World Keeper

Chapter 1099: Trial Of Shadows

With Lena’s introduction and prompt assignment out of the way, it was time to get an idea of what all had transpired during the twenty years that I missed. There were bound to be several new developments. To start… “It looks like you have something for me, Dana?” I asked, drawing the shorter elf’s attention to me.

“Right, sorry.” She cleared her throat, causing me to smile. “I’ve finished the Sky Chariot, incorporating the new weapon designs created by Ashley, Tubrock, and the Metong. Additionally, I have made auxiliary command consoles for your Holy Knights to operate, allowing you to have someone else pilot the vessel in your stead with their assistance.”

After saying that, she walked up towards my throne, handing me the spherical crystal that she held in her hand since my arrival. “This is an object used to summon the Sky Chariot. When not in use, it exists in the same travel domain as the Traveler.”

“Finally, I created a new magical intelligence to assist in the operation of the vessel, known as the Keeper’s Arcane Learning Intelligence. Kali, for short.”

“...How long did it take you to come up with another acronym name like that?” I asked, brow twitching as I smirked slightly.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Regardless, Kali is currently limited to the Chariot, but can be moved to any other system at your discretion, or she can materialize in a manner similar to Gerard.”

I nodded my head at that. “Is there anything else you want to report, then?”

When Dana shook her head, I closed my eyes, moving on to the next subject. Chelsea, progress report.

Right, right! It’s that time already, isn’t it? Give me just a minute. Do you want me to meet you in Olympus, or would you rather come to the lab?

Thinking about it for a moment, I stood up. I’ll head to your lab. You should be able to show me your results more easily from there. Just making sure, but the old token from before should still work, right?

Yeah, there hasn’t been an overhaul to our void defenses yet, so the transport tokens haven’t had a major update.

When she said that, I began walking down the stairs, looking at Tsubaki as I passed. “Get a proper assessment of Lena’s abilities, so you can figure out how to utilize her. I’m going to visit Chelsea’s lab, and will be back later.”

Tsubaki gave a firm nod of understanding, turning to leave the throne room ahead of me. Lena grinned, happily skipping behind her with her tail wagging happily. I wasn’t sure what type of tests Tsubaki had in mind for Lena, but I trusted her to keep everything in moderation. And, if Lena had ulterior motives, there was nobody that I trusted more to be able to handle her. Admittedly, it was surprising to see someone dodge all of Dana’s attacks so easily, but Dana wasn’t trying to simply kill her.

Lena clasped her hands behind her back as she skipped along behind Tsubaki, her eye focused ahead. “So, what are we doing, senior?” She asked in a respectful, yet still playful tone.

“Tell me, what is the standard test used to evaluate ninjas of your generation? Or do you still use the Trial of Blood?”

“Nah!” Lena shook her head quickly. “The blood trials were cast aside over a century ago. The elders knew that it was more reliable to create a group of ten assassins able to take out a single target together, rather than one assassin able to take out ten alone. The old trials thinned too much of the numbers to focus on a single, strong individual.”

“Of course, there were some that advocated for the use of virtual reality to simulate the trials, but they were shot down. If the candidates are aware that the trial is not real, it defeats the purpose of making the trial so intense in the first place. For combat practice, we train against graduated seniors. However, we do still have a ‘graduation trial’, the Trial of Shadows.”

Tsubaki arched her brow as she heard that name, glancing back towards Lena while they were walking. “Explain.”

“Like I said, we’re less focused on creating superpower badasses like you these days. Instead, we need infiltration specialists, people that can blend in anywhere to be the eyes and ears of the clans.”

“The Trial of Shadows is a trial tailored to each specific individual. The general summary is that they are given a target, and they must retrieve either a specific item or piece of confidential information from them. This target will typically be high profile, either a god or someone holding an important office, with numerous layers of wards and security. We can use any means at our disposal, so long as we get in, take what we need, and get out without our identity ever being revealed.”

“Of course, if the objective is to steal something, the item will always be returned by another graduate before the target is aware that they were robbed.”

Tsubaki nodded her head as she listened to the description of the trial. “What was your Trial of Shadows?”

Lena grinned playfully. “Oh, I had to steal your diary--I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” She shouted, jumping back and lifting her hands in surrender when Tsubaki suddenly pulled out a pair of daggers. “This is my first time being in Olympus, promise. My trial was to steal a divine relic from the human empress, Elisae.”

This time, it was Tsubaki’s turn to jump back in alarm, as if she couldn’t wait to put distance between the two of them. “How are you alive?”

Tsubaki knew as well as anyone how severe the karmic impacts were when Elisae was involved. Reasonably speaking, anyone that harmed Elisae in any way, even stealing something mundane from her, would suffer such strong negative karma that they would be doomed to failure in anything that they attempted.

“Oh, it was actually pretty easy.” Lena laughed, arms going back behind her back. “Everyone just looks at what happens if you hurt Elisae, but there’s actually the flip side too, you know? You can build up a boatload of positive karma by helping her out. I talked with one of her close aides, letting him have a discreet vacation while promising to carry out his duties in his stead.”

“After that, I spent a month helping her out however I could with his identity, keeping my identity concealed as I racked up the positive karma. All I needed was enough that it would offset stealing an artifact that she wouldn’t even notice missing. I just turned in my work and let the seniors back home handle returning it to her, while I finished out my stay as her assistant.”

“Once he got back from his vacation, I gave him a memory transplant so that he’d know everything that happened while he was gone, and she was none the wiser.”

Hearing Lena’s story, Tsubaki couldn’t help but look at her in a new light. At first, she thought that Lena was simply playful and reckless like Lifre. However, she was methodical enough to counterbalance her karma when interacting with Elisae.

“Tell me…” She said, staring at Lena. “That personality you put on… is that real, or is that a calculation of yours to achieve a goal?” Tsubaki’s World Sight spread out to cover Lena, looking for any signs of falsehood, down to the slightest tremor of her soul.

“Hmm?” Lena tilted her head. “This is the real me! I have to act all serious and everything when I’m other people, so it’s great to just let loose when I can be me! You know, I gotta cram all my happiness into the times when I’m myself, so I can think about how other people make themselves happy, something like that!”

Tsubaki studied Lena for a long moment, not finding any evidence that she was lying. “I see… in that case, we can continue.” She nodded her head, her daggers dissolving into energy once again. “The first thing that I would like to do is teach you how to utilize World Sight, an advanced Saint-Level energy that should help you in your work in the future.”

“Nope!” Lena surprisingly refused Tsubaki, who glanced back with a curious gaze. “Sorry, senior! However, the elders made it very clear that I can never learn a Saint Energy of my own. They put a lot of research into making the ideal circumstances for my divinity. Let’s see… how did they explain it..?”

Lena tilted her head, seemingly lost in thought. “Ah, right! Every time you get a new divinity, it is like something is being added, making your innate energy more dense and complex. This is pretty common knowledge to most people. However… there is a limit on the density of this energy, before it begins to collapse in on itself and go critical. Nine domains is that limit.”

Tsubaki gave a nod of her head at that. “I’m aware. The Keeper has known about nine domains being the limit for quite some time.”

“Right? But it’s actually not just domains that add that density and complexity!” Lena revealed, causing Tsubaki to look at her in surprise. “Any energy on the same level as a divine domain does the same thing. This includes the power of a Fallen God, as well as Saint-Level energies! Meaning that nine is the total limit, not just the divine limit! If I were to train in my own Saint-Level energy, my entire existence would go critical.”

“That… is new information.” Tsubaki said, contemplating on what Lena had told her.

“Yup! There aren’t a lot of people who would need to know something like this! That’s why, when I become someone else, I have to completely alter my energy wavelengths to match theirs, changing everything about me so that I can handle the powers inherent to them. But I lose those powers when I go back to being me!”

Tsubaki nodded to show her understanding. “In that case, you can turn into me, and we can train you to handle World Sight. Even if it is only something that you are able to temporarily activate, it will be of significant aid to you when gathering information.”

Lena nodded her head, her hair fluttering to reveal her right eye, which gave a brief, golden flash. Lena’s body grew taller, her hair growing out as her appearance morphed. Within moments, Tsubaki was standing there looking at an identical copy of herself, one matching her stern expression. 

Sweeping out her World Sight, she could sense just how accurate the copy was, detecting not only the World Sight core within her, but also the Servant Energy that seemed to connect in various directions to different clones. There was also her divinity, which was identical to Tsubaki’s, and held a trace of the Keeper’s own energy in it.

So, this is what nine domains, all focused around a single theme, can do. The possibilities worried Tsubaki, in a way. If someone impersonated the Keeper like this, she couldn’t guarantee that she would be able to tell the difference.

“I’m ready to begin.” Lena said, her voice matching Tsubaki’s calm, composed tone. If not for the brand she placed on herself when receiving that name, Tsubaki was unsure that she would be able to trust Lena to handle any important tasks.

“Right.” Tsubaki said, letting out a low sigh. “Let’s head to my room, so that we don’t confuse anyone that happens to see us. From there, I will teach you some basic tricks when utilizing World Sight.”

Lena gave a short nod, turning to follow Tsubaki while maintaining a respectful distance, similar to how Tsubaki herself followed the Keeper.