World Keeper

Chapter 599: A-Voiding Problems

Closing my eyes, I leaned back on the couch and began to think to myself. How could I help my world without pushing the level of power too far out of control? What could I do that would benefit everyone as a whole? It was obvious that my choices were near infinite. If I played my cards right, I could end world hunger, prevent wars, and root out evil cults with just a few gestures.

But would that be the kind of help that the world needed? Although people often refused to accept it, it was a fact that evil is necessary in a world for good to exist. If there is nobody suffering, how can people step forward to help them? If everyone has all that they need provided for them, they will have less drive to struggle and grow.

What I needed was a method to help people that wouldn’t remove that struggle any more than I had already. There were so many convenience items in the world that I had helped provide, either directly or otherwise. The storage items were a prime example. With a bit of effort, anything could be turned into a dimensional storage. That was, theoretically, the same as unlimited carrying capacity. Especially after the enchantments evolved to further reduce the weight of the enchanted items.

But… was it really? I furrowed my brows at that thought, thinking back. The system had never been that kind. If there existed a perfect convenience, there was a trap hidden somewhere in it. Everything I had seen until now proved that fact. At the end of the day, the system was ultimately fair.

With that in mind… where was the trap in storage items? Where was the other shoe, and how heavy would it drop?

I opened my interface, quickly zooming in on Tsubaki within the Sky Citadel. I knew that she had a number of storage items hidden within her body, which she used to call out weapons and tools on demand. Most of these took the form of small needles, making them almost impossible to identify if you didn’t know what you were looking for.

Once I found one such item, I peered into it, into the space it contained. It looked like this was a storage device to hold… clothes, of all things. Why she had that, I didn’t know, and had no intentions of asking. Instead, I brought my sight outside of her little storage area. Not through the enchantment to look at Tsubaki again… outside the small, confined space of the storage itself.

Back when I had first watched Ryone create these items, we did a test. Through that test, we found that the walls of the storage space were solid and impossible to penetrate. However, we didn’t think about where that space was, or how it came into being. Now, I know far more than I did at that point. I had made my guess even before investigating, I just needed to know if I was right.

Endless darkness… that’s what I saw. A mass of black that spread on forever, specks of starlight dotting the landscape. But, this was no normal starlight. Some of these lights carried with them a name that appeared in my mind. Earth, Deckan, Desbar, Lorek… each light was a realm, an entire universe. Which meant that these storage spaces could only be in one area, the void between worlds.

This could be trouble, later. I furrowed my brows, realizing the implications behind what this meant. Previously, the void had been safe. It was somewhere that we crossed through only to briefly travel between other worlds. There was no exploration, there was no danger.

Now, things are changing. People are attempting to explore the void every bit as much as they wish to explore their own stars. And, if I had learned anything from watching those bouts of exploration, space was far from safe.

I knew how I wanted to help people now, but this came first. I needed to understand. Leowynn, I’m going to need your help for just a little bit.

Tsubaki sat within the Sky Citadel, eyes closed and meditating with her primary body. Her avatars were going about her typical chores and monitoring the news to prepare for any emergencies, so she devoted herself mentally to those tasks. However, she felt a small ripple of energy, causing her eyes to snap open.

Looking down at her chest, she saw that the compass had activated. She darted to her feet, dismissing all but the most necessary avatars as she rushed towards the throne room. It had been ten years since the Keeper’s last visit, and even his descended host had yet to leave his throne for most of that.

When she arrived at the throne room, she saw the Keeper stood at the base of the stairs, offering her a small smile. “There’s something that I could use your help with, but it could be dangerous.”

Hearing his words stunned Tsubaki. There had been times in the past where the Keeper had asked for her help. However, he had rarely ever referred to such a task as dangerous. They were mere errands that she was performing for him, even if they would be life-threatening challenges to the normal man.

Now that she was being given a ‘dangerous’ task, Tsubaki felt a sense of pride. As if being chosen for such a mission was an accomplishment in itself. “I will do whatever I can to assist you, my Keeper.” She spoke in a devout tone, dropping to one knee and lowering her head. Her tails betrayed her true feelings, swaying happily in the air behind her.

“I know, I just wanted to warn you, first.” The Keeper told her in a gentle tone. “I’ve asked Leowynn to assist this time, so the danger should be lessened. Even if something does happen, she should be able to stop it from causing any permanent harm.”

Even invoking the other gods? Tsubaki’s curiosity grew even further towards this assignment. “Please tell me what it is that I may do for you, my Keeper.”

“First… how much do you know about the inner workings of the storage enchantments? Specifically the ones made through the geometric system.”

Tsubaki furrowed her brows, unsure why he was asking such a simple question. “The principal is similar to how we created the reality marbles, but on a much simpler level. By creating a small, finite portion of space, we can link that space to a desired object, allowing one to easily store and retrieve items.”

“That’s what I thought, too.” The Keeper let out a faint sigh. “However, there’s no such thing as an independent space. That’s where we’ve been getting it wrong all along.”

“I’m afraid that I do not understand, my Keeper.” Tsubaki shook her head, urging him to explain. Was there a problem with the storage enchantments? They’ve been in use for hundreds of years, and there has not yet been any issue. To suddenly bring it up now left her bewildered.

“I feel like this will likely relate to your world research. Next… what happens when a storage item is destroyed?” This question intrigued Tsubaki quite a bit more, both because of its contents and the words he said leading up to it.

“It’s unknown what exactly happens to the storage spaces following the destruction of their linked item. Some speculate that the items are reclaimed by the gods. Others say that they are shredded on a molecular level by the implosion of space. Few even believe that the items spill out into random regions of space, waiting to be found and reclaimed.”

“Well… let’s find out, shall we?” He held his hand out, and a silver coin appeared in it. “This is the storage item used in the criminal underground of Fyor. At least, it used to be, a long time ago. I had Ryone retrieve one for me to help with this test.”

“To answer the first question, and your doubts about it… like I said, there is no such thing as an independent space. All space comes from the infinite void between worlds. When you create a storage enchantment, you are segmenting a part of that space. If you would, please create an avatar for me. I don’t want you to take this risk with your core body.”

Tsubaki was briefly stunned at his request, but soon obeyed his instruction. The concept of storage enchantments being held within the void wasn’t exactly groundbreaking. It was one of many theories about how the independent spaces existed. However, there had never been an ironclad way to prove it.

As soon as she created an avatar, she noticed the familiar form of the Keeper’s daughter standing next to him. Both her main body and newly created avatar offered a bow to the ascended goddess.

Leowynn, meanwhile, let out a light laugh. “None of that, Tsubaki. You’ve known me for too long. You know I don’t like it when people bow to me like that.”

“I’m sorry, Lady Leowynn.” Tsubaki said as she corrected her posture, noting the reproachful look on Leowynn’s face before correcting her means of address. “Leowynn.”

“Better.” The elven woman smiled. “Now, my dad has left a pile of gold coins inside this storage space to act as a landmark. I’ll be taking your avatar just outside that territory within the void, after which we will give you a few simple tasks before destroying it.”

Tsubaki nodded her head, ready to be transferred. Whatever the task was, her main body was still with the Keeper and his daughter. There was no need to worry about not receiving the instructions.

Seeing that she was ready, Leowynn held up her hand and focused. Immediately, the world seemed to turn upside down and inside out, with Tsubaki appearing within an empty expanse of nothingness. Or rather, a mostly empty expanse.

In front of her was a faint, translucent sphere roughly ten meters across. Inside of that sphere, she could see a large pile of gold coins, almost occupying the entire space. As she tested her motor control within the void, she heard the words of the Keeper through her main body.

“You need to first check your surroundings for danger. If they aren’t already present, I have reason to believe that monsters will begin to appear within the void in the coming future.” As she heard that, her relaxed body became alert. She scanned the expanse around her, having the faint impression of being watched. However, that could easily be attributed to her suddenly heightened nerves.

Regardless, she did not see anything that appeared directly threatening. “No hostile contacts. I’m ready to proceed to the next task.”

“Then, your next objective… try to enter the storage space in front of you. We need to determine how difficult it is to enter from the outside, because it is possible that creatures within the void might be able to do so, and use that path as a window into the material plane.”

“I’m in.” Tsubaki said after barely a moment. The barrier around the gold coins offered hardly any resistance to her, despite the fact that she knew she wouldn’t be able to escape nearly as easily. “From a quick estimate, any creature with a power above level one hundred would be able to pass through the storage space’s field.”

“That’s… less than hopeful.” The Keeper muttered with a shake of his head. “However, do you have a way to bring yourself out of the storage space? Either through the barrier, or directly exiting the enchantment?”

Tsubaki fell into thought at that, looking around herself. Now that she was within the storage space, she could no longer see the empty expanse outside. “If I am given enough time, I could potentially unlock the enchantment with my knowledge of the magic system. However, I don’t think that I would be able to use brute force to achieve the effect.”

The Keeper gave another nod as he thought her words made sense. “Okay. Now, for this last experiment… Leowynn is going to protect you, and make sure that your avatar isn’t destroyed.”

Tsubaki knew what that meant, and braced herself while feeling the warm light of Leowynn’s energy wrapping around her. A moment later, and the solid wall surrounding the gold coins vanished, the coins themselves now floating aimlessly among the black void.

However, now that Tsubaki was back out, she noticed that something changed. There was a shifting shape within the void, one that seemed far too close for her not to have noticed it before. “Monster sighted!” She called out, realizing that it had blended with the void prior to her entering the sealed space.

As soon as she made that call, Tsubaki’s avatar was pulled out of the void before getting any chance to battle. Now she knew where the danger was in this task. Creatures that could perfectly blend in with the void. Had she not noticed it in time, it could have very well ambushed her. It was unknown if such a creature would be able to allow its attacks to trace through the soul back to the main body.

“So there are monsters already…” The Keeper muttered to himself. “Storage spaces aren’t destroyed when their items are, merely released. That means that we form a bubble around a random portion of the void every time we make these enchantments, and any one of them could contain a monster.”

Tsubaki knew that it was more than that. How often did people empty their storage devices entirely just to check their inventory? If a void beast happened to have trapped itself in their inventory at such a time, they would be releasing that monster into the world. Or rather… they might have already done so in the past, and one of those monsters could be within the material world now.

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