I had been more than happy to preside over the wedding of Geoff and Hanya, even though we weren’t announcing just what meritorious deed afforded them such an honor. In truth, there were many people confused about why I was doing what I was doing, but they still chose to attend the wedding regardless. After all, when the ruler of the realm hosted a wedding, anyone who could would choose to be there.
From kings and gods to parents that could just barely afford a Virtual converter for them and their families. The digital venue that we prepared had to be expanded many times over, until we simply turned it into a boundless, procedurally generated map with Ashley’s help.
When the main ceremony itself was over, everyone got together and cleared the floor. Udona replaced me at the podium, which was itself replaced by a microphone, her voice echoing out across the map.
Someone told me once
About this certain point of view.
How dreams you hold to tight
Are just waiting to come true.
So here’s the secret.
Make a wish right now.
When the world tries to hurt you
Just remember this vow.
It’s true.
It’s all you need.
A single hope, a single prayer
A single shining light to see.
When darkness closes ‘round you
A single wish can set you free.
It seems that often
Our dreams appear so far.
But when you look back at your life
You remember where you are.
So here’s the secret.
Make a wish right now.
Hold it close, and hold it fast
‘Cause it’ll never let you down!
It’s true.
It’s time to shine.
When wishes glow like starlight.
When true love feels divine.
You look inside yourself and say
“I took this wish and made it mine!”
So tell the story now
About this certain point of view.
How dreams you hold to tight
Are just waiting to come true.
Because now you’ve felt it.
You hold it every night.
You see your dream beside you
So now it’s time to share the light.
It’s true.
It’s your turn now.
I smiled as I watched Udona pouring her heart into the mic. It was clearly a song she wrote specifically for this pair, but at the same time, I could feel her own story in it. I shook my head, looking off to see Julia and Aurivy dancing together, or Hanya and Geoff, Blank and Vivi, James and Chelse… so many familiar faces that had gotten together over the years.
As I was thinking about that, I felt a hand on my arm. When I turned, I saw Irena standing there with a gentle smile on her face, her other hand extended in invitation. My smile grew wider as I took her hand, knowing that I had gained such connections myself as well.
We danced into the night, sometimes switching partners and sometimes simply chatting with one another. However, I knew that it was a time that none of us would forget.
Back in the real world, after synchronizing my memories with my Virtual self, I let out a long sigh. The wedding had dispersed, and it was time to focus on other things. Before I had left the Admin Room to descend to the world, I had asked everyone in the Admin Room to put together a list of things that they felt we could use to improve ourselves for up to four hundred thousand points.
Assuming that they found anything appropriate, this would be my biggest spending spree since I became a Keeper. Closing my eyes, I focused on returning to the Admin Room. It was time to see what they had put together.
When I arrived, I could see that the living room was remarkably empty. However, there were voices coming from further down the hall, so I turned to follow them. The destination that they led me to was none other than the meeting room that had not seen much use in quite a long while. It appeared that nearly all of the Admin Room residents were present, even Chel sitting off in a chair and listening to everyone’s opinions.
Everyone stopped talking when I opened the door, turning to look at me. “Ah, there you are.” Ryone said with a soft smile, patting the empty seat between herself and Terra. “Just the man we were waiting for.”
“Sorry, wanted to stay till the end of the ceremony.” I said with a faint chuckle. Unlike this lot, I couldn’t return to the Admin Room while attending the ceremony, or else my Virtual self would freeze up.
“Oh, it’s fine.” Terra shook her head. “We were just discussing some of the things we’d like to get with the budget you gave us.”
I nodded my head at that, looking around. “So, what has everyone decided on so far?”
Ashley was the first to speak up. “The first thing that we came to an agreement on was that we need to adjust the Quest system. It’s rather outdated at this point, and we can integrate it into the system itself now. However, that’s something simple enough that my team should be able to handle it. We’ll also make Quest Boards to have public quests visible for others to see and accept.”
“After that was a better fast travel system.” Aurivy continued with a tired smile. “I mean, I can honestly do it with my divinity, but it does take a toll on me when everyone’s using it. So we talked about getting a simple fast travel system and connecting it to my shrines. For the people of the world, it’ll be the same as now, even for the same cost of tokens, but that divinity will just be returned directly to me instead of being spent on the teleportation itself.”
“Understandable. What else?” I asked, looking around. A fast travel system like that wouldn’t cost more than a few hundred points, so that left a lot open for us.
“I suggested that we get some new techniques.” Keliope raised her hand. “We are doing okay right now, but we haven’t really had any top notch fighting styles in a while. Nothing pushing the boundaries of what we can do at our level. Since people are growing from level one every generation, it’s harder to develop styles.”
“I see… did you have any suggestions for what ones we could get?” I glanced over at Keliope, who nodded her head.
“I found a total of ten. One each for Ki, Mana, Spirit, and Natural energies, and one each for a combination of two of the base four. We can introduce them as ten styles meant to help develop high-level individuals based on their personal aptitude.”
Seeing how proud she was, I gave a small nod. “What was the price of them?”
“Fifteen hundred points each, for a grand total of fifteen thousand.” That alone showed how strong the styles she found were, as they were each ten times as expensive as the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads. I was honestly worried whether or not the people of our world would be able to practice such complex techniques.
As such, I looked around at those gathered. “You’ve all seen her suggestions, I trust. What are your opinions on the styles?”
The first to speak up was Scarlet, the Goddess of Ki. “I can’t particularly speak for the others, but I took a special interest in the Ki style, and the one blending Ki and Spirit. For reference, those two are named the Twelve Shattering Hands and the Heart of Combat. Just going by their descriptions, I can’t say whether or not I’d be able to utilize them properly, but that would be true of any art.”
“I suppose. In that case, if there aren’t any objections, we’ll add those to the list to purchase. Does anyone else have suggestions or requests?” When I asked that, Bihena nodded her head.
“This is one that I talked about with Aurivy, and I managed to get her approval on it. Just like Ashley said that our Quest Contracts are becoming outdated, our dungeon system needs to be updated. I found a more advanced dungeon system, and I wanted to see what you thought about applying it as a racial feature to Dungeon Cores.”
“What’s the system?” I asked, and Bihena slid a paper over to me.
|
Instance Dungeons |
This system enables the Keeper to create instanced dungeons, each one fully customizable while sharing the world laws of the world it is built in. |
Game System Required 50,000 Points |
That was… certainly a far more expensive dungeon system than what we had. However, the description didn’t seem to be enough to warrant the price. “It’s the dungeon size.” Bihena told me, as if seeing my confusion. “The dungeons are instanced, meaning that they exist as alternate worlds. If we take the price into account, along with the description, it’s possible that each dungeon could have a maximum size of an entire planet.”
My eyes widened at that, and I glanced to Terra. “Would the price change if we attached it as a racial trait to dungeons?”
Terra, however, simply smiled. “Not in the slightest. It’s common for Keepers to purchase the ‘Bound System’ racial trait, which simply costs as much as the system being bound to them. For instance, if we bound the Private Messaging system to humans, they would become the couriers of the realm, with nobody else able to use the system. However, in exchange for the system not being available to everyone, it is instead usable in any world that the humans would visit.”
That was helpful, but there was still one other thing. “What about existing dungeons? Would there be a way to apply it to them, as well, or would I need to use Guided Evolution again?”
“This is exactly the kind of thing that Guided Evolution was meant to handle.” Terra pointed out. “Given that dungeons don’t have a natural reproductive cycle, it’s highly likely that the evolution event will trigger for all existing dungeons, aside from perhaps Tower. Just as how the Psychic Song did not affect energy beings, this evolution would be unlikely to affect him.”
Aurivy clicked her tongue, but ultimately shrugged her shoulders. “He’s already gotten a world-sized dungeon, so I don’t imagine that will upset him much. At most, he’ll ask one of the others to cooperate with him and put a new dungeon on his world.”
“Alright.” I nodded my head. “That’s sixty-five thousand and change so far. Anyone else?”
At this point, the room went largely quiet. It seemed as if they were genuinely running into problems when trying to decide what should be purchased next. Perhaps that was what they were talking about when I arrived.
“The Merkin.” Chel suddenly spoke up, leaning back in her seat as eyes turned to focus on her. “They’ve been a part of your world for so long, right? However, they’re only just now being properly integrated. Even then, the number that can walk on land due to cross-breeding can be counted on one hand. Their adaptive trait isn’t a problem anymore, so why not get something for them?”
“It could be a device that lets them live on land, or a Guided Evolution to make them amphibians. Regardless, it would go a long way towards developing their culture and integrating them in the world.”
I thought about that, ultimately nodding my head. An amphibious evolution would not cost much at all, so it was easy to agree to her request.
