“Will this really be alright?” A being made entirely of gems and stone asked, glancing towards another of her kind. They had only just arrived and established a defensive position to protect against this world’s monsters when a small creature appeared. They had similar beings in their own world, and they were often referred to as halflings. This creature did not say a word, and merely grabbed one of their own before leaving again.
“The Keeper has said before that we must be understanding of cultural differences when we transfer like this.” The apparent leader of the stone-like people answered, shaking his head. “Perhaps they did not have time to explain everything, or they needed to see if our kind can prosper here. Either way, I expect that they shall return shortly.”
The other Auran nodded their head, seeming to recall something. In their own world, they had often been considered harbingers of plague, until the local doctors were able to figure out how to deal with any diseases they may carry.
After roughly half an hour, the same golden mist appeared again. This time, over one hundred people emerged from the mist, including the little halfling and the young Auran that she had stolen away. Aside from the two of them, the rest of the figures had sleek, reflective bodies. As if they were made entirely out of liquid metal.
One of those beings, a rather motherly figure, stepped forward. She spoke in some arcane language that the Aurans couldn’t understand, until suddenly her words switched to their own language. “Can you understand me?”
The leading Auran stepped forward, nodding his head. “Of course. You must be this world’s Keeper.” He said, dropping to one knee and lowering his head. “On behalf of my people, I thank you for welcoming us.”
The silver woman blinked, eyes going wide. “No, no, you’re mistaken. I am most certainly not the Keeper. I am the High Mother, leader of a race known as the Metong.” She explained in a gentle tone. “In this realm, our race is the most adept at dealing with those like yourself. In fact, we have dealt with boron-based lifeforms before. Thus the Lady Aurivy here asked us to handle your initial quarantine period, ensuring they it was safe for all of you to properly interact with the rest of the world.”
“And before you ask, no, I’m not the Keeper, either!” Aurivy said, sticking her tongue out in a playful manner. “I just work for him.”
“Ahh, I see.” The leader of the Aurans nodded his head. “In that case, feel free to do whatever you need to do.” They had expected at least a short quarantine, so this was nothing unusual for them. Rather, the fact that they had been treated so hospitably was a welcome surprise.
“That was the idea, chief!” Aurivy nodded. “In the meantime, I believe that you have something that you were told to give us?”
The rocky face of the Aura blinked, before letting out a short exclamation. “Ah, that is correct. I suppose you wouldn’t have access to some form of storage device, would you? It would need to be large enough to hold at least fifty entities the size of myself.”
Aurivy smirked, nodding her head. “Yeah, we’ve got stuff like that.” It was clear that certain precautions had been taken in order to protect the secrecy of Oldbeard’s world. “Just to make it clear, you guys aren’t allowed to talk about the world you came from or anything, yeah?”
“Quite.” The rocky figure confirmed Aurivy’s suspicions. “Our Keeper took measures to ensure that her secrets would be kept. As such, please avoid asking any questions along that line.”
Aurivy shook her head, producing a copper lockbox and tossing it to the Auran. “Don’t worry. I can’t promise the same for everyone, but I’ve got no interest in asking about their world. At least not from you.” She chuckled. It was true that she wanted to know more about where the Aurans came from. However, if she was going to get the answers to those questions, she would rather have Dale take her to Oldbeard’s world so that she could play with the other Keeper.
“Thank you for your understanding.” The Auran let out a relieved sigh, catching the lockbox. “Is this device operated through any special code, or simply inserting mana?”
“Just mana.” Aurivy answered. “It should be plenty large enough to meet your needs, though keep in mind that it doesn’t have a perfect weight cancellation feature yet.”
After moving away from ‘void storage’, items such as this had become more and more developed over the years. The expanded space within a lockbox the side of a single brick could contain over a hundred cubic meters. At the same time, the weight reduction had managed to get as high as a staggering ninety percent. While that was not a perfect cancellation, it was enough to allow people to carry far more than their normal load.
The Auran let out a faint grinding sound as he studied the lockbox for a moment. Afterwards, his hand seemed to drop suddenly, just an inch or two. Enough to show the weight of the contents being delivered into the item. Once he was done, he leaned down to set the box on the ground gently, causing it to sink just slightly into the ground.
“I believe that this should be considered a complete delivery. Additionally, our Keeper included something extra as a surprise. She said that it was a means of thanking your Keeper for a past favor.”
Aurivy raised a curious brow at that, stepping forward and picking up the lockbox. Naturally, she noticed its weight, nearly a full ton. Thankfully, as a goddess, she was more than capable of picking up such a load with a single hand. Her mana scanned over the contents, finding not one but two types of items. “Mind if I ask what the gift is?”
“We call this device a System Stone.” The Auran explained with a faint nod. “It operates by connecting with the world’s system, and can install that system onto a creature. In the words of our Keeper, it allows us to enlighten specific individuals, uplifting them and allowing them access to the systems that we all enjoy.”
Aurivy’s jaw practically hit the floor when she heard that explanation, staring at the lockbox again. Despite its weight not affecting her, she instinctively began using both hands to hold it. “I-Is it reusable?”
The Auran’s head made a grinding noise as it shook. “Each stone can only be used once, as the transfer of the system causes it to shatter. However, there should be enough of them in that device to begin production in your own world.”
Aurivy gave a shaky nod, studying the contents once again. Perhaps it was a theme of Oldbeard’s world, but both items took the appearance of crystal spheres. However, one set of the spheres was a soft blue in color, while the other was silver. “I’ll get this delivered, then.” She said, looking towards the High Mother. “Let me know when your people are ready to leave.”
After saying that, Aurivy didn’t even wait for the High Mother to answer before golden mist wrapped around her body, allowing her to vanish from the dark plains.
I gave a small sigh as I approached the research facility. As I had told Scarlet, it was time for me to receive my third domain. This was… probably the first time that I had ever been to this facility in person, even though it was not their ‘main building’. The area where they had produced their ‘God Forge’ was a neighboring building that they used for matters that might disrupt their normal experiments.
As I approached, I could hear the deep clanking of a metal press, hammer striking against ore. Clearly, they already had a ‘customer’. When I entered, I saw an elven woman sitting on a nearby bench, watching as a machine on the far wall operated. With every deep clang, sparks flew up to the tinted glass window, revealing the golden material within.
The woman noticed my entrance, lifting her head to nod at me. It seemed as if she was the one that was waiting for her divinity to be smelted. A quick scan of the woman revealed that she was not currently a deity, though her energy was powerful enough that she had an even chance at ascending through the normal method.
It didn’t seem like she immediately recognized me, but I wasn’t all that concerned. Instead, I walked over to the counter, where I saw Thessa sitting with her terminal active. As she saw me approach, she gave me a business smile, before doing a quick double-take. “A-Ah! I’m sorry, if I knew you were coming, we would have gotten everything prepared for you.”
I shook my head, smiling and waving for her to calm down. “It’s fine. I didn’t want to make a fuss. Should I wait for your current work to be over, and then come back?” I asked, gesturing to the now confused elven woman.
“No, no, it’s fine. We have a secondary machine prepared for advanced forging.” As she said that, she quickly grabbed the small, spherical terminal crystal and disabled its projected display. “Lena, pardon me, but I’ll be right back once I get this settled.”
The elf, Lena apparently, barely had time to utter a “What–” before Thessa guided me out of the room, into an adjacent area.
This new area looked roughly the same as the previous, though the machine on the far wall was admittedly somewhat more bulky. “Have you been told how long the process takes yet?” Thessa asked as she installed her terminal into the counter in this room, quickly typing in the necessary details.
“I watched Lifre and Tsubaki take the procedure.” I nodded, thinking back to when they went through it. “It should be five or six hours, as I recall.”
“That’s right.” Thessa nodded her head, the machine on the far wall hissing with the sound of sliding metal plates and pistons. “Once you’re ready, please open the window and place your hand in the vat inside. The surface should feel a little wet, but once you transfer some of your divinity into it, you are free to wash your hands off to the side.”
As she said, there was a sink on the right wall, clearly for customers to wash their hands. I gave a small nod, walking over and opening the tinted window. Inside, there was a stone vat containing a bubbling red liquid. Reaching in, I placed my hand atop it and transferred just enough divinity that the liquid began to give a brilliant golden glow.
“Alright, that should be good, sir.” Thessa smiled. Once I pulled my hand back, she closed and locked the window, letting me go and wash off my hand. “You are free to stay and watch the procedure, or you can let us call you when your divinity is ready.” As she said that, a faint rush of energy could be felt within the machine, the initial processes already starting up.
“I’ll wait.” I said with a faint nod, moving to sit on the bench. “Feel free to tend to your other customer.”
Thessa offered a thankful smile, entering in a few more figures on her terminal before picking it up again. “Then, I wish you the best with your new domain, Keeper.” She said, before leaving the room.
Thankfully, this entire process was automated, and there were likely alarms set to go off if anything went wrong. Thus, I was able to sit back, relax, and–
“Dale!” Aurivy shouted from three inches in front of my face, causing me to flinch back on the bench. Her eyes were wide, almost manic as she looked at me.
“Was there a problem with the shipment?” I asked hesitantly, though I didn’t want to believe that Oldbeard would go back on the trade agreement. She definitely did not seem like the type for something like that.
“Huh? No! Not even close! Better than expected! She even threw in a bonus gift!” Aurivy explained, nearly bouncing on her feet.
“Bonus…?” That confused me. I had told Oldbeard that there wasn’t anything else listed that I particularly wanted, so why would she throw in something extra? And why would Aurivy be so excited about that?
Aurivy retrieved a soft blue sphere of crystal from a storage device on her person, displaying it to me. “This is something that they call a System Stone! With it, you can give the world’s system to non-purchased entities! That means you don’t have to spend points to buy existing races anymore, right!?”
My eyes widened at her explanation, and the fact that my observation of the stone confirmed her words. Now I knew why Oldbeard had included this gift… it was something that she hadn’t listed in her trade options. This item should be one of her world’s ‘secrets’. Moreover, this could be used to save a large sum of points in the future, especially if they were mass produced and distributed to the Metong’s Network.
“That’s… a lot more than I expected.” I muttered, looking at the small sphere. The information displayed by my Keeper analysis listed that the item was a consumable, but that did not make it any less powerful. So long as it was not too expensive to produce, it would soon become a rather important item for diplomatic missions when encountering new races.
