World Keeper: Birth of a World

by Justin Miller

  Spirit Tamer has leveled up!

  I felt my eye twitch slightly, not having wanted to level up this way. I want a spirit beast, and by Terra I will have one! Standing up, I looked for another creature, and a few minutes later found one. This was a level two razor boar. Unlike the rabbit, it was slow, but with thick skin and strong, sharp tusks.

  Too lazy to bother with fighting it in melee, I decided to test out my magic. Now, this is where the class abilities come into play. I hadn’t really experimented with them before, but it was easy to use once I tried. As soon as I focused on the fire spell, the diagram appeared in my mind. It was a strong, unshakeable image, and I wasn’t able to alter the foundation of it if I tried. All I could do was fill in the center, design the shape that the spell would take.

  Holding out my hand towards the boar, who now noticed my presence, I drew a straight line in my mind. Once that was done, my mana surged beyond my control, filling the pattern and triggering the spell. A small fire burned in front of my hand before shooting off like a bullet to collide with the boar.

  -10

  A red bar appeared above the boar’s head, which seemed roughly half full after the spell’s effect ended. The boar let out a mad roar, its eyes seeming to glow as it charged at me. I tried to fire the spell again, but discovered something rather unexpected.

  Cooldown remaining: 0.52

  The countdown quickly ended, and half a second later I activated the spell again. While jumping back, I formed another straight line in the center of the diagram that appeared in my mind, just as the boar arrived at my previous location. When the fire struck it this time, the last of its health faded away, and it fell to the ground in a smoking heap.

  So, system abilities have a cooldown associated with them? I furrowed my brows again, and punched at the air two times in rapid succession. Then, I activated the Warrior ability Punch, and found my body adopting a more natural form, punching out with more power than I normally could muster. However, as soon as I was done, I tried to do it again…

  Cooldown remaining: 0.31

  So… half a second cooldown between punches, and maybe a one or two second cooldown for the fire spell… However, there was a preset form for system abilities, which was the equivalent of having been trained to do so manually. So, as someone that never got into any real fights before, the Punch ability was stronger than my normal punches.

  Once I was done sidetracking myself, I manually guided the mana to my eyes again, so that I could look at this boar’s spirit. It was notably thicker than that of the rabbit, and I was able to pull it out of its body just the same. However, when it was outside of its body, the boar’s spirit seemed to enter some sort of rage, struggling until it broke free of my hand and then dropping to the ground.

  I watched as the spirit began running in random directions, letting out silent roars at anything that it could, and apparently oblivious to my own presence. So… it probably hates me for killing it? Only natural, right? But, it can’t see me, so it just charges recklessly? Then…

  At this point, I tried a different method to connect with the spirit, closer to the path of using Natural Energy. Rather than using mana, I tried to send my will out directly to the rampaging ghost. This was… easier said than done. For about five minutes, I focused on it as it ran back and forth, before suddenly it seemed to freeze in place. Afterwards, it slowly turned to face me, that same anger in its eyes.

  Okay… I guess I made the connection… now to tame it? How do?! I shouted in my mind, as the boar spirit began to charge directly at me. Well, it definitely knows where I am now. I focused on it again, and faintly felt as if there was a wall blocking my mind from touching the boar. And what do we do when we run into a wall? Go around it? Screw that, blast right through!

  Relying on my enhanced Keeper stats, I put all my focus on smashing that barrier that stopped my mind from connecting with the boar. I heard a small cracking sound in my head, and right as its charge reached me, it felt like something shattered. The boar leapt into the air as if to tackle my chest, but simply phased into me. When I spun around to keep an eye on it, the boar had seemingly vanished.

  Successfully contracted level 2 Razor Boar - Stage 1

  Oh… well… now what? I looked around myself curiously, before a thought occurred to me. Closing my eyes, I sent my senses inward. If I’m right… there it is! I spotted a faint wisp of ethereal energy inside my body, the same energy that had been identified as Spiritual Energy by Terra. And when I focused on it more, it seemed to take the shape of a boar.

  Though… having come this far, I was completely incapable of doing anything with it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t call that boar spirit back out of me. And… since there was not a cooldown timer or anything appearing, it didn’t seem to be a system restriction. I’ll have to figure that out later…

  Name

  Dale Mitchell

  Race

  Human(Keeper)

  Health

  28/28(184/184)

  Mana

  34/34(64/64)

  Strength

  5(10)

  Ki

  0/0(33/33)

  Stamina

  5(10)

  Intelligence

  7(9)

  Dexterity

  5(7)

  Wisdom

  8(11)

  Luck

  5

  Charm

  4

  Class List

  Druid 0(3)

  Farmer 0(1)

  Hunter 0(4)

  Leader 0(2)

  Mage 1(5)

  Monk 0(3)

  Priest 0(3)

  Scholar 0(1)

  Scout 0(2)

  Shaman 0(1)

  Spirit Tamer 3(3)

  Warrior 1(12)

  I nodded my head happily at the changes. Although it wasn’t much, I now had more health, mana, and it seemed that my Wisdom had increased by a point as well. Still… compared to my Keeper abilities, my power hadn’t changed at all. But, that was only natural, as I had just barely been grinding for an hour. For most people currently, they would rarely encounter an enemy, and will probably use the system abilities when they do to defeat it. Seeing as I didn’t level up my Mage class when I defeated the boar, you probably don’t gain much experience when you fight with the system powers.

  Well, anything else I should get before I head back? I thought about it for a few minutes, and decided I might as well go back to the Admin Room now. I could come down and train any time I wanted, but as it stands there are no creatures here strong enough to really test myself. Not that being safe is a bad thing, of course.

  Opening up the system menu with a thought, I navigated to the exit button, and let myself be enveloped by the blue light again. I had definitely learned some things after descending this time.

  Chapter 9

  As I returned to the Admin Room, I felt a warm feeling surround my body, and two fleshy lumps pressing against my chest. “Welcome back, Dale.” The catgirl goddess spoke in a happy voice, obviously relieved to see me back.

  I smiled to her, opening my eyes and reaching up to pet her hair. “I’ll probably go back to train more later. I still have a quest I need to finish, right?” I chuckled lightly as she gave me a small nod.

  “Alright, but you still have to be careful. Not just for your own sake…” Terra said something rather ominous there, didn’t she?

  “Uhm… what?” I looked at her confused. I mean, I could understand if me being in danger would be bad for the world, since it would mean a full reset with a new Keeper.

  “Well… your real level. If it gets higher than the current strongest person, stronger monsters will begin to spawn. You don’t have to worry about that if it’s just your Keeper level, but once you actually train yourself that high, it will be a problem.”

  Ahh… I hadn’t considered that possibility. “I see… I’ll have to take things in moderation, then.” Currently, my real level was only five or so, so there was no risk
of upsetting the balance of the world quite yet. “By the way, did anything happen while I was gone?”

  Terra thought about that for a moment before giving a small nod. “There were five more purchases of the World Host. Alkahest also sent a message asking to meet up whenever it was convenient for you. Aside from that… there weren’t any developments on Earth.”

  Cool, so five more hosts sold… that should be another fifteen points, then. I nodded my head at that. “Alright. Before we get started on anything else, can you help me find a few of the afterlife systems? Even if I can’t afford them, I’d like to make a plan for the future.” Terra nods with a small smile on her face when I ask that, and a blue window appears in front of me.

  Heaven and Hell

  This system establishes two small storage areas for deceased souls within the metaphysical realm. Whenever a soul is ready to move on, the Keeper or an appointed god will judge their events in life, to determine their placement. Those deemed virtuous souls will be granted a blissful afterlife as their reward, and those deemed sinful will be condemned to eternal torture. This reward or punishment can end at any time, when the Keeper or relevant god determines that a soul is fit to be given another chance at life, and at that point the Keeper or relevant god can determine the circumstances surrounding the birth of this new life.

  50 Points

  Cycle of Reincarnation

  This system enters your world in the great Cycle of Reincarnation, shared through many Keeper worlds. Whenever a soul with a strong innate talent dies, there is a chance for it to be reborn, either in your world or another in this cycle. It will retain fragmented memories of its past life, and if those memories are sufficient the soul will be able to regain its former power, should the new life's world be compatible with those powers.

  60 points

  Hall of Champions

  A defensive system put in place to offer an emergency fighting force in the event of impending disaster. With this system, every soul above a sufficient level of strength is entered into the Hall of Champions, where they may feast, fight, and celebrate for an eternity, or until they are called for one final battle. Each soul can only be called this way once, but there is no limit to the number of souls that can be called at a time. Souls not qualified to enter the Hall of Champions will be consumed as fuel to maintain the dimension.

  150 points

  Astral Plane

  This system creates a second, spiritual world within your domain. Whenever a soul dies in the Material Plane, it may be transferred to the Astral Plane to live a new life. Likewise, when a soul dies in the Astral Plane, it may be reborn in the Material Plane with its memories erased.

  200 points

  Soul Disposal

  A quick and easy system, which disposes of souls after a set amount of time has passed since their death.

  50 Points

  “While these aren’t the only systems available, they are the ones that are more popular.” Terra explained as I read through the list.

  “Why is Heaven and Hell so cheap? It sound like something that should cost at least a hundred points…” I asked curiously, unable to figure that part out.

  “Ah… that’s because of the need for a dedicated ‘Judge’ role. If a Keeper personally takes that task, and has to oversee every death for his entire world, he would have no time to develop the world. Otherwise, he would need to spend points to acquire a separate Judge to do the work for him.”

  “That makes sense, I suppose.” Personally, I was torn between the Heaven and Hell system, and the Hall of Champions. The Cycle of Reincarnation sounds good, but really seems more like a trap. If a malicious Keeper raised their world’s talents right, they could probably make it so that the reincarnated individuals hold absolute loyalty to their original world, and cause chaos after being reincarnated.

  So, next I looked through a list of options for the ‘Judge’ role. There were actually a lot of choices, including preset gods, devils, and even a court of souls. However, there was one option which caught my eye the most.

  Lemegeton and Shemhamphorasch

  This is a system of 72 angels and 72 demons, each with their own specialty, who oversee the realms of Heaven and Hell. It is their task to judge the souls of those who pass away in the world, and then carry out the punishment or reward. They will also make suggestions to the Keeper or assigned god whenever a powerful soul is ready to be given another life. Although these angels and demons have no physical form, it is possible for those that have passed through their care to commune with them. In doing so, they may establish the angels or demons as a source of divine power, should such be possible in your world. The Keeper may limit the influence that the 72 angels and demons have on the living through the system settings.

  100 points

  While I hadn’t heard the name Shemhamphorasch before, I was at least somewhat familiar with the Lemegeton. Also known as the Lesser Key of Solomon, it was a fairly well known book, supposedly associated with demonology in the Earth I was raised in. Though, I can’t say I know the details of it too well.

  Anyways… I ended up choosing to go for that option. Not because of nostalgia or anything, but because of cost effectiveness. Any of the other preset options would require at least fifty points, and have only one or two entities. This may be a one hundred point system, but contains nearly a hundred and fifty entities. Furthermore, it offers a new kind of power to the world.

  I nodded my head after having made my decision, and closed the system interface. I would need a hundred and fifty points in order to purchase that, and I was not ready for that, yet. There were still a few achievements I would need to earn before I could afford it. Turning towards Terra, I brought up a different subject. “Did Alkahest happen to mention what he wanted?”

  Before, he had offered to let me join his guild, so I figured it probably had something to do with that. However, Terra gave me a different answer than I was expecting. “He said that there is a meeting of Keepers happening in a few weeks, and wanted to let you join in. Earth hasn’t been represented in a long time, so he offered to go over the rules and benefits of joining before the meeting itself.”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise upon hearing that. “A meeting of Keepers? Is that something official?”

  Terra simply gave a smile, shaking her head. “No, this is something they probably set up for themselves. While there is an official gathering time for Keepers, it only applies to those that are advanced enough to participate in the games. We likely won’t be ready for the next one, so I didn’t bother to tell you about it.”

  “Ah… is it important?”

  She shrugged lightly in response. “Not particularly. You could consider it like the forums, a way for Keepers to meet and exchange ideas face to face in a peaceful environment. There are games that you can enter, either with yourself or with champions from your world, and compete to earn points. However, attendance is definitely not mandatory, and there is no real penalty for being absent.”

  I nodded in understanding at that, then made a bitter smile. “Put us at each other’s throats with the Keeper games, and then have us all meet for a festival peacefully? This system really can’t make up its mind.”

  Terra simply gave me a knowing smile at that, not saying anything. Well, no use worrying over it right now. Like she said, I was still a long ways away from being able to take part in any of that. Right now, my own world was just getting started. I gave another look to the computer before speaking. “I’ll do a bit more training before I visit Alkahest, then. I want to figure out how this Spirit Tamer class works, and maybe unlock another class.”

  She nodded, patting me on the shoulder as she let out a slight sigh. “Alright. I can’t give you any advice about that, but I can tell you something.” She leaned forward, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. “If you can’t figure it out yourself, the system unlocks the ability you want at level five of Spirit Tamer. That’s the most I can do for you with that.”

&nb
sp; I grin knowingly, accepting that answer. Was still more than I was hoping for. “Alright. Then, while I’m gone, can you let Alkahest know that we’ll be meeting in a couple of days? I shouldn’t take long to get a couple more levels down on the surface, at most a couple hours, but that will give me plenty of time to relax after I get back.” Terra easily accepted that, and I went back down to the world again.

  For now, I want to use only system abilities, except for the Spirit Tamer class. That way, I don’t carelessly level other classes. I nodded to myself while looking around for more targets. Since I spawned in the same location as before, it was still a pretty sparsely populated area. It took me a full five minutes to find something that was not treated as a level zero lifeform.

  And… this was another horned rabbit. Well, let’s just get this over with? I aimed my hand at the rabbit from a distance, and chose to use the Fire spell in my mind. When the diagram appeared in my head, I drew a cone shape. Horned rabbits were fast, so a straight shot or a punch would most likely miss, and improvising would get me more levels than I wanted for now.