World Keeper: Birth of a World

by Justin Miller

  -8

  There was a high pitched scream from the rabbit as it was suddenly engulfed in flames, before it turned and charged at me. Unfortunately for the rabbit… fire is not just an instant attack, at least not when something catches on fire. And, since this was a cone attack… a large area had caught on fire.

  -3

  I watched the health bar slowly draining as the horned rabbit ran through the flames to try to reach me. Was it thinking that it should at least make me join it in death? Well… that wasn’t likely to happen, if I had any say. By the time the rabbit reached me, it had only a sliver of health remaining, and its speed had been greatly lessened due to its pain. Killing it at this point was as easy as taking a step back and letting the fire damage finish its work.

  -2

  Just like that, the horned rabbit let out a pitiful cry, and collapsed on the ground in front of me. As I had expected, I did not receive any notification of an increase in level, so I knelt down and began the process of extracting the rabbits spirit again. This time, the rabbit spirit did not seem to want to return to its body, but rather desperately struggled to break free so that it could run away from me.

  But, would I really let it get away so easily? Keeping a firm grasp on its neck, I prevented its escape, while sending my will to meet it. Unlike the boar, this frightened rabbit offered almost no resistance before its mental wall crumbled. Once that happened, its terrified eyes grew lifeless, and it slowly began to dissipate, turning into a formless mass of white smoke that merged with the hand holding it.

  Successfully contracted level 1 Horned Rabbit - Stage 1

  I could only give a sigh as the rabbit merged with me. Searching my energies, I found that it now existed alongside the boar, the two spirits motionless within me. Maybe I can feed one to the other?

  When the idea occurred to me, I naturally had to try it. Although I couldn’t coax the boar out of me, I might be able to make it interact with another spirit. As such, I connected my mind to the spirit of the boar, and ordered it to consume the rabbit spirit. That’s… when things got weird.

  The boar spirit’s eyes seemed to glow red, as it turned to look at the motionless rabbit. Its body broke down into smoke, which spread out in all directions within the area I was watching, and then converged on the rabbit. Even as parts of it broke off and faded into nothing, the rabbit made neither a sound nor a movement, right up until the end.

  With the job done, the boar spirit reformed, just as motionless as it was before. However… it seemed slightly different. Its legs looked like they had gotten thicker, while its tusks had become sharper.

  Level 2 Razor Boar consumed Level 1 Horned Rabbit . Dexterity +0.5

  Spirit Tamer has leveled up!

  Okay… that is probably not what I wanted to do. Is that a way to evolve spirits by making them feed on each other? Still… interesting.

  Chapter 10

  Now that I had the possibly mutated boar spirit, I still had to figure out how to bring it out and fight for me. This was probably the most important feature for me out of all of the different classes. Just think, with my Keeper stats, I will be able to compete with even the strongest creatures in the world. Then, if I defeat those creatures, I could even add them to my own personal army to use as a fighting force in an invasion!

  So again, I looked around, but instead of finding a new monster to subdue, I was aiming for something different. With the warm glow of mana flooding my eyes, I once more looked at the white smoke rising up from the ground, the spirits of the creatures that already died. I had no way to immediately tell what the spirits had once been without looking more closely, but there was no reason it should be anything stronger than what I encountered previously.

  Walking over to the nearest column of smoke, I found myself standing under one of the larger trees in the area. No doubt whatever had died here properly became fertilizer for this tree, but now I have another use for it. Once again wrapping my hands in mana, I grasped onto the smoke and pulled. What appeared was a very vague form of a large quadruped, coming up roughly to my hips with its fat body.

  A boar, maybe? I thought to myself, as the spirit was far too misshapen to properly identify it. No matter, I once again underwent the process of ‘contracting’ the spirit. This one did not seem to possess any rage or lingering emotions, and the mental wall between us was breached in but a moment. With that done, the spirit dispersed into gas, which slowly drifted into my body. Naturally, I looked inside of myself when this process was over, and found a second boar spirit. Though, this one was far more blurred and indistinct than the one I have been ‘raising’.

  Successfully contracted Level 2 Razor Boar - Stage 1

  As such, there was only one thing to do. Devour , I commanded the stronger spirit, which once again assaulted its ‘neighbor’. This time, rather than becoming smoke to surround and consume it, the boar spirit directly charged over and started ripping chunks out of its victim with its horns. Once the chunks were separated, they merged with the boar, until there was only one spirit remaining inside of me.

  Level 2 Razor Boar consumed Level 2 Razor Boar . Stamina +0.2

  Unfortunately, there was no notification of leveling up, but I couldn’t really expect to get a level every time I did something related to the class. Also, the bonus this time was smaller than what I had gotten from the rabbit, despite it being a higher level spirit… was that because it was a much older one?

  I couldn’t be sure, so I decided to go to the next closest column of smoke, and repeat this process. The spirit this time was even more vague, appearing as an amorphous blob that came up to my knees. From its size and width, I could only assume it used to be a rabbit. Either way… as they say, Get in my belly!

  Focusing my will on the misshapen ghost, I shattered what little defense it had while it sat there unmoving. As happened before, this spirit turned into a vacant white smoke which slowly flew into my body. And again, I ordered the boar spirit to consume it.

  Successfully contracted Level 0 Normal Rabbit - Stage 1

  Level 2 Razor Boar consumed Level 0 Normal Rabbit . No growth

  Spirit Tamer has leveled up!

  Contract Spirit ability has been unlocked!

  Feed Spirit ability has been unlocked!

  Absorb Spirit ability has been unlocked!

  Summon Spirit ability has been unlocked!

  ]

  I was suddenly assaulted by a barrage of blue windows after feeding the rabbit to the boar this time. From the looks of things, I finally hit level 5 as a Spirit Tamer, and unlocked the basic abilities to capture and raise a spirit beast. Though… now I had to figure out how to use them.

  Summon Spirit , I thought in my mind, activating the skill. Or, attempting to at least.

  Contracted spirit Razor Boar has insufficient Spiritual Energy to be summoned!

  Well… what am I supposed to do about that?! Feed Spirit! I practically shouted in my mind.

  Only one spirit possessed currently. No food source available.

  Gritting my teeth, I moved to the next column of smoke and practically ripped it out of the ground. With my frustration, the pitiful rabbit spirit was instantly absorbed into my body. Feed Spirit!

  Successfully contracted Level 1 Horned Rabbit - Stage 1.

  Please select the spirit to feed.

  Level 2 Razor Boar : +0.5 Dexterity, +0.2 Stamina

  Level 1 Horned Rabbit

  I mentally selected the Razor Boar, and then when it asked which spirit to use as food, I chose the rabbit. Once again… I watched the Razor Boar devour the helpless and motionless rabbit spirit. Guess that’s not the right ability…

  Level 2 Razor Boar consumed Level 1 Horned Rabbit . Dexterity +0.2

  Sighing in frustration, I mentally activated Absorb Spirit, hoping to see any information it could provide. I really didn’t want to keep going at this with no results whatsoever.

  No Spiritual Energy within range to absorb.

  Oh… well, tha
t’s something. That implies I don’t have to contract the spirit, just be near it. With a light nod of my head, I moved to yet another column of white smoke. This one seems to have been from multiple creatures, as the smoke rose from various areas around me. Absorb Spirit .

  My next action was… not what I expected. Like when I wanted to speak with the frightened rabbit spirit, I felt my mana being channeled into my mouth. However, I did not dissipate the spirits with my voice this time. Rather, I took a deep breath, and… well, I breathed them in. At first, the white smoke showed signs of resisting, but I watched as it visibly struggled to fight against some invisible force, before flying directly into my mouth.

  Out of curiosity, I directed my senses inward, and found a simple cloud of white gas near the boar. This cloud had no definite shape, no matter how I looked at it. It was simply a pure mass of Spiritual Energy. Feed Spirit ?

  Once again, I was given the prompt for which spirit to select to feed, but there was only one option. And, when it got to the next screen…

  Please choose what food source you wish to give the Razor Boar .

  Spiritual Energy 12 units.

  As it was the only option, I chose the Spiritual Energy. Similarly to how I inhaled the smoke just moments ago, I watched as the boar turned towards the cloud and took a deep breath, inhaling it as well. Once it was done, it no longer looked like a gaseous boar, but seemed to have a solid, white shape.

  Level 2 Razor Boar has advanced to Stage 2, and may now be summoned.

  Finally! I gave a sigh of relief as the boar showed actual improvement, before giving the command to summon it. Carefully, I observed the movements my body made, and the flow of energy that occurred within me. I could clearly feel the boar starting to charge, as if it was a stampede throughout my entire body. In the next moment, it leapt into the air, and there was a white light shining from my chest.

  This light seemed to act as a door, because the boar flew out of it a moment later to stand in front of me. Its eyes did not look at me with hostility, but with a vacantness, as if awaiting a command. “Uhm… roll over?” I spoke, unsure of what to do. However, once it heard that, the boar properly rolled over.

  Or, it tried to at least. Fun fact, boars don’t roll very well. Once it got onto its side, it was a comedic scene of watching the boar kicking at the air and the ground to try to get onto its back and complete the roll. “Alright, alright, enough. Return?”

  When I said that, the boar rolled itself back to its feet, and charged at me. Having an idea where this was going, I simply let it happen, and watched as the boar opened up another hole of light in my chest to dive into. When the light faded, the boar was nowhere to be seen. “Okay, well that’s cool.”

  Finally, my work training my Spirit Tamer class was complete! Now, I could finally work on my next class. Given the training I did previously in the Admin Room, I decided to get the Monk class next. The requirement for this class was actually really easy, it’s just training it beyond that point is more difficult.

  Finding an empty patch of grass and flowers, I sat down on the ground cross legged. In order to acquire the Monk class, I simply had to meditate. Clear my mind, sense the world around and within. Breathe in, let the air flow through me. Breathe out, expel my worries.

  I kept this up for roughly an hour, breathing in and out, doing my best to keep my mind clear. Having been a truck driver in my past life, it was actually very easy to think about nothing at all. Every job has at least some perks, right?

  Monk class unlocked!

  Ki pool unlocked!

  Ki Fist ability unlocked!

  I abruptly opened my eyes when I heard the dinging of the messages appearing, and let out a wide smile. About time! I quickly stood up, stretching a bit as I looked over my updated character sheet.

  Name

  Dale Mitchell

  Race

  Human(Keeper)

  Health

  38/38(184/184)

  Mana

  48/48(64/64)

  Strength

  5(10)

  Ki

  9/9(27/27)

  Stamina

  5(10)

  Intelligence

  7(9)

  Dexterity

  5(7)

  Wisdom

  9(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 5(5)

  Warrior 1(12)

  I nodded my head in satisfaction at the increases, and again navigated the window to exit to the Admin Room. This time, I probably wouldn’t be descending again for quite a while, at least for a few hundred years by the world’s time.

  Chapter 11

  Once I had ascended, Terra again greeted me. This time, her greeting wasn’t as exaggerated as before, since she knew I would have been able to easily handle whatever happened. “Welcome back, Dale.” She said with a nod and a smile. For once, she seemed to be wearing clothes, which came across as a surprise. Though I had to say, they looked good on her.

  For her top, Terra chose to wear a tight white sleeveless shirt, which perfectly emphasized her chest. As for pants, she was wearing blue jeans with slightly frayed legs, and a tiny hole in the back for her tail to come out from. When she saw me admiring her, she struck a pose, placing one hand on her hip while her other arm was flat against her side. “Like what you see?”

  Well… if we’re being honest. “Very much so. What’s the occasion?” Given how comfortable she had been walking around naked lately, I didn’t expect to suddenly find her in clothes, no matter how attractive.

  “Figured I’d try out a few outfits between now and the meeting. Would be a bit rude if we showed up naked, right?” She asked with a light giggle, bringing a hand to cover her mouth.

  “Ah, that’s true… Though, we still have quite a bit of time before that. Hopefully, I can get the world to advance a bit more before we are ready. Don’t want to seem like a complete newbie, you know?”

  At that, she gave me a knowing smile. “Even though you are one?”

  “Exactly…” I replied with a nod. “Now, I had an idea I wanted to talk to you about, because I’m not sure how it would work with the system.”

  Hearing that, Terra gave a happy nod and hopped back to land on the bed, sitting down with her legs crossed. “Go ahead, I’m all cat ears!” She smiled, her ears twitching to emphasize her point.

  “Well… I was thinking about having one of my civilizations using their culture to master magic, while having another work on technology. Then maybe, when the two cultures meet, the two could blend? Technology amplifying magic, and vice versa?”

  After voicing my idea, Terra sat in thought for a while. This was the longest she had debated on something since I had created her. After maybe ten minutes of furrowing her brows and looking like she was debating something with herself, she spoke up. “It is possible… But I wouldn’t suggest doing it with this world. The greatest candidates for a tech society are the humans, and the dwarves, whereas the elves are the obvious choice for a magic society.”

  “However, in your current world, the clashing of two drastically different cultures at that stage of their development could lead to an all out war of domination. Even with Keeper guidance, that might be unavoidable. We could minimize damage with careful oversight, but two drastically different cultures clashing before being fully developed almost always leads to war.”

  Saying up to this point, Terra continued. “However, the magic system you chose has roots in science. If you give it time to properly develop before the two cultures meet, there would be a higher chance of coexistence. But, this level of development wouldn’t happen before two cultures of the sam
e planet meet. So, while the plan is possible, I can’t suggest it. I can only suggest that you try to develop the magic for this world, and use your next world to develop technology. Then, when the two cultures are fully developed, purchase a method for people to cross between them.”

  “That seems like the best option to me. There is even the chance that technology could be minorly developed in this world’s culture due to the study of the laws governing magic. Likewise, as long as you don’t put a particular restriction on magic in your second world, there could be some people that discover it while studying technology.”