“Let’s see how you’re doing today.” A light voice spoke up as they walked into a large hangar. There did not seem to be anyone else around, the voice belonging to a kitsune wearing a white lab coat over a red shirt, and holding a clipboard in his hand. He walked towards a giant, humanoid machine, its armored frame opened to reveal a golden network laid out underneath.
Each of its hands were more than a dozen meters long, with nine golden orbs socketed into the circuits. “Good, good, the hands seem to be ready for the final assembly.” The kistune said with a nod, making his way to the legs next. Similarly, each leg had nine orbs socketed into them. However, his brow furrowed slightly when he saw the legs, eyes flashing with golden light.
“It looks like the circuit thickness needs to be adjusted in the legs. The Speed and Strength modules aren’t sending enough energy. I’ll have to fix those.” After he said that, he kicked off the ground, flying up to the chest of the giant machine. “Let’s see… we’re missing two cores here, it looks like. And three from the head?”
The man quickly wrote down on his clipboard, before closing his eyes. “The head isn’t as much of a problem. The cores I’m missing are rather common. However… I need a Soul core for the chest.”
The man snapped his fingers twice, and thick doors opened up along the walls of the hangar. Dense clanging sounds emerged as ten smaller machines walked out onto the floor. They were built in the style of the March, with metallic faces that showed no emotion.
However, these were not members of the March. Instead, they were custom-designed AIs shackled to a robotic frame powered by a special type of core. “All of you, I want you to go and search for a God of Souls. When you find them, do not engage. Instead, immediately report back.”
The ten robots didn’t respond for a moment, until he snapped his fingers again. Then, they emotionlessly walked out of the hangar, towards the nearest airlock. The golden cores that powered each of the robots, as well as the giant machine that the man was working on could only be created by studying the divine energy of a god with the relevant domain.
“Don’t worry, you will be completed soon.” The man said, a smile blooming on his face as he turned to look at the giant head that had been positioned atop the robot’s frame. There were pieces of it that looked like they had been pieced together with clockwork components, but most of it was built in the same style as the rest of the robots.
Once Lifre and the others got back, I was able to obtain a copy of the files from Lifre, creating my own divine gem. The cost to create it was… honestly ridiculous. To convert it into divine currency, it took the equivalent of five thousand black gold coins. Okay… so this is definitely not going to be something that we mass produce.
As for why they weren’t able to deliver the original object, apparently Tubrock experimented with it, trying to get it to activate for him. While it did activate, he wasn’t able to gain a new domain due to the system’s intervention.
What I wanted to do right now was test the divine gem with both my World Sight and the World Shadow, that way I could create gems of these two energies. After that… since I didn’t want to use the gem myself, the best choice was to give it to Tsubaki, who would be able to make the most of it. Since it required pre-existing divine energy, there was no point in trying to give it to Dana.
With that in mind, I began the first test, focusing my World Sight on the gem.I watched as it began to glow, and felt my connection with the energy dissipate as it was sent into the gem. Although I was able to see what was happening on the inside, that was only under the condition that I continuously applied more and more energy.
Thus, I was able to see how the gem converted my World Sight into a crystalline form, and then pushed that crystalline form out of its ‘body’. The result was the creation of a green shell around the gem with a wavy, silver pattern. Due to the amount of energy that I supplied, the green crystal had completely covered the divine gem, expanding roughly an inch in all directions.
I condensed a small bullet of martial intent to shoot the crystal, splitting the outer layer and revealing the divine gem again. After that, I condensed a black sphere of energy in my hand to let the gem absorb. This time, the divine gem created and almost obsidian-like substance covering its core, which I once again had to split.
With that taken care of, I had both of these new crystals scanned, before delivering the originals to Ryone for her research. Once I was done, I sent a message to Tsubaki.
From the moment Lifre returned from her expedition, Tsubaki had known what the Keeper would do with the divine gem that he received. More domains were not useful to him, after all. Thus, she had spent this time seriously considering what she would want for her third domain.
Her first domain, Light, had been of considerable help to herself and the Keeper in battle. Her second domain, Stealth, had not seen as much active use yet in the real world, but had been quite helpful in their battles within Fragments of Acidia.
Should I go with another domain to synergize and create a trinity, or should I branch out? Now that Divine Circuits had been discovered thanks to Mara, the need for a trinity was far less pressing than it had been originally. People could achieve a stable balance with their divinity whether they had four, or even six domains.
Tsubaki closed her eyes, sitting at her desk and thinking. Assassination would be a good fit for a synergy, as it would work well with Light and Stealth. However, the abilities that domain would give me wouldn’t enhance my fighting style too much. If anything, it would make me rely on the ‘instant kill’ abilities of the domain.
Because of that, the Assassination domain likely wouldn’t be very good for me. In fact, I don’t know what combat-themed domain would be able to properly enhance me at this point. I need a domain that will allow me to carry out my Keeper’s orders to the best of my ability, even beyond what I can do now.
As Tsubaki thought about that, she heard a small voice entering her mind. Tsubaki? If you are free, I would like to see you in my office.
Right away, my Keeper! Tsubaki nodded her head, standing up and quickly walking to the door. Even as she did, her mind raced. Illusions? No, I can borrow that domain from my Keeper as need be, so it would be a waste in his eyes for me to take that. Ninjas? I suppose it could work, but I have mastered all of the ninja techniques that I am aware of.
She passed by her avatars cleaning the halls, all but running to the nearest elevator. “Hermes, please take me to my Keeper.” She said in a respectful tone, still going over possible domain ideas.
When she arrived at the Keeper’s palace, she once more rushed to the Keeper’s office. There was a slight shift in her gaze, as if having made up her mind. When she arrived, she saw the Keeper sitting at his desk, a golden gem the size of a fist sitting in front of him.
“My Keeper.” Tsubaki dropped into a low bow, the Keeper nodding his head.
“I’m sure you are aware of what this is by now?” He said, gesturing towards the gemstone.
“I am.” Tsubaki nodded. “This is the divine gem retrieved by the combined efforts of Lifre and Lord Tubrock. According to her reports, a divine being that uses this will be able to receive an additional domain.”
“That’s right.” The Keeper nodded his head, a small smile on his face. “I wanted you to have this one. Lifre has already obtained her third domain, so it is about time for you to do the same, wouldn’t you agree?”
Tsubaki gave another nod, slowly walking forward. “If that is your wish, my Keeper.” She said, though she couldn’t hide the small smile that snuck its way onto her face.
She reached a hand out to carefully take the gem from the Keeper’s desk, holding it up against her chest. Having listened to Lifre’s report, she connected her divine energy to the gem, allowing it to dissolve in her hand.
Tsubaki closed her eyes, prepared to enter the same mental world that Lifre had spoken of. She was prepared to carve out the new domain that she had decided upon. However… that did not happen. She felt the golden dust merging with her divinity, and then… nothing.
No, not quite nothing. She could feel the change. She felt the new domain immediately taking root, and even saw the achievement appear in front of her.
The Keeper offered a satisfied nod when he saw that the process had worked. However, given his next words, it was clear that he had not investigated too closely, wanting to hear the results from Tsubaki herself. “So, what domain did you choose?”
“I… chose the Service domain.” Tsubaki answered in a soft voice. “I hope that this domain will enable me to fulfill whatever requirements you may have of me.”
The inspiration for this domain came from none other than Elisae, and how she had used her Wish domain to fulfill the wishes of others. At the same time, her own Servant Avatars cleaning Olympus made her recall this fact. Regardless of anything else, she is the Servant of the Keeper. Her power is not for her alone, but to fulfill the wishes of her lord.
“Service?” The Keeper asked in surprise. “I see… I’ll be relying on you in the future, then.”
Tsubaki’s smile grew wider when she heard that, her tails swaying happily behind her. “Yes, my Keeper. Also, I should note… I was not drawn into a mental landscape as Lifre had previously described. I believe that the gem reacts with intention. Because Lifre did not know what domain she wanted, and did not even know that she should be choosing a domain, the gem automatically brought her into a mental landscape.”
“As for myself, I had already decided on what I wanted, so the gem did no such thing.” Tsubaki explained the process that she had gone through, as this was still considered a largely unexplored subject.
“Is that so?” The Keeper furrowed his brow, before nodding his head. “Thank you, Tsubaki. That is good to know.”
Tsubaki nodded her head quickly again, before turning and walking back into the hall. Now that she had obtained her third domain, there was more that she needed to work on. For instance, setting up rules for her energy that would enable her to more effectively carry out the Keeper’s will.
In addition, now that she had the Service domain as a medium, perhaps she could consider the avatars cleaning Olympus as part of her domain, further enhancing them… the thought made Tsubaki excited for the possibilities. You actually chose Service? An amused voice spoke into Tsubaki’s mind as she rushed towards the elevator.
I did, Lady Terra… did I choose incorrectly? Hearing the voice of Terra in her mind, Tsubaki couldn’t help but worry that she had not chosen a good domain for herself.
No, no, nothing like that. I was just surprised when I felt the shift in your divinity. I was certain that you would go with a domain more suitable for combat.
I believe that you are mistaken, Lady Terra. A smile crept over Tsubaki’s lips. Service is perfectly suitable for combat. I am more than just my Keeper’s blade. However, I have not forgotten my duty. Should he require my Service in battle, then it shall be rendered as such. I will take whatever form my Keeper requires of me. That is the meaning of my Service.
