World Keeper

Chapter 602: The Workings of Fate

Udona’s eye twitched as she listened to James’ words. However, she had an image to keep, so she couldn’t outright ask him in front of their current guest. Instead, she had to resort to contacting him mentally. Uhm… what is he exactly, then? You seem like you know things…

James glanced towards the goddess sitting in her throne, offering a small nod. It’s the fate system. Any Keeper that has a god or goddess related to fate, time, prediction, or anything of that sort will have a fate system working in the background.

This fate system is essentially a predictive algorithm running the entire universe over endless possibilities, each as plausible as the next. In one future, you could fall in love with a mortal, and in another that mortal may be killed by bandits before meeting you.

However, this fate system is not entirely standalone. Any creature who dreams has the potential to connect to it on some level. Once they awaken, this dream of the future is largely forgotten, repressed into the farthest reaches of the mind. That is where the feeling of deja vu comes from, because you dreamed of a situation happening before when you connected to the fate system.

Now, this in itself is actually common. Most people will connect to the fate system hundreds of times over their lifespan, and then quickly forget about it. Back when I was a Keeper, a friend of mine told me about a very rare kind of anomaly he encountered in his game system world. A person who dreamed of the fate system retaining not only the full knowledge of what he dreamed, but also the power he obtained in it.

Udona furrowed her brow, thinking it over. She knew what kinds of anomalies had presented themselves in the world. They were living glitches created by mutations in the natural systems. With that in mind, this explanation wasn’t impossible. So… any time this man connects to the fate system in his dreams from now on, he will get years worth of training and potential future information?

That’s entirely possible. James confirmed her concerns right away. This could be a one-time thing, or something that he will live with for the rest of his life. However, I can say that the future he saw is by no means set in stone. There are certain factors that the fate system cannot take into account. The primary example of this is the behavior of the Keeper, and any changes they make to the system.

“I see…” Udona muttered, finally speaking aloud in front of Phisher. “Young man, please, tell me what you have seen in your dream that caused you such distress. You mentioned the third race of golems.”

Phisher nodded his head, gazing up at the God-Queen. “Your Highness, do you wish for me to summarize the events, or present them in greater detail?”

To this, Udona simply smiled. “This is your dream we are discussing. Of course it is up to you to choose the method in which you relay it.”

The young man considered that, before giving another nod. “Then I would invoke the power of the God-Queen. Please bestow upon me the strength to enlighten others. And by the power of the Goddess of Stories, please grant me the medium by which to release this tale.”

Although he was saying that, Udona could feel a tug on her own divinity. The man before her was clearly a priest of significant levels to call upon such force, and a priest that specifically served her, at that. She did not feel a direct connection to Phisher’s divinity, so it could be seen that he was not a subordinate god, but he was still a very devout follower of both herself and Terra.

Phisher held out his hand, causing golden light to flutter around in his palm. Slowly, piece by piece, a book began to take shape in his hand. On the cover of the book were the twin markings of Udona and Terra. Although Udona knew she had never created this ritual with Terra, she could make out several details from sensing it.

First of all, the combination ritual he had invoked guaranteed that everything would be true from his perspective. Udona was a bit surprised to find such a ritual not having Irena’s seal on it as well. However, now that she had seen it herself, she was already drawing up a way to improve it by including the daeva goddess.

This ritual won’t last for long. James informed her from the side. His divinity is still attuned to be able to perform it, and is gradually shifting to conform with the current divine laws. From what I can feel, this type of ritual will be entirely unusable again in a few hours.

Udona gave a small nod, holding her hand out. The book lifted up from Phisher’s hand and floated over to her own. Then, placing her hand upon the book, she closed her eyes and focused. In her mind, she could see the dream playing out.

Although Phisher chose to give her the entire dream, there were still parts of it that were hazy. Fifty years of memories were impossible to perfectly preserve, even with his Scholar levels. Figures were vague and hazy at times, seeming to leave shadows of their figures behind themselves as they moved.

Only the truly important events were crisp and clear. Phisher’s first love, the first time he visited another world. The time he trained with his teacher to master the sword. And finally… the day that the golems invaded.

Naturally, she saw how he had been one of her Holy Knights, an organization that Udona formed from twelve mortal gods that ascended in the coming years. They were her helpers with everything from fighting to diplomatic negotiations.

Once she had finished watching the fifty years worth of memories playing out in her mind, Udona nodded her head. The book had fulfilled its purpose, and was already beginning to fade into nothing within her hand. With a shake of her wrist, she caused the book to shatter into crumbling sheets of paper that disintegrated before hitting the floor.

“I see. That’s quite the future. Might I ask what it is you are hoping to achieve by bringing this to me?” This was the big question. Was he hoping to regain his former title and glory? Given his life in the dream, he may well feel as if it was deserved.

“I merely wished to bring the future calamity to your attention, Your Highness.” Phisher spoke in a sincere tone, one which seemed to surprise the Goddess. “Having experienced the destruction of this world once, I could not find it in myself to allow such a thing to happen again when I had the power to warn you.”

A smile tugged at Udona’s lips, and she leaned forward in her seat. “Very good. However, I must explain something to you. The future you saw is only one of an infinite number of possibilities. In fact, you could say that it is wholly impossible for it to play out in the way you saw. In order for the possibility to emerge, the Keeper must not interfere for the next fifty years.”

“Now… there is the chance that this event may repeat itself, and you will see another such dream in the future. I can’t guarantee that it will happen, but at the same time I can’t rule it out either. I merely ask you to keep in mind that these futures will not be able to truly come to pass, unless it is something of a smaller scale.”

Phisher’s eyes went wide as he heard that, but he also let out a small sigh. “That’s a relief, Your Highness. If such a future can be avoided… I cannot count the number of lives which could be saved.”

Udona nodded her head again. “Perfectly correct. Now, if that is all, I believe your mother is worried about you, young man.” Her smile turned somewhat more playful when she said that. “I’ll send a messenger for you later.”

Hearing her words caused a soft smile to emerge on Phisher’s lips. Naturally, one of the lives that had been lost in those fifty years of memories was his own mother. Seeing her again was a wonderful surprise to him. If not for feeling it his duty to report to the God-Queen as soon as possible, he would have no doubt spent more time at home.

“As you say, Your Highness.” He nodded, slowly standing up. A golden blade of light formed in his hand, which he slashed to the side in order to create a portal in the air. After a polite bow, he turned and stepped through the portal, vanishing from the palace.

“Well… I must say I am pleasantly surprised.” James said with a small grin, glancing towards the seated goddess. “When you called me here as an advisor, I thought it was going to be more tax documents. But for a fate anomaly… I think I found a new subject for my research.”

Udona let out a faint groan. “What, are you going to look into how to access the fate system at will? Seeing the future… that could be quite the interesting business.”

Surprisingly, James shook his head. “That would be a failed business from the start. Even if I came up with the technology… the future is constantly changing within the infinite possibilities. I would never be able to see the ‘true’ future more than ten seconds ahead. No… I’m more curious about the ability to draw power from the system like that young man did.”

Udona blinked curiously, glancing over towards the dark-skinned human. “Is it possible to replicate an anomaly like that?”

“Anything is possible if you try.” James said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’ll study him discreetly, and try to figure out how the system energy is warped around him to allow the access. However, direct manipulation of that energy is beyond my current purview. I can only do my best to mimic the conditions.”

“How likely is it to work?” Udona asked, growing more interested in the idea. Being able to tap into the fate system for training like this… it could produce a lifetime’s worth of training overnight! Who wouldn’t want such a wonderful resource?

“Less than one percent.” James answered, grinning towards Udona as she almost fell out of her throne. “Like I said, I can’t manipulate the system energy itself. I’m still not even considered a part of the system yet. I’ll need to have Chel act on my behalf while I research, and that will reduce the efficiency of the work. Even then, one percent might be a high estimate…”

“You got me so worked up for something that isn’t even likely to work.” She shook her head with a faint groan, bringing a hand up to massage her forehead. “You can give it a shot. But, be sure not to do any invasive tests. I need my knight in one piece.”

James blinked slightly at that, somewhat taken aback. “Your knight, ma’am?”

Udona hummed lightly, nodding and looking out towards the city. “It’s not a bad idea, creating an organization like that. I could always use a few reliable hands around here.”

“…It’s to help you with the paperwork, isn’t it?” His tone was exasperated as he asked that, already turning to walk for the exit.

“It’s for other things, too!” Her retort echoed after him through the walls, but she couldn’t refute his words. Becoming a queen was… a lot of paperwork, even for a queen such as herself. In fact, if she had to guess, there was more paperwork for her than there had been for any queen she had watched over in the past.

Are those guys no longer trying to embezzle now that I’m in charge? She thought to herself, shivering as she remembered her last round of tax reports. She knew that hiring a group of powerful assistants would be the easiest way to relieve herself of some of her burdens. I miss watching movies all the time…

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