World Keeper

Chapter 252: The Last Flame

I couldn’t help but stare at the messages in confusion. I had received an achievement for combining four energies into one back when I made world sight, but that was it. Perhaps my actions of looking up guides on the Keeper Net and being told the basic formula by Balu were considered as outside help by the system, so it did not deem the achievement worthy?

At the same time, I had high hopes for this new energy. I had already experienced the power of world sight, which was similarly an energy comprised of all four basic types. However, if their unique difficulties had to be compared, the Ki of Beginning would likely rank a little higher. If not for the pure detection abilities of world sight allowing me to correct the imbalances, then it was obvious that I would have failed.

I sent a silent thanks to Balu for helping me with world sight, while at the same time looking down at my hand. Channeling the new ki into it, my hand began to glow with a gentle silver light. Terra, what can you tell me about this new energy, now that I’ve already created it?

I can tell you that it’s not what you were hoping for… Aside from that, you’ll need to experiment for a bit before I can give you detailed information.

Her response was timely, and it didn’t surprise me. The fact that it didn’t do what I had initially planned for was a little disappointing, but I was sure that this ki would still have a powerful effect. Aurivy, slimes aren’t the best enemy for testing ki… Mind sending me to a different dungeon?

You got it, bro! She called out, as energetic as ever. Let’s see… this one should do. The kid that you created a while back and used to kickstart the telepathic link. He’s low level enough that you can survive their easily with your normal levels.

Thanks. Ryone, start searching the market for any classes that specialize in wielding the Ki of Beginning. The class descriptions should be able to give some insight into its use, and it might be a good idea to buy the class if this ki becomes a viable option.

On it. Her response was more curt, but I could tell that she was excited as well.

A moment later, I found Aurivy’s golden mist enveloping me, transporting me to a distant region. The area that she dropped me off was below ground, likely within the dungeon itself. I was surrounded by smooth cave walls, the stone looking as if it had been eroded over countless years.

My initial plan was to simply wait for Ryone’s findings before I began to act, however it did not seem like there would be a need for that. From the darkness ahead, a single… human emerged. Draped in fine silk robes, he seemed like a noble priest. However, I could not sense him until moments before his appearance.

More telling was the fact that the name above his head was not that of a person, but of a summoned spirit. “You are the one that mother mentioned.” The human spoke, its voice echoing deeply. His eyes did not seem to focus on any one point, by just gazed into the air ahead of him.

“I believe so.” I confirmed with a nod. If anyone was going to be called the mother of dungeons, then it would be Aurivy. “Do you know why I’m here?”

“Mother said that you wished to perform tests. She said that you needed something to fight.” The voice spoke in its same tone. I had to admit that it was rather brilliant to use a summoned creature as a medium for speech, since dungeon cores had no natural way to speak themselves.

Wait wait wait! Ryone shouted out into my mind. You don’t have to fight! I found the class!

“Please wait for just a moment…” I told the summoned being, before responding to Ryone. What is it, and why does it sound like fighting is a bad idea now?

The class is named the Saint of Five Lights. It’s an advanced class like elemental monk, but seems to be higher rated. The description reads ‘The one who has combined the four elements with himself, and become one with the world. Share his light and cast a new beginning.’ The price of the class is… two hundred points.

That number had me opening my eyes wide. The entire package for the Basic Energy Masters, including the Perfect Self class, had only cost half that. However, Ryone’s words weren’t over. The name of the class and its descriptions seem to indicate that this isn’t as simple as a normal ki class. There’s the chance that there could be a backlash from trying to wield it as a normal ki. You should come to the Admin Room first to run some quick tests.

I gave a small nod. This class was rated as being four times as valuable as the perfect self. That might be simply because Keepers are able to train it without dying, or that the formula is more complex. Either way, there were bound to be hidden secrets.

Lifting my head, I looked to the waiting entity. “Sorry, looks like there’s been a change of plans.”

After saying that, I immediately chose to ascend back to the Admin Room, setting up a training area for myself. Surprisingly, I found Keliope appearing next to me as soon as I had made a small room with a single wooden dummy.

“What? I haven’t had the chance to hang out in a while.” She huffed, as if having heard my thoughts. “Besides, I really wanna see what this new toy of yours does. If it’s interesting, I might spend a couple hundred years working on it. Been a while since I had something new to try.”

“Ahh… so that’s your motivation.” I said with a slight sigh, before feeling inside myself. It was faint, but I could definitely still feel the presence of the Ki of Beginning even now. Thankfully, creating the energy myself unlocked it for use in the Admin Room, otherwise I’d have to go through the process of making it from scratch all over again.

“Less blab, more jab.” She said with a small grin, standing against the wall behind me.

Shaking my head, I mustered the new ki into my palm, focusing it into a single point before striking outwards at the target dummy. My palm connected, and I felt the dummy crack under my strength, but at the same time it also seemed fine after I pulled my hand back. There wasn’t a trace of any crack on its body, or any significant damage.

For a moment, I thought that maybe Keliope had strengthened the dummy in preparation for my practice, or had perhaps repaired it sneakily herself, until she spoke up. “Well? Are you going to do something?””

“I… did?” I questioned. Her sincerely confused tone led me to believe that she hadn’t tampered with the test. Rather, the dummy itself had indeed been damaged as I felt, and then had been repaired just as quickly.

Terra said that it wasn’t what I originally wanted… I had honestly been hoping for a creation energy. And, given the name of the energy, the Ki of Beginning might really have been just that. But, since she knew my expectation and denied it, that means it should be something else. With the response just now… mending?

That thought in mind, I sent a message to Tubrock. I need some broken items. They don’t have to be valuables or anything, just anything broken will do.

There was a light scoff at my request. And what makes ye think I keep anythin’ broken in me forge?

Well… then break something that won’t be missed? This is for an important test.

Aye, aye, just give me a moment, lad. I heard him grumbling over the connection. However, a couple of minutes later, three swords landed at my feet, cleanly snapped in half at the blades.

“What are you planning with that?” Keliope asked, raising an eyebrow at the destroyed weapons.

“Well… if I’m right, the basic function of this ki should be restoration. Ki’s primary effect is to manipulate the physical form, whether that of a living body or an item. The Ki of Beginning joins with the four elements, mana, and is guided by spiritual energy. Originally, I had been hoping to create an energy that would allow me to materialize permanent objects through a method similar to divine and spiritual energy. Instead…”

I held a hand out over the three swords, closing my eyes and focusing to project the ki downwards. I could hear the sounds of metal clashing against metal, sliding along the rough stone floor. And then, a moment later, I opened my eyes and saw three swords in good condition.

“So… it fixes things?” Keliope asked, sounding… disappointed.

“It should be more than that… Restoration should apply to living beings as well. So this can be classified as a healing ki. Only… there’s one thing that doesn’t make sense.”

“Only one, huh?” She joked, a wry grin forming on her face while I sank into thought.

“The class is called the saint of five lights. The first light would likely be the silver restoration light.”

Before I could continue, Keliope spoke up with renewed hope in her voice. “Maybe the other four lights refer to the four elements?”

I gave a small nod at that. It was certainly a plausible idea. “The four elemental ki types are a requirement to create the ki of beginning. Maybe the class is meant to work with all four, like a higher version of the elemental monk.”

“Maybe you can combine elemental ki and this new one!” Keliope shouted out, pushing off the wall and taking a step closer to me. “Come on, give it a try! What’s the worst that could happen, you getting blasted into the wall and giving me a good laugh?”

She did have a point… since this was the Admin Room, there was no way to cause actual damage to myself. And I had to admit, the idea was exciting. If I could use this energy mixed with the other elements, that would give me even more tactics to fight with.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to face the dummy. In my right hand, I held the ki of beginning, while the left hand began to burn with fire ki. I’ll need to redesign the ki path if this works to set the ki of beginning as the dominant energy, and let the other energies come out alongside it.

I brought my hands in front of myself, much like when I was first learning to create chakra. Slowly, I allowed my palms to approach one another, not wanting to force the connection. To my surprise, however, the two ki types seemed to jump out from my hands, mingling in the air between them.

By the time I was able to tell what was going on, the two had merged with almost no effort, forming into a golden flame. When I moved my hands back, the flame split in two, covering each of my hands.

With one quick motion, I thrust out at the wooden dummy again with one hand… and nearly fell forward. It felt like I had overexerted myself and missed my target, but when I caught myself, I saw that my hand had instead passed through the dummy… erasing what the golden flame had touched before it could hit my skin.

The ki of beginning, combined with flame, becomes destruction… That is good to know. Though, maybe a wooden dummy is just too weak of a test target.

Shaking my head, I glanced back to Keliope, who was wearing a grin so wide you’d swear that she found a new toy. “Mind setting up a new target for me? Something stronger… I want to give this a proper run.”

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