It didn’t take long for the village elder to agree to Tsubaki’s request after he heard of what she had told them. Soon, she was setting off towards the edge of the forest with two kitsune, each of which swiftly followed behind her.
Tsubaki had already said that it would take three hours for the army to reach the village, so they expected quite a long run in order to meet them halfway. Instead, after roughly twenty-five minutes, they began to hear the clamor of troops and what sounded like combat up ahead.
Tsubaki’s eyes were calm, signaling for the two scouts to join her on a high branch nearby. There, they were able to see the advancing troops. On the left and right flanks, there were warriors, monks, and archers fighting off various monsters that approached. At the center, mages that shot out spells to enhance their allies or attack the enemies. The rear held the healers, where any of the fighters were taken upon being injured, and the front…
The two scouts saw a line of kitsune men and women carrying large axes. Each one walked up to a tree and placed their hand on it. Immediately afterwards, a red ring was drawn around the tree’s trunk. They pulled their axes back, delivering a powerful swing along the red ring.
With a rush of air, each struck tree simply disappeared, causing the scouts to widen their eyes. “They’re not just advancing, but clearing the forest?” One of them asked.
There was a major difference between harvesting and clearing in this world. If a tree were harvested, it would leave behind a stump to show where it would respawn after a week. However, if the tree were cleared, there would be no respawning. The only way to replenish the tree would be by getting a seed to drop from another tree and manually planting it.
Tsubaki simply nodded her head. “The forest is too advantageous to your village. They would rather remove it to level the field, that way they will control the territory.”
The scout bit his lip, but ultimately nodded. “What do they do with all of the wood, though? Their inventories can’t hold that many trees’ worth, can they?”
Tsubaki gestured back behind the clerics, where several wagons were being pulled. When creating this world, Tsubaki installed not one, but two storage systems. The first was a very basic game inventory, whereas the second was… more of an add-on for that inventory that allowed any container to have its own inventory as well. This allowed for such wagons or chests to carry dozens of times their normal limits.
“All they have to do is load the wagons when their inventory is full, and send them to the nearest town. They’ve got a steady rotation of four wagon teams, so there is always one at the scene.”
The scout grit his teeth in frustration. There were easily eight hundred troops in the enemy army, far more than the total population of roughly five hundred in the previous village. “Do you see why I brought you here?” Tsubaki asked calmly, the two scouts nodding their heads with grim expressions.
“We need to evacuate the village. They’re this close… but since they’re taking the time to clear the path, it will take them some time yet. If we hurry…” One of the duo said this, causing Tsubaki to shake her head.
“By the time we get back, we will have two hours to evacuate. If everyone hurries, it is possible, but people rarely follow orders in a chaotic event.” She explained, causing the other scout to look at her.
“Then why are we here?” He asked, Tsubaki taking a step forward on the branch.
“To watch and report.” And with that, she allowed herself to fall to the forest floor, walking calmly towards the front line. Her eyes swept across the front line of troops, the lumberjacks. “If you leave now, none of you will die.” She said in a steady tone, causing the nearest troops to stare at her in confusion.
“Get rid of her and keep moving!” Someone shouted from the center line, no doubt the legion commander. Two of the lumberjacks began charging Tsubaki with their axes, no doubt having Warrior as their primary class.
Tsubaki didn’t even spare them a glance, her eyes locked on where the voice had come from. There was a crack in the ground, with thick roots rising up to pierce through the arms and legs of her would-be assailants. With a cry, they released their grip on their axes, letting them fall to the ground as their health began to drop.
Tsubaki calmly walked past the duo, the other lumberjacks already identifying her as a powerful druid. Knowing that a Warrior was weak against such a strong Druid in the forest, they backed away in fear. “Tch, Mages! Artillery fire!”
When the commander’s voice rang out, the nearby mages turned their focus to Tsubaki, beginning to channel their magic. Dense streams of fire arced through the air, rushing towards her. If there was one thing to be thankful of, it was the fact that her harvesting system made trees resistant to fire before being harvested.
Tsubaki wasn’t just going to remain still as the bombardment was under way. Her eyes narrowed, crouching down and rushing forward. She immediately broke through the line of lumberjacks, enhancing her speed with her ki to blitz beneath the trajectory of the flames.
“A Monk?!” The commander called out. “A multi--no! The Druid is hiding nearby! Everyone, focus on the Monk!”
Not a bad choice, normally. Tsubaki thought to herself. At this stage, monks were weak at long-ranged battles. Meanwhile, druids were capable of acting from almost any distance with ease, even hiding their presence. However, the fact that she was capable of using both powers was something that seemed too unlikely for this commander.
The fire attacks were exchanged for lightning blasts, shooting in jagged paths towards her body. Tsubaki’s eyes narrowed at the approaching spells, throwing out a wave of ki to disrupt them. The spells struck her ki wave, fizzling out as the two sides negated one another. Still, it bought Tsubaki enough time to rush into the center of the formation, grabbing the commander by his throat.
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“H-How… with ki…” He asked, gasping for breath as Tsubaki lifted him off the ground with one hand. With Tsubaki holding the commander’s life literally in her hand, the other mages nearby stepped back in fright, unable to recklessly launch an attack.
“You simply don’t know how to fight with ki.” She spoke in a soft tone, glancing around at the surrounding troops. “I tried to warn you. Now… receive Her wrath.”
Golden light surged around Tsubaki, spreading along the ground to create a massive spell circle that encompassed the majority of the eight hundred troops. Those near the edges cried out, scrambling to escape the formation. Only a scarce few recognized the ability being used, as it represented the power of the Pope of Holy Magic. The mages nearby screamed, rushing towards Tsubaki in a vain hope of canceling the magic.
“Arcane Smite.” The moment Tsubaki uttered the skill’s name, the holy spell activated, a pillar of blue light descending around her. Those outside of the range stumbled to the ground, the nearby monsters whining and scattering into the surroundings.
When the pillar cleared, all that was left within the range of the blast was Tsubaki, still holding the throat of the commander. Her eyes watched him calmly, silently commending him for not fainting as the power surged around them. Along the ground, the previous spell formation had been branded into the grass.
She released her grip, staring down at the commander. “Your troops have been decimated. Return to your empire and tell them what happened. Unless you wish to feel Her wrath again, you will end this pointless war.”
After she said that, she calmly turned around, starting to walk back towards the forest. This time, nobody made an attempt to stand in her path, scurrying out of the way as if afraid that a casual glance would be enough to erase them. They would have believed that there was a Druid hiding nearby, but the Arcane Smite clearly originated from Tsubaki herself.
Once she had disappeared into the forest, the two scouts jumped down to greet her, observing her with a look of awe. “Even for a Multi-Class… to think that you were so powerful… If it is this much, we can press the advantage and turn the tides of war!”
Tsubaki narrowed her gaze at the scout who spoke. “I am not here to defeat the empire, only to stop them from destroying another kingdom. Do not make such a suggestion again. It only takes one person to deliver a report.”
The scout’s eyes went wide at the clear threat, his face going pale. Tsubaki didn’t spare either of them another glance, using her ki to rush ahead. The average level of the previous army was no higher than twenty, which made it rather easy for Tsubaki to abuse the level gap to cause a massacre. Still, such pointless bloodshed was not something that she particularly took a liking to, especially when she envisioned herself in her Keeper’s position.
Lost your temper a bit there? Dana’s voice sounded in her mind, carrying with it an amused tone.
Slightly… Tsubaki nodded, widening the gap between her and the two scouts, until she was able to completely shake them off her trail to disappear further into the forest. I didn’t appreciate that the first thing they asked for was for me to continue killing. If someone did the same for my Keeper…
Their heads would be the first you took, I know. Dana’s tone turned gentle. What are you going to do now?
I’ve had the chance to see the systems of this world up close, which is why I wanted to come down in the first place. My next step… I want to create another system for the market to earn more points. Before we go back to our world, I want to get something.
Now, Dana’s tone suddenly turned into one of confusion. Oh? What is it you want to get?
I want to acquire knowledge of a Saint Energy, so we can recreate it in our world. Tsubaki’s answer shocked Dana, but she continued. I’m aware that the creation process will differ slightly. However, I believe that it is something achievable as long as I memorize the process in this world.
I… think you’re right. Though, what energy would you want to gain?
Tsubaki shook her head at that. I don’t know. Once I’ve created a new system to sell on the market, we can look at what energies are affordable. If need be, I am willing to farm points by creating more worlds to let civilizations advance. Until we acquire the Saint Energy, I do not wish for any of our worlds to break through.
After saying that, Tsubaki’s body vanished from the forest, ascending back to the Sky Citadel. Dana sat, smiling calmly at Tsubaki with her hands in her lap. “In that case, you’ll want to come up with a good system. Do you have any ideas?”
Tsubaki nodded her head, her expression softening as she moved to sit down next to Dana. “Three. The first one is Wish Magic. This is an imagination-style magic system focusing around the mana of the world granting wishes to those qualified. It comes in two varieties, one where only certain people are capable of granting the wishes of others, and one where anyone with a deep connection to the world’s mana can make a wish. Of course, the level of wish that can be granted depends on the user’s level of connection and authority.”
This magic system was more of a trap than anything else. While it looked nice, it would ultimately become a source of chaos within the world. After all, letting people grant wishes was… a dangerous move. Still, she was certain that there would be Keepers willing to purchase the system to experiment.
“The second system is Wild Magic. This is a more uncontrolled magic system, in which chaos dictates the spell effect. This magic system has a partial connection to the void, which can enhance the spell’s effects, for better or worse. Naturally, there will be special techniques to channel and direct the effects to get more desirable outcomes.”
“Finally, the last one is Pictomancy, or Art Magic. Rather than geometric formations or runes, this one performs magic through art such as paintings or tattoos. For instance, if someone had a tattoo of flame on the back of their wrist, they might be able to launch fireballs, or perhaps empower their punches with fire.”
While the first magic system was more of a vaguely hidden trap, the second was… a reverse trap, in a way? It was designed to look like a trap, but had powerful uses at higher tiers. She was confident that high tier Keepers would gladly buy this system once they recognized its effects. As for the last one, it was a standard type of magic system, merely using a different medium to channel spells.
Dana tilted her head briefly, before nodding. “Alright, I’ll throw these three up on the market, then! Or would you rather write up a detailed description to solidify the results?” Both of them knew by this point that the more detailed you were when describing a system, the more likely it was that it would turn out how you wanted. However, Tsubaki shook her head, unconcerned. As long as it had the appearance of what she wanted, that would be enough for her. She didn’t need the magics to be truly viable, only for other Keepers to believe that they were long enough to buy them. After all, she would never personally enter the Keeper Games, and wouldn’t need to worry about such things.