I took a few minutes to help get everyone settled in, exploring their various palaces with them. Tubrock had really gone out of his way to make sure that anyone who wanted to stay could have anything that they needed to feel comfortable. Ryone’s magic workshop had a self-contained space tens of kilometers wide for her to practice her spells. Scarlet’s palace held what I could only imagine was a pool of liquified ki essence, causing Scarlet’s eyes to widen in surprise.
Once I was done helping them get settled in, I went back to my own palace, having Hermes guide me to the training room with the greatest durability. Although my trial was over, my training was not.
The room that I was led to was hundreds of meters in every direction, with smooth black walls and overhanging lights. I couldn’t help but look at the walls, internally questioning if they were really strong enough for me to train. If this weren’t a personal creation of Tubrock, it’s unlikely I’d be willing to train this close to where the others were staying.
“Hermes, is there anything to stop my power from leaking out and disturbing the others?” I asked aloud. However, to my surprise, it was not the male voice of Hermes that answered, but a gentler, female tone.
“Hermes isn’t in control of the training rooms. But, to answer your question, Keeper, there is. Would you like me to activate it now?”
I blinked at the new voice, furrowing my brow. I had to go over the list of AI that Hermes had previously mentioned. None of them seemed to be in charge of the training areas, from what he had said. Instead, I just had to use my own guesses regarding how Tubrock had set this up. “Athena?”
“That is correct, sir.” The AI voice confirmed.
“Hermes said that you were only in charge of the library, though?”
In response to my question, there was a long sigh from Athena. “To be more accurate, I am in charge of centers for study. This includes the library, training halls, and offices. If you need any of the settings adjusted for your training hall, please let me know.”
I… guess that makes sense. Athena was the Goddess of both Wisdom and Battle Strategy. Unless Tubrock made an Ares, Athena would be the best one to handle training. “In that case, please introduce the various settings to me, so I know what my choices are.”
“Of course. The room you are in now is the highest grade training room available. The space inside can be expanded by up to one thousand times, and time can be slowed by up to ten times. There are simulation systems installed to allow me to summon various Aeons in order to provide real combat training. Alternatively, I can create stationary targets for you to practice with.”
“As I said before, you may also close off the training facility to prevent any outside energy leakage. Finally, I can access any known technique database and create holographic simulations to assist in your practice, or replay previous activities to let you review.”
I simply nodded my head as I listened to the various options. “In that case, please close off the training room.” I wasn’t here to practice any technique that had been properly cataloged for training purposes yet, and just wanted to try to master my ‘fist will’. In truth, I could likely take this time to work on my gun intent as well, but I wanted to take this one step at a time. “If the space is expanded, will that affect the durability of the room?”
“It will not.” Athena responded calmly. “The alloy lining the walls of the room is a product of Tubrock’s divine power. Although he was unable to fully recreate its indestructible nature, the black alloy is modeled after the black stone found natively on Fyor. He said that, unless you were intentionally aiming to destroy the room, it would be difficult to damage it accidentally.”
My eyes opened wide when I heard that. The black stone of Fyor was absolutely indestructible, a guarantee provided by the system itself. Otherwise, the monsters of the highest floors would simply be able to break through and destroy the lower levels.
Rather than saying it was indestructible, it was almost more accurate to consider every layer an isolated world of its own. If he had managed to incorporate even a part of its power in this black alloy, then this training room would be more than enough for me.
I took a basic train stance, infusing my fists with ki and punching into the air. One punch, and another, my mind focusing on my fists. I thought back to how I had created my gun will, and what all contributed to that.
The guns that Tsubaki gave me weren’t ones where I simply loaded my ki and boom, bullet. There were multiple little aspects that I had learned throughout my training. When I infused my ki into the pistol, it went along three different paths.
The first path was to create the body of the bullet itself, making a framework for the bullet and filling it with however much ki I provided for this section. The second path revolved around the inside of the barrel, increasing the bullet’s rotational force to aid in penetration. Finally, there was the ignition to drive the bullet.
My gun will didn’t manifest until I had gotten so used to controlling these three aspects that they became an instinctive reaction. Until my body, my ki knew what I had to do before I consciously processed it. Naturally, I couldn’t directly apply the same method to my fists, but it gave me a foundation.
What goes into a punch? Strictly speaking, I didn’t technically have muscles. My entire body being made of energy meant that conventional biology no longer applied. Even so, I had the appearance of having muscles. This was because my mind naturally defaulted to a familiar form. If I clenched my fist, the ‘muscles’ on my arm tensed accordingly.
But did that count as contributing to the punch itself, when those muscles weren’t strictly real? Even as all of this went through my mind, I never stopped punching, maintaining an even flow of ki in my fists. Think… remember that feeling.
Obviously, different types of martial will would have their own peculiarities, even if one had not unlocked their intent. A sword simply does not function the same as a bow. Every part of a weapon had its own meaning. Only by fully comprehending a weapon on an instinctive level could you produce the corresponding will.
Some might think that doing this with their own body would be the easiest, but that was far from the truth. You could afford to clash swords with another warrior, but would you be so willing to meet that sword with your fist? Martial artists that fought unarmed had to be wary of a number of different factors at all times. Unless their basic abilities were too far above the opponent, they couldn’t wholly devote themselves to their ‘weapon’.
The fingers, the bones, individual ki paths, everything in the hand made the punch what it was. That was my weapon. My physical stats were far above anyone else in the world, due to my very nature as a Keeper. If others weren’t willing to meet a blade with their fist, I would take it head-on.
I closed my eyes, focusing as I repeated this motion. In my mind, I imagined Tsubaki charging at me again, her eyes fierce. Her gaze chilled me to the bone, and provoked an instinctive reaction. I could feel my ki wanting to lash out, wanting to fire off a bullet. However, I had to hold it in. Pour that focus into my fist. Shatter the shadow left in my heart.
Tsubaki paced within the corridor of the Sky Citadel, biting her lower lip. The high-speed movement formation of the citadel had been damaged during her own awakening, and Dana hadn’t been able to repair it yet. This was one of the most delicate formations of the entire citadel, so once one part of it broke, the entire thing collapsed.
Thankfully, the basic flight mechanic was still operational, or the citadel would have long since fallen into the sea. “Can’t we just use a large-scale teleportation spell to move the citadel, and worry about repairing it slowly later?” Tsubaki asked, for what had to be the fifth time that morning. It had already been two days since the Keeper gave her this task, but she didn’t know how much longer it would take.
“For the Nth time, no.” Dana said, carefully inscribing part of the spell diagram on a smooth brick. “We’re almost done, just have a little patience. If we try to use a basic teleportation spell, it would conflict with the citadel’s shields. Nothing would happen if the power came from the outside, but if the spell was launched from the inside when the citadel was in this state, it could rip itself apart trying to resolve the conflict.”
“That’s why we can’t have Aurivy do it either, before you ask that again. Her shrine was pulverized in your awakening, so she is currently registered as an external force by the shield’s logic pattern. You’ve waited this long, just give us a few more minutes.” She said, carefully sliding the brick into place before covering the seams between it and its neighbors with natural energy.
“This was the last part of the formation itself. Now, we just need to power it up for a test run, and let it build enough of a charge to get us there.” Dana had a self-satisfied smile as she said that. “Gerard, you can activate the mana pathway, now!”
“Understood, Dana.” Gerard’s voice spoke out from the empty air, and the pattern that Dana had just carved seemed to glow a faint blue.
Tsubaki watched the pattern impatiently, clearly wanting to complete this assignment as soon as she could. In the back of her mind, she considered herself to be in a very delicate situation. She had spent days practically torturing the Keeper, and she knew that she would have left some form of trauma for him. If she failed to complete the tasks he gave her now, she was afraid that the image he had of her would worsen further.
No, I have to do everything even better than before. I need to wipe away that trauma diligently, so that he can rely on me again in the future. Tsubaki nodded to herself firmly.
After a few minutes, the light on the spell diagram had become a solid blue, before vanishing together with the diagram itself. Tsubaki suppressed her anxiety, knowing that this was a part of the enchantment. In order to make it less visible, the enchantment buried itself in the material with which it was carved, leaving a smooth surface while establishing a solid mana pathway within. “Did it work?” She asked nervously, look at Dana.
“It worked, Tsuba.” The little elf replied with a small grin. “Now, let’s go see this new home of ours before I start worrying about what kind of trauma you have.”
Although she said those words in jest, Dana was seriously concerned for Tsubaki. She had been forced to mortally wound the very person she had sworn to protect on a constant basis. For someone like her, who valued her loyalty to her lord above all else, it must have torn her apart inside every time she injured the Keeper.
“Gerard, input the coordinates. Let’s see what this ‘Olympus’ has to offer.” Dana called out, already standing and walking towards the door. On the way past, she grabbed Tsubaki’s hand, causing the kitsune to jolt ever so slightly before being pulled along.
“Understood.” Gerard’s reply was simple, already starting up the formation that would carry the citadel to the Keeper’s new divine world.
