World Keeper

Chapter 985: Seeking Perfection

The process of having her spirit and body remolded by the machines in James’s facility was… honestly not as bad as Tsubaki expected. In truth, she barely even felt it. Though, that was largely in part because of the already overwhelming pain of her current state of existence. Only once her body was stabilized and perfected again was she able to calm down, her face incredibly pale.

“Are you alright?” Chelsea asked when Tsubaki walked out of the second device. “You can take a break if you need to. There’s no need to go straight into the final step.”

“I’m fine.” Tsubaki said with a shake of her head. Her health was already starting to very slowly rise. “I’m familiar with the last step. My current condition should not be a problem.”

Chelsea let out a soft sight, nodding her head. “Alright. Then, whenever you’re ready, proceed to the--and she’s already going.” Chelsea couldn’t help but grunt, seeing Tsubaki already entering the third machine.

Chelsea walked over to the console, taking her time to make some adjustments. Although Tsubaki insisted that she was fine, she knew better. The pain that Tsubaki had endured would be enough to drive most people crazy, or even directly shatter their souls. Chelsea wanted to give her at least a few moments to recover herself before she began.

Thankfully, as Tsubaki had said, the Perfect Will did not have such a dangerous setting. Rather, it was all about bringing the user’s mana into a closed loop with the rest of their perfected aspects. When the soul, body, and mind were brought together like this, it created an astounding change.

Thus, Chelsea hit the button to begin the machine once she had all the settings adjusted to someone of Tsubaki’s status. The machine whirred to life, and Chelsea watched the monitors for any signs of danger. Tsubaki might have been blessed by the Heavenly Gate, but that didn’t mean that it was okay for her to just die. After all, that would mean that Tsubaki was unable to accompany Dale when he was in true danger. That was something that she would never be able to forgive herself for.

Inside the machine, Tsubaki did her best to clear her mind. Now that her body was stabilized, she did not need to maintain her ironclad focus. With deep, calming breaths, she felt her mana being pulled by the machine, coursing through her body. She did not resist the process, merely feeling how her mana changed throughout the cycles, how the other energies were pulled to merge with it and bathe it in the purity of perfection.

And then, the process was over. Tsubaki didn’t feel incredibly different compared to when she entered the machine, but it had clearly stopped operating. With a pneumatic hiss, the door opened. Tsubaki walked out, about to express her doubts, but Chel got to it first. “Before you say anything, this is normal. The machine only starts the process. Depending on the scale of your mana, it can take anywhere from twenty four hours to a week before the conversion is complete.”

“I see…” Tsubaki nodded her head. “Is there anything else that I need to be wary of during this time?”

Chelsea thought about it for a moment, shrugging her shoulders. “Not really. Once the process is complete, you’ll have a full, perfect form. This means that you won’t have to worry about energy conflicts in the future, and will be able to gradually integrate any Saint Energies you have with your body.”

Tsubaki blinked, confused. “What do you mean no energy conflicts?”

“Huh? I thought that was why you wanted to do this?” Now it was Chelsea’s turn to be confused. “Aside from being able to form the Saint Body, the primary reason people pursue full perfection is because of the fact that it prevents energy conflicts. For instance, you will be able to have your mana and ki interacting with one another without either merging into chakra or exploding.”

“Any energy formed by the basic types will be able to interact like this. That is what makes the Saint Body itself possible. You can even have a Saint Body composed of multiple Saint Energies.”

“I… see.” Tsubaki gave a small nod. “You said that it’s only for the four basic types. Am I to assume that divinity is not included?” Although the primary energies were used as a catalyst in ascension, the true essence of divinity came from the natural divine spark living within everyone.

“That’s right. There’s not really much conflict with divinity to begin with, but I don’t include it because there is still conflict when you mix divinity with the void. Energies that only use a trace of the void are fine, but not ones that use it for more than twenty-percent of its makeup.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Tsubaki said, her mind racing. She had already decided one Saint Energy that she wanted to give herself, but had assumed that she would need to discard World Sight in order to create a true Saint Body with it. Now that she discovered that was not the case… “I would like to ask for an energy formula from your research facility. It is one that I saw some time ago.”

Chelsea blinked at that, looking up at Tsubaki. “Sure, which one? Ah, wait… let me guess… it’s either the Dark Truth or the One Light?”

Tsubaki smiled slightly, nodding in confirmation. “One Light. I have a substitute for the Dark Truth already.”

“You do?” Chelsea arched her brow in curiosity. “Well… if you’re sure.” She walked over to her terminal, pulling up a file. “Do you have your terminal on you, or should I send it to the Olympus database?”

“...Send it to Olympus, please.” Tsubaki’s terminal had been an unfortunate casualty when she shattered her physical form, as she found that the storage space she had developed thanks to Aznod’s regular cooking of the new ginseng had been destroyed. It wouldn’t be hard to get a new one, and she had all of her files backed up, so she wasn’t particularly upset. It was just a matter of inconvenience.

“Alright. The detailed description and development steps of One Light have been sent to the Olympus database. It should be ready anytime.” Chelsea smiled, and Tsubaki gave a nod of thanks before turning to leave.

In truth, Tsubaki was deep in thought. I wonder if there will be another trinity that happens when I create a three-fold Saint Body? Tsubaki had chosen each of her energies because of their relationship with one of her domains.

For Light, there was the One Light, a karmic energy that weaponized the user’s karma. When the user used this energy to attack, their attack was amplified by the strength of their karma, whether it was positive or negative. Additionally, if their karma was strong enough, their attack would cut open space, flying back to the source to deliver a second attack to anything along the way. With proper positioning, the One Light made dodging a futile effort.

Next was her domain of Stealth, which she paired with World Sight. World Sight was the ultimate detection energy, capable of seeing through any manner of stealth or hidden devices. While it did not directly aid her in stealth, it was enough of a connection that Tsubaki felt like it fit best out of all the energies she knew.

Finally, her new domain of Service. For this, she had received insights into a new energy herself, during her time as an impromptu Keeper. She wanted to bring it back to present to her Keeper as a gift. Now that this invasion was happening and she needed to prepare for it, she thought it was best to demonstrate firsthand what her energy could do.

Dark Truth was an energy that consumed the user’s power and vitality to fulfill a promise that they made, whether it was protecting someone or performing some task. Tsubaki’s energy, Contractual Obligation, worked similarly to placing restrictions on one’s divinity. By restricting herself with a promise or pact, she would gain an increase in power based on the severity of the restriction.

Ten years… that should be plenty of time for the energy to build, especially after I create a Saint Body. Tsubaki smiled to herself, tearing open a gap in the void. After stepping through it, she found herself back in Olympus, nodding her head. As soon as she came back from the Keeper Meeting, she synchronized with her Service Avatars, refreshing her basic knowledge of how to use energies in this world. As such, she was confident that she would be able to form her Contractual Obligation.

All she had to do was wait for her mana to complete the purification process. In the meantime, she considered her avatars, and whether or not she would need to reform them. Thankfully, those avatars weren’t destroyed when she dispersed her main body, but now that she had upgraded herself, would she have to do the same to them?

It would probably be for the best, right? They’re currently operating with an incomplete frame. Though… how much will that impact them? No, wait… would I even be able to create a perfected version? I am using the Service Energy as the core, rather than a Perfect Soul. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be capable of giving them the same immunity to energy conflicts to begin with.

Of course, it was entirely possible for her to create avatars purely from her newly created perfect form. However, the reason why she used the Servant Avatars to begin with was because of their ability to operate autonomously, while still providing the necessary feedback for her to train. If she simply made a ‘Perfect Avatar’, she would need to split her focus in order to control it, which would defeat the purpose of the legend that she established.

As she thought about these details, she gradually made her way into Olympus, taking the elevator to her own palace and walking into one of her training rooms. Her Keeper would be gone for the next ten years, so she had to do her best to surprise him upon his return.

“I’m surprised that Tsubaki didn’t come with us.” I shook my head with a sigh, looking at Dana who had just appeared in the Admin Room. Dana stuck her tongue out playfully.

“She learned some things while she was a Keeper, so I’m guessing she wants to put them into practice now.” I watched Dana, curious about what she said.

“What could she have learned in an unranked world that would improve her current status? I’m pretty sure that anything she could do there, she could already do here.”

Dana simply giggled, shaking her head. “Tsuba wouldn’t like it if I spoiled the surprise. All that I can say is that she didn’t have any Companions while she was a Keeper, other than myself.”

That made me pause. I could understand the implied meaning, that she was able to purchase more advanced knowledge without it boosting her rank. But, there was something more important. “How long… did it take?”

Dana blinked, seeming surprised by my question. “Huh? Oh… Tsuba did a lot of stuff hands-on after she revealed herself. In total, we were there… just under three Standard years? Yeah, that sounds right.”

I reached over, lightly patting Dana’s head, surprising her even further. “Thanks for staying with her through all of that.” Although three Standard years was still shorter than the time that we were skipping now, there was a key difference. They consciously realized that they were in a simulation, and that they were the only ones ‘real’.

This knowledge would inevitably make it more difficult for either of them to connect with another being on a social level. Thus, although the time was shorter, I was sure that it was one of the most lonely times that Tsubaki had been through since her time in ‘hell’.

Dana’s smile turned soft again, and she stuck her tongue out. “As long as you realize it. It was weird being a System Companion. All that stuff that I both knew and didn’t know at the same time, like I was always watching a million blurred movies in the back of my head. I knew the name of every movie, but they’d only become clear if Tsubaki had the relevant information for me to access it. And now I can’t remember any of it, just that it was a thing!”