When my consciousness returned, I blinked, shaking my head rapidly. Remembering what I had just been doing, I lifted my twin pistols to quickly look over the area. As I did, I couldn’t help but hesitate. The ground, the trees, everything around me was riddled with so many holes that I was happy I didn’t suffer from trypophobia. Still, I couldn’t help but shudder at the idea that I had done this unconsciously.
Is Tsubaki alright? I thought to myself, scanning the area again. It was hard to tell how long I had been in that state, so I couldn’t determine if anything had happened to Tsubaki, who had been charging at me at the time.
I closed my eyes, carefully feeling my divinity. Thankfully, I could still sense Tsubaki’s presence, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. Of course, when the girl herself suddenly appeared at the edge of the clearing, calling out in a soft tone. “My Keeper–”
My body reacted on instinct, holding up the twin pistols. Even before I consciously thought about attacking, a dozen translucent bullets were firing at her.
Tsubaki simply smiled, as if she had expected that. She closed her eyes, as if she wasn’t going to resist, and I realized that something was wrong. Using the training I had acquired over this trial, I caused the bullets to fly off to the side, crashing into the tree. “Why aren’t you dodging?” I asked in confusion, causing Tsubaki to open her eyes again.
“Because the trial is over.” She said in a simple tone, folding her hands in her lap. Looking at her, she didn’t seem to have the predatory gaze that I had become so accustomed to, or the aura of a vicious hunter.
However, I had only trained in one form of martial will… “This isn’t some tactic to get me to lower my guard so that you can cut off my arms?”
Tsubaki shook her head, that same smile on her head. “No, my Keeper.”
“…You’re not going to suddenly rip off my arms or anything, right?” I couldn’t help but ask, slowly lowering the two pistols.
“No, my Keeper.” She said again, seeming almost amused. At least, until a thought occurred to her, and she lowered her head. “My apologies for the trouble that I have caused you these last few days. If there is any punishment you wish to give me, I will of course accept it.”
I simply stared at Tsubaki for several long moments. “Are you sure?” I asked. I could see her eyes shake slightly, but she nodded her head. “Alright, come here.”
Tsubaki looked at me in concern, but walked over to me as I had told her. She closed her eyes, clearly ready for me to accost her. However, I had a different punishment in mind. I brought my hands up, and grabbed her kitsune ears, pinching and lightly rubbing at the tips.
Tsubaki’s body froze, her eyes going wide in alarm. “M-M-My Keeper!” She called out suddenly, and it was clear how sensitive her ears were. Still, I continued petting them to my heart’s content.
“Ahh… this is much better.” I said with a smile, enjoying her reaction. Seeing her like this was able to help me melt away the image of the fierce hunter that had been pursuing me day and night, pushing me to the brink of insanity. Also, there was always something cathartic about petting a pair of fluffy ears.
I kept petting her like that for a good five minutes, Tsubaki trembling as I did so. Still, she seemed to recognize this as her ‘punishment’, so she didn’t try to pull away. That, or she didn’t want to, and was enjoying being pet like this. Either way, I enjoyed a good five minutes of healing to calm my mind.
When I finally released her ears, she let out a deep breath, looking up at me with a trembling gaze. “I-Is that all, my Keeper?” She asked, as if concerned I had more in mind for her.
I simply offered her a refreshed smile, nodding my head. In truth, there was still a lingering part of me that caused a hand to twitch towards one of my pistols whenever I thought back to the trial. That was something that would take some time to fully get over.
“So, what are we doing for my unarmed martial will?” I asked curiously, as Tsubaki was still my trainer as far as I was concerned. Given that she had declared that the trial was over, I assumed that she had something else in mind next.
Tsubaki blinked, taking a deep breath to help herself calm down. “Next, it will be mostly training on your own. Now that you have just unlocked your gun will, we can’t safely continue the trial in this manner. I will need you to reflect on your own, think about the concentration that you gave to your pistols, and apply them to your fists while training.”
I gave a small nod at that, as it made sense. “I guess there’s not really any way around that, huh? Though, my gun will feels a lot weaker than what you showed me at the citadel.”
Tsubaki simply shook her head. “As Accalia explained to me, that is the difference between a ‘will’ and an ‘intent’. I would suggest asking her for the details yourself, and perhaps Lady Keliope as well. There has likely been more discovered in this field since I was last informed.”
“Is that so?” I asked in surprise. I honestly thought that the two of them were the same. I didn’t expect that what I had just unlocked after that trial was only the entry level form of that new power. “I’ll have to do that, thanks. Though, we should probably be heading back now…” I gave another look around the hole-ridden clearing in what had once been a great forest.
“Before that.” Tsubaki held up a hand. “Lord Tubrock contacted me roughly an hour ago, and informed me that he has something that he wishes to show you. If my guess is correct, I believe it has to do with the new home he said that he would be building. He asked us to meet him at your divine world when you had finished your awakening.”
“My divine world?” I blinked, before my eyes went wide. I had almost used up all of the divinity that I had stored in that divine world simply healing my injuries over the course of this trial. I focused on transmitting more of my energy back to it, now that I was no longer needing to worry about repairing major wounds.
Tsubaki simply nodded her head, tearing open a void portal to allow us to leave this world. After passing through, I arrived in the cold landscape of the divine world that I had established. Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice that there had been some changes in my absence. “Has Dana installed an atmosphere generator or something?”
“Only for the immediate area.” The kitsune maid explained, looking at the wide field before us. “She said that this looked like the perfect spot to build a home, so she wanted to create a self-contained system to suffice until she were able to create something more large-scale.” After saying that, she pointed to a small beam of energy just near the horizon, ascending up towards the sky.
“There ye are, lad!” A booming voice startled me, and I abruptly turned to see Tubrock appearing in a burst of golden light. “Thought ye might have gotten lost or somethin’!”
“Sorry, I was a bit busy.” I answered in a bitter tone, scratching the back of my head.
“Aye, aye, I know all about yer little trainin’ session.” Tubrock shook his head, dragging a hand through his beard. “Thankfully, gave me enough time to add the finishin’ touches to yer new place.”
“You actually managed to complete it already?” I knew the trial seemed like it would never end, but it was only less than a week since he told us he would make this, right?
“Aye! I had been workin’ on this for a while now, it was just a matter of gettin’ the rest of the appliances up to date with the times. Ye wanna see it or not?!”
“Of course.” I nodded my head quickly, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, metallic model. “Tubrock… the last time you had something like this, it turned into a planet. That isn’t going to turn into a planet, will it?”
“Course not!” He denied loudly. “Why would ye need an entire planet when ye’ve just made one!?” After he said that, he turned, assuming a pitching stance and threw the model far into the distance.
“This may not be a planet, but I made sure it’d have what ye needed to properly operate all yer business. And it’s completely modular, so if ye ever need to recruit another member for the Citadel, I can just make another section.”
As he explained, there was a deep rumble that filled the air, a shadow falling over us. After Tubrock turned to face me, a massive structure rose into the sky, and then another. This wasn’t a house… this was a city. “Tsubaki… is the field big enough?” I asked in a quiet tone, though Tsubaki looked like she wasn’t able to properly answer.
Thankfully, Tubrock seemed to have heard me. “What’re ye yappin’ for? Of course the place has its own atmosphere cycler! Whether ye wanted to use it on Earth or as a spaceship, I had to make sure it was fit for anythin’! And when I heard ye were gonna be makin’ a planet just for this, I fine tuned the system. Now, come on.”
As he said that, he turned, and began walking towards the metallic city that had sprouted. The nearest gate was less than a hundred meters from where Tubrock stood. Upon entering, I found that the gate really seemed more like an elevator than anything else. “Central hall!” Tubrock shouted, and a blue flash of light surrounded us.
Immediately afterwards, a door opened in the elevator, a large room appearing beyond it. Just as with the Sky Citadel, there was a throne atop a large set of stairs. However, it was not just one throne this time. Rather, there were fourteen. Most likely, it was one for myself and every member of the Greater Pantheon.
Of the fourteen thrones, four were at the highest level, the other ten positioned off in two rows at the sides. “This’ll be yer throne room from now on. Ye can do major broadcasts from here, or leave yer host here whenever ye gotta go back to the Admin Room.”
After saying that, he stepped into the elevator again, prompting myself and Tsubaki to quickly enter. “Tsubaki’s Palace!”
Tsubaki’s eyes went wide in shock at the name of the next destination, another teleport quickly sending us off. When we arrived and the door opened, there was a long hallway filled with old paintings. “Every member of the Citadel has a palace customized for their tastes. For the lass here, I gave her ten different training rooms with different styles, a weapon forge, office, and so on.”
“There’s also a living area, where ye can all do yer gaming, relax, or access the library. If there’s anythin’ any of ye want and can’t find, I set up an AI to help navigate the facility. As I said before, I can add in more palaces whenever ye add anyone else to the Citadel staff. Though, this ain’t the Sky Citadel anymore.”
“Okay…” I let out a long breath, bracing myself. “In that case, what would you call this?”
“Olympus. This ain’t just the home of the Keeper. This is the home of all the greatest beings, the members of yer Greater Pantheon, as well. I don’t expect many of ‘em to use it often, but when they do, this is their home.”
Olympus? I glanced at Tubrock when he revealed that name. Does that make this planet Mytikas? No… I am definitely not naming it that, I’d never be able to remember the name properly myself. Still, a home for all the Greater Pantheon, outside of the Admin Room? Not to mention everyone has a palace… I guess that explains why the place is so large.
