights. While I could feel a trace of divinity from them, it was clear that it was not concentrated enough to show that they had begun their path to ascension.
Finally, there was Irena’s incarnation, Alena. As she herself had stated, she was not a particularly high level individual. Whereas the rest of the incarnations all shared the name of the deity that they represented, such was not the case here. That was no doubt because the others were all the ‘permanent’ incarnations that the deities had prepared, whereas Irena likely did not have plans for a permanent presence.
Once I had measured their different levels of energy, I asked them to remain in Udona’s palace for now. Afterwards, I returned to the detection city. By the time I returned, I had been gone for no more than an hour, meaning that not much had changed with regards to the city itself. However, I found Dana pacing back and forth outside of the Control Hub.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I approached her, worried that something might have happened to the avatars that she had sent to the cultivation worlds. Or worse, that she learned that they were being attacked.
“Huh?” She blinked, looking up. “Ah, sorry, didn’t notice you came back, boss. I’m trying to think who I should send over to the other worlds. I ran the disposable test like you said. It’s… not really comfortable over there for people like me, since the world there draws so much of its power from starlight.”
“However, in terms of stability, there isn’t a problem with people like myself maintaining our forms. We’re not going to combust if we step into the world or anything.” Hearing her words, I let out a small sigh of relief, before furrowing my brow.
“Then, why is it so hard to decide who you want to send? Anyone should be fine, as long as they can send information back in the event of an emergency. Isn’t that right?”
She shook her head, her face looking a bit gloomy. “Wish it were so. Although we can survive over there, the shadows… aren’t as friendly to us as they are here. The first disposable I sent over to Spica got killed because it encountered a special type of monster that inhabited shadows.”
“These things don’t come out of the shadows to attack normal people, but… it seems that there is already some sort of shadow world occupying the cultivation worlds. Creatures exist beyond the darkness that devour each other, forming their own ecosystem. If it had just happened on one of the worlds, I’d think that maybe a monster had awoken that energy you taught me.”
This was the first time I had heard anything about this. However, from what she was saying, it’s only something that would affect people who could dwell within shadows like herself. Or, perhaps, those that cultivated the path of shadows. “Wait…” I furrowed my brow, thinking back.
When I had first gotten the Profound Star Laws, I had sifted through the information it contained to look for my cultivation path. In the end, I had settled on illusions, but I remember that the path of shadows had a few variations to it. Closing my eyes, I focused on drawing up the memory. “Light begets shadow. For every beast that is born within the light, there must also be one born in darkness.”
“The path of living shadows, one of the cultivation paths with the highest difficulty.” I muttered, my eyes snapping open. “When one walks this path, they will be sent into the land of shadows, unable to leave until the day their path is complete.”
“Boss?” Dana blinked, looking curiously at me with a raised brow. “What’s that about?”
“It’s a special type of star beast.” I explained. “Or rather, they could be referred to as shadow beasts. If someone practices a special cultivation technique, they will be sent into that shadow world, and must survive among those beasts until they become a God of Shadows.”
“Huh…” Dana thought about it, but did not seem particularly interested. “I wonder if my people could still come and go if they practiced it.”
I shrugged my shoulders, not having a proper answer to that. “I’m not sure. But now that I’ve remembered that… you’re right, it’s more difficult for you to choose someone to send over. They need to be strong enough to either survive in the light against the star beasts, or in the darkness against the shadow beasts. It would be best if you could just have them stay in one city and wait for something to happen, but… Lorek is a very big place. Even if the enemy attacked there, you might not be aware of it for a few hours.”
Dana gave a small nod, sighing. “I’ll send a few people for now, and just leave them in scattered cities. As long as they don’t step into the shadows, they won’t be targeted by those creatures, right?” She asked with a helpless shrug.
Nodding my head, I moved past her and into the hub, finding Tsubaki. “How did the announcement go?”
“All of the worlds have been made aware of your presence.” Tsubaki nodded her head. “Additionally, I’ve received a few requests from figures of authority in various races that would like to meet with you, once you have the time to do so.”
I brought a hand up to my head, massaging my temples. I had just gotten back from meeting with the God-Queen, after all. “Who was it, and did they say why they wanted to meet with me?”
Tsubaki gave another nod. “The first person to pose this request was the High Mother of the Metong. She wished to meet with you for a consultation, because she has decided that she wishes to ascend as a goddess. It is my belief that she wishes to become a subordinate deity to you, as such a status can be seen as higher than a god standing on their own.”
Raising a brow at that, I couldn’t help but question it internally. At least, for a moment, before I realized where that status came from. At the moment, I had two subordinate goddesses. One of these was Tsubaki herself, while the other one was Scarlet. In other words, there was the queen of an entire race, and a woman revered by everyone. After thinking about it that way, I could see why someone would think it was better to be a subordinate to me than to reach divinity on their own.
Nonetheless, I shook my head. I had no desire to take on subordinates that did not have a special meaning to me. The High Mother of the Metong, while powerful and influential as the leading figure of a galactic civilization, had no direct connection to me. “Tell her that it would be better for her to seek Tubrock for this. He’s the one that created her people, after all.”
Tsubaki understood, moving on. “The next one was Philia, the Goddess of Cities among the Sylvans. She wanted to meet you to discuss the future of her people, because she feels that she needs guidance.”
Thinking back, it wasn’t hard to understand why she thought of that. It most probably had to do with the members of a grove dying out soon after the mother tree itself did, and ways that they could preserve their civilization. “Tell her that I’ll send a message when I am free to meet with her. With the current situation as it is, I don’t want to get into a topic that won’t show results for decades right now. Was there anyone else?”
“Just one other, my Keeper.” Tsubaki nodded. “Blank wanted to meet with you about a simulation game he is preparing. He told me that it was likely something that you would be interested in.”
I couldn’t help but raise a brow at that. The High Mother and Philia both contacted me wanting some sort of aid. Meanwhile, Blank wanted to talk to me about a game he’s producing? “Did he give you any details about the game?”
Tsubaki gave a small nod of her head, closing her eyes and focusing to pull up the details. “This is a single-player roleplaying game. The protagonist of the story will be able to establish their basic character from the start, after which they will be thrown into a fully dynamic world featuring various plots for them to uncover. Anything ranging from undead gods rising to power to political struggles.”
“He said that the main focus of this game is its artificial intelligence. He’s using sentient, shackled AI that have been programmed such that they believe that their world is real. Their minds are fully functional, and they are capable of growth and emotions just like any person. However, they are hardcoded to be incapable of leaving the game or acting outside of their physical role within the world.”
“As he put it… even if you convinced someone that the world was a game, and they were a program, they would be unable to find any clear proof of this due to them not being capable of perceiving the world through the same lens as a normal AI.”
I had to admit, that could certainly be an interesting game. If I weren’t the Keeper, and had some more free time to play such games, I would probably give it a try. “Okay, it’s a good premise. However, what does he want to talk about it with me for?”
Tsubaki shook her head. “He wishes for you to use the same method of compression for the game as you did in Vision Expanse and Natural Seed. According to his calculations, a terminal capable of running this game would need to be capable of simulating the entire world in real-time in its present state.”
That… made my eye twitch. “I’ll get back to him on that.” I wasn’t even sure if it was possible to purchase a game like that through the system as a single player game. So far, the only ones that I had seen of that type were online multiplayer. Once the invasion was over, I would need to consult Sarah about the possibility of it.
“So, what do we do now that he’s gone?” Accalia asked, looking around at the other representatives of the gods. Each of them had received a message to have them meet the Keeper before their connections were cut. However, there were no further instructions as to what to do after that point. Furthermore, the Keeper himself did not tell them anything besides asking them to stay in the palace.
“Hmm… we could do a prediction?” Terra asked, her twin nodding her head.
“Yeah, yeah! That could be useful!” She answered, her lips splitting into a wide grin.
“What sort of prediction?” Keliope raised a brow, looking towards the excited kittens. “Last I heard from my goddess, there was a limit to what Terra can predict, right?”
“Well, obviously!” The first twin agreed. “But, there’s two of us! If we work together, we can figure out a lot of things.”
Udona looked towards them with a hint of curiosity. “I’m willing to give it a try. It would be interesting to see how your predictions work myself.”
The twins grinned at each other, each bringing one hand together to interlock their fingers with one another. After that, they turned, placing their backs towards one another. “I am the story that has come to pass.” The first twin said, holding her free hand forward as a golden book appeared above it.
The second twin performed a similar motion, instead saying “I am the inspiration that is to come.” After her book appeared, their interlocked hands began to glow with golden light, the two girls speaking in unison.
“We peer into the world’s fate. What is it that you wish to know?” Their voices merged, their energies seeming to radiate with one another.
Udona, sitting at her desk, furrowed her brow. It was clear that this was an ability that ‘answered questions’, rather than allowing them to look things up with their own power. Thus, she was unsure of the scope. “Where are the Keeper’s enemies?”
As soon as she asked that question, both books burst open, their pages shuffling back and forth. Again, the two girls spoke, their voices in perfect harmony. “There are many who would make an enemy of the Keeper. They exist in the sky, the land, and the sea. Their numbers are billions, but their power low. However, for those that the Keeper acknowledges as an enemy…”
The pages of both books turned black, and a black liquid could be seen slowly seeping out of the eyes of both twins. “Two forces within the eternal darkness. One lies at the origin of all things, the birthplace of creation. The other, in ruptured space, twisting through the border of worlds. Far removed, far apart. In chaos they thrive, in darkness they reign. The silver shadows streak through the abyss.”
As their words finished, the two books abruptly slammed closed, vanishing in shards of golden light. The twins fell, like puppets with their strings cut, collapsing on the ground. Udona’s eyes went wide in panic, and she rushed over to check on them. Only after confirming that they were still alive with her own divinity was she assured, as their faces had become ghastly pale.
“Perhaps they shouldn’t use their predictive powers so freely.” She muttered, reaching down to examine the black liquid staining their cheeks. It did not seem to be blood, so she took a closer look. However, as her fingers touched the liquid, it seemed to evaporate. The trails of black tears were still present, but vanished wherever Udona touched.
