Mora turned, smiling towards the nearby Immortals who had come to watch the ascension. As many of them had become ‘invested’ in Mora’s plan, they wanted to know what the final result would ultimately be. Had their stars been wasted in their attempts to preserve their future, or had they managed to open up a path of ultimate power for themselves?
“Well, I must say that it is not as I imagined it to be.” Mora admitted to the other Immortals, who paled at the thought of their stars having gone to waste. Some even began to think of ways that they could retrieve those stars from their seeded disciples. “It would seem that there is no… direct benefit from doing this. However, there is quite the important indirect benefit.”
“My star has been returned to me.” She explained, and the faces of those immortals showed relief. As long as the star was returned, they would be able to reach the peak of their power after their disciples ascended. “At the same time, this star now connects to the inner sky of our new Sword Immortal. Through this connection, we may gleen each other’s insights by comparing our galaxies. With each insight obtained, we receive a new star. I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you what this means…”
“Aye, lass…” The Flame Immortal nodded his head, stroking his red beard as his mind raced. If one star could connect to one disciple… he furrowed his brow, looking at the newly ascended Sword Immortal. “Lad, can ye really sense yer master’s stars?”
The new Sword Immortal looked at him with a calm expression, before closing his eyes and focusing. After a moment, he shook his head to deny the claim. This time, Mora seemed quite surprised. “The connection is only one way…?”
“Aye.” The Flame Immortal nodded. “It’s just as ye said when we started this plan, lass. This is similar to the process of a Subordinate Deity. The Subordinate does not have free access to the power of the master. However, if it’s working like this, perhaps yer disciple can seed the system of another, and both of ye will enjoy the benefits.”
Mora stroked her chin curiously. If this were true, then there were other things that she needed to test. It had to be known that the master in a subordinate relationship could bestow divine power to their people. With that in mind, it should be possible for them to send some of their light to their disciples as well.
The Flame Immortal’s thoughts were moving in a different direction. By repeatedly gathering more and more disciples, it would be possible to continuously expand their foundation in their respective paths. Doing so would only cause them to grow more powerful over time.
Furthermore, by sending disciples out to roam the world and build up their own knowledge in the wild, their insights would diverge more from those of their teacher than if they were simply left in the clan. If there ever came a day when their insights expanded enough, would they truly be able to establish additional galaxies within their inner skies? Perhaps that would become the future rating method for Immortals.
“Looks like I’ll need to spur the kids on a bit more.” He grunted. It was no wonder that Mora’s disciple had ascended first, as she had seeded hers before even telling everyone else about the method. Now that they were aware of the results, these first generation Immortals would be able to steadily increase their power while fending off the star beasts from beyond their planet.
“Well, then…” Mora smiled, her eyes remaining closed. “Once I have finished processing the new insights from my disciple, I shall go to chase away some of those beasts outside.”
Her words sent a shock through the gathered Immortals, who all realized the significance of what she had said. She was the first to do this… until one of their own disciples ascended, her power would far outclass their own once she had finished digesting the knowledge.
If the other party had been an Immortal that was openly hostile to others, they would have no choice but to strike together while she was still weakened. However, Mora had always been a rather straightforward person, and had not overly angered any of those gathered.
Still, this left these Immortals with the realization that it would not be long before the balance of power began to shift within the world. Those who were able to do like Mora did and raise a new group of Immortals would soon occupy the highest level of authority within both Lorek and Spica.
This was of particular concern for Spica, as their government was still currently established so that cultivators were not the ones in power. Although this was done to prevent personal interests from taking over the planetary government, it was likely that it would change in time. After all, there were numerous self-governing bodies within the world such as the Wood Elves, the Sea Elves, and so on. They had always maintained their stance of self-government, and had never interfered with the world’s path.
Now that there was a path to power that surpassed even ordinary Immortals, however… it was hard to say if their non-interference would continue. It had always been the case in any region where the explosive growth of one party led to a desperate increase in their surroundings. Nobody wished to be the last one to adapt to the changes, as those people were inevitably the targets of discrimination.
Within the Sky Citadel, I emerged roughly twelve hours after entering to begin my training. The embryonic divine weapons were still yet to mature, and I had practiced what skills I could manage without the use of special materials or considerable space. When I emerged, I was naturally met by Tsubaki, who offered a deep bow towards me.
“Welcome back, my Keeper. I trust that your training went well.” She said in a respectful tone, her nine tails swaying behind her body.
“As well as can be expected.” I responded, sighing. Her ear twitched, and she looked up to meet my gaze.
“Is there something troubling you? If so, perhaps I may lend an ear?”
I gave her a small smile, thinking it over. “I suppose that there would be no harm in explaining. Perhaps you might have knowledge of something that I’ve overlooked.”
Walking down the hall, I found a bench to sit down on, patting the spot next to myself. Tsubaki’s eyes darted from side to side, before eventually sitting down next to me. “In short… I need somewhere to properly train. I had planned to use my World’s Shadow, but I found… something that dissuaded me from doing so.”
“Have you considered the use of the new VR Headsets?” Tsubaki asked softly, to which I nodded.
“I thought about it, and it might work. My concern is whether it will properly be able to simulate the Keeper’s power. If it does, that would be the best-case scenario. However, if my power overloads it, there is the potential of a serious incident.” That was why I hadn’t used the new headsets in the first place. After all, they essentially create a projection of your very soul. It was feasibly possible for the device to be overloaded, and the soul to become trapped within. I did not know if that would count as a form of ‘death’ in the system.
Tsubaki’s face became troubled at that. After all, there was no proper way to test such a level of power. Nobody else in the entire alliance of worlds would come close to the strain that I would place on these devices. “I see… I agree, that’s not a risk that we can afford to take lightly, my Keeper. In that case… is there perhaps a way that you could promote a God of Simulation? Or perhaps a system that you could buy to properly train your powers?”
I gave a bitter smile. “In truth, there is a system like that, but I can only use it back in the Admin Room against predetermined monsters. I could technically train there, but… there are things that I cannot do there if I get the inspiration.”
“For instance, I thought of creating a dungeon core with my World’s Shadow, making a powerful dungeon full of shadow beasts. Ideas that would create a permanent change can only be thought about, but not implemented unless I am down here. While it is certainly safer to train with that system, it is… stifling, I suppose you could say.”
“Perhaps you simply need a proper training partner to keep your mind at ease?” Tsubaki suggested, though I shook my head again.
“I remember back when you trained me. If it were like those days, then I could certainly ask you to join me. However, the strength of the world has grown in all aspects, and has caused me to similarly grow. At this point, the sheer volume of my energy would make training against any living inhabitant of the world ineffective.” Tsubaki’s ears drooped slightly as I said that, and I could tell that she thought I was dismissing her strength.
Reaching over, I scratched once between her ears, causing her tails to stand completely straight for a moment. “I know how powerful you are, Tsubaki. If I were training my basic abilities, I would be more than willing to ask for your help. The abilities I’m training right now are far beyond what anyone else in my world is capable of. The only thing I can receive help from others for this is ideas.”
“For instance… I know that I can utilize the powers of the four elements to create a planet in the same way that the others created Sanctum. It would be draining to do so, but I’m confident that I could succeed at least once. What I need is a list of domains that could interact to produce powerful attacks and defenses. Powers that would far surpass the sum of their abilities.”
Tsubaki blinked at that, turning to look at me. I could see a smile starting to form on her face. “That means that there is something that I can do.” She said confidently. “I am familiar with every registered deity in your worlds, my Keeper. I know their domains, and how they utilize them.”
“While I may not have the experience of Lady Chelsea, I am confident that I could create several powers befitting your requirements. For instance… your own Mirrors domain, combined with the Archery domain of Thessa Grid. Using two mirrors as portals, you shatter one while firing an arrow into it. Each shard of the broken mirror then produces a copy of that arrow.”
“The power of the Knights domain can be used to summon an army of knights, while the Enchantment domain can enchant each knight’s equipment with the power of a different domain.” Tsubaki’s eyes trailed off to the wall as she spoke.
“You could create divine scrolls with the power of the Papers and Words domains, imbuing them with various abilities. If you were to write a book with the three domains of Paper, Words, Stage, and Adventure, you could trap your enemies within those books. The power of the Cities domain could be mixed with Crafts and Archery to produce a powerful fortress…”
Tsubaki’s words were cut off when I let out a sudden laugh. Her cheeks darkened, her eyes glancing down at the floor as if she thought that she had done something wrong. “That’s brilliant, Tsubaki.” I praised, and her eyes went wide.
While the ideas had started out simple, she quickly began coming up with more complex and powerful combinations. “I’ll give you a full list of my domains. With your combat experience, I’d like you to try and come up with more ‘ultimate combinations’ like that. I’ll be relying on them for the future.”
Tsubaki’s head bobbed up and down repeatedly, nodding energetically. “Of course, my Keeper!” She replied in an eager tone, happy to have found a way of helping. As for myself… I was quite interested in trying out that book idea. It seemed similar to Terra’s method, but I felt as if it would produce strikingly different results.
