It didn’t take long for me to connect with Balu, who revealed that she was on the offensive this time, so she didn’t really have anything to worry about. However, when I told her the reason behind my call, she said that she had to check some things and would get back to me. Whatever she was doing, it took her more than half an hour to complete, before I received another request for a communication.

Starkiller: Sorry! Things get tricky when it comes to higher ranked Keepers like RagnaRocker. Personally, I’ve never gotten higher than the introductory level of the Third Rank, so I had to consult to understand what standards to use to measure the value of the information. I should be good now to hear what you want to sell us!

EarthForceOne: It’s fine. According to my guild master, this will probably count as a trump card for him.

Starkiller: Your guild master is EverLasting, right?

EarthForceOne: That’s right. The creature that RagnaRocker sent over was a monster that acted as a general for the other void beasts. After he died, they went beserk and started attacking chaotically. As for its power… its nature was that of a void beast, but it called itself a void god instead. It had consumed the essence of multiple fallen gods, and gained the ability to write its own rules. I don’t know how many rules it could have at a time.

EarthForceOne: What I do know is what my friend encountered while fighting him. He was able to make rules that could redirect the damage dealt to him, destroy hordes of enemies at once, and one rule that it made created a ‘weakness’ in an opponent the moment that they attacked. Whenever he struck this weakness, they would immediately die.

Starkiller: Right, let me see. A self-customizing void beast with no apparent restrictions for the rules that it could make. Given that RagnaRocker is a Rank 4 Keeper, it’s unlikely that it can make enough rules to create a new world. That means that it probably can’t use more than ten at a time, at the upper limits. Being intelligent and capable of leading troops increases its threat level, as well.

Starkiller: Your guild master was right, this definitely qualifies as a trump card. According to the chart I was given, information like this should be able to go for exactly 62,500 points. How does that sound?

EarthForceOne: Really? That’s a bit more than what she said.

Starkiller: According to the information you gave, Ragnarocker should be at the upper limit of Rank 4. Because of that, the information is worth an extra 25% above normal. If he were a Rank 5 Keeper, the price would increase to 150,000 for a trump card like this.

EarthForceOne: That… makes sense, I suppose.

Starkiller: In that case, would you like me to go over now to handle payment? I can pass the information along to my guild to get the points to pay you any time!

Naturally, I agreed, sending her the invite. At the same time, I called the members of the Greater Pantheon together, telling them that there was a new game that I was contemplating getting from Sarah, and that I wanted their opinions on it.

After a few moments, I saw something shift on the TV. Balu appeared on the screen, walking around and looking lost. “Helloooo?” She called out. “Wait, which one is this…”

“Balu?” I called out to her, and she looked towards me.

“Oh! I’m trapped in something. Can you call for me again? I need to hear where the exit is here.” She said. When I called her name once more, her rabbit ears twitched, and she began walking towards the screen. When she placed her hand on it, the screen rippled like water, allowing her to crawl out. “Not my favorite method of travel, but there are definitely worse…”

“Right…” There wasn’t much that I could do to that other than nod my head in acceptance. I knew fully well how weird the transfer methods of Keepers were. “The others are on their way for a quick discussion. If you want to stick around to hang out, you can, but things are still pretty busy around here.”

“That’s fine!” Balu smiled, shaking her head and hopping over the table to land in front of me, her furry ears flopping. “I’m just here for points delivery. I’ll come back to play with Bihena another time!” After saying that, she held a hand out towards me, to which I nodded and grabbed it.

There was a quick prompt, letting me know that she was giving me the points she had promised, to which I obviously accepted. Once she had finished, she smiled, hopping back across the table. “See you later, Dave!”

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“It’s-....Dale.” I muttered, cut off by a sudden black spot appearing beneath her feet, causing her to fall through it before I could finish.

I shook my head, waiting for the others to arrive. It certainly didn’t take long, Aurivy being the first to appear only seconds after Balu left, Tubrock right on her heels. The others began to file into the room one by one, until the large living room felt as crowded as it had ever been. The only one not attending was Leowynn, who said that she wouldn’t be able to make it due to helping Lyra make her new house.

“Alright, boss man.” Accalia grinned, leaning against the wall. “You’ve got us all here, so why not tell us what new game you want to acquire?”

Ashley nodded her head, clearly interested as well. “In Standard Time, it hasn’t been all that long since World Seed was released, so I’m surprised to see you getting another game already.”

“Yeah, but it’s been over a century in mortal time.” Aurivy pointed out, turning her gaze to me.

“The game that Sarah told me about is meant to be played either alone or with a small group, as opposed to the ones we have so far.” When I said that, the faces of the others in the room became… rather peculiar.

“Huh?” Keliope widened her eyes. “She made an entire universe for a single-player game? How is that marketable?”

“I guess that you could call it instanced simulations.” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m still wrapping my head around the idea. This came up when I asked about a game that would help train people against void threats. Apparently, you set up a life simulation with custom parameters, and a void beast is randomly generated to go with you. If you can successfully identify and, if possible, banish the void beast, you clear the game. If you submit the wrong information, you lose.”

“Winning the simulation allows you to continue the simulated scenario without any further void dangers, or you may begin a new scenario. Failing immediately ends the scenario and kicks the player out.”

Ashley furrowed her brow, clearly thinking it through. “So it’s simulating entire worlds based on the user’s prompts? Aren’t you worried that this will push us over the edge to the Fifth Rank before we’re ready?”

I shook my head, having thought this through as well. “From my understanding, there wouldn’t be any danger of that. Sarah herself just advanced to the Fifth Rank not long ago, so she wouldn’t have had time to make such a complex game since then that would include so many high level concepts. This is most likely something she has had for a while, and set up a number of systems to facilitate world creation without advancing.”

“Right.” Ryone hesitated. “But how much does it cost?”

This was the big question, everyone turning to face me. “It’s a hundred and ten thousand.” I admitted the price honestly. “However, Sarah advised me to sell the information about the void god to the Gilded Branch. Balu was just here to deliver the payment, which was just over sixty-thousand. Combined with what we already had, and the winnings from this last invasion, I believe it’s an expense that we can afford, and one that would help us in the long run.”

“Aye.” Tubrock nodded his head. “This sounds like it’d be a fantasy simulator, once ye got rid of the void beast. ‘Course, that depends on how customizable the worlds are. Could see it bein’ used as a research base or a workshop.”

Bihena, meanwhile, paused and looked around. “Balu was here? She usually comes by to say hi…”

I let out a small chuckle at that. “She said that she was just here to deliver points, and that she’d be by to play another time.”

Bihena nodded her head, before turning to focus on me again. “As for the game, I feel like it would be good for a number of reasons, outside of simply training against the void. For instance, you can do training exercises for military personnel to get them more accustomed to real world combat. The same can apply to the police or any emergency service. Depending on the rules for the game worlds, there are a lot of far-reaching applications.”

Even Tryval seemed to be in agreement, stroking his chin. “Given our recent plight, I believe that we need a proper method of training people to recognize the dangers that the void presents, without causing them to shun any technology related to it.”

“Right. That would lock out most of our recent advancements, and isolate each world.” Ashley agreed.

“In that case… is anyone opposed?” I asked, looking around the room. Although Leowynn wasn’t present, it seemed that we had a unanimous ruling.

“I would like to ask one thing, dad.” Scarlet asked, raising a hand. I looked at her with a smile, signaling for her to continue. “What is the name of the game?”

That… caused me to pause, as Sarah hadn’t actually told me the name of the game. I hadn’t thought to ask her about it when we were discussing, focusing more on the content than the title. “Give me one moment.” I said, holding a finger up as I messaged Sarah to pass along the question.

“Apparently, it is called Codex Chaotic, or C-2 for short.” I said, Scarlet letting out a long sigh.

“So, we’ll be meeting a Cici soon, won’t we?” She asked, earning a round of chuckles from the group. I rolled my eyes with a smirk, soon finding the item on the market. Just as Sarah had said, the asking price was a hundred and ten thousand, and the description seemed to match what she told me.

Seeing as nobody was against the purchase, I went ahead and spent the points to acquire the new game. As I did, the television flickered, and glowing green eyes stared at us. “Hello. My name is Cici.” An innocent voice spoke up. On the screen was a silver-skinned girl with black hair, wearing a black and silver dress and with bright green eyes. “Would you like help establishing Codex Chaotic?”

I turned to look at the screen, about to refuse out of habit as this was my third game from Sarah. However, given the different nature of this one, I thought it would be best to take her up on the offer. “Of course. Once you’re done, you can find Fifi and Vivi to help you get settled in.”

Cici’s eyes widened by a fraction when she learned about the presence of two beings that could be considered her sisters. “I understand. I will be sure to do so once the installation process is complete.”