Petra followed the Keeper’s words, spreading her shadow out to bring this layer of Fyor into her dominion. With it, she was able to get a basic grasp of the terrain, her face contorting slightly. “Keeper, this layer--”
The Keeper nodded his head, interrupting her. “I’ve noticed.” The water content of the layer was less than one percent, with only very rare patches of oasis scattered around. “Give me a moment.”
The Keeper erected a floating mirror before him, and Petra could feel his divinity radiating from the mirror. Oddly, the divine power felt more… focused than most gods that Petra had encountered in the past, though she wasn’t sure how to properly describe it. The Keeper simply stood there, waiting for several long moments before extending his hand into the mirror. What he pulled out was a pale blue orb the size of his fist, which he tossed towards Petra.
“Keep that in your inventory for now.” He said, before the landscape around them shifted once again. The city seemed to vanish, the dunes around them shifting enough to let Petra know that they had changed locations. However, the black gate still stood before them.
“Gate’s Rise, so quickly?” Petra asked, blinking in confusion. When the Keeper said that they were going to rush through the floors, she assumed that it would still take at least a couple of days. Perhaps the Goddess Aurivy was guiding him to their destinations?
“Do you know how many floors there are in Fyor, in total?” The Keeper suddenly asked, glancing back to Petra, who shook her head.
“I’ve never considered whether there was an upper limit or not, sir. Such a concern is impractical until we reach that point.”
The Keeper gave a brief nod to show his understanding. “I had Ashley calculate it a while back. Based on the total expected size of Fyor, there should be exactly ninety floors. Until now, we are only on the twenty-ninth, with a level limit of just fourteen hundred and fifty, not counting the orb in your hands.”
“I do not mean to belittle your strength. As a true Maxer, your power is remarkable. However, this level limit is preventing many similarly powerful people from being able to explore Fyor. Those who would be able to drive progress are unable to contribute. That’s why I am increasing the level limit in this way.”
“Until now, Fyor has been forced to fall behind because of the level limit. In recent history, Fyor’s contribution has not been able to play a part in other worlds, unlike the card magic of Deckan, the cultivation of Lorek and Spica, the technology of Desbar, or the magical research of Earth.”
Petra couldn’t help but nod her head, before thinking of something. “What about Kione and Sher Dien? I don’t think that they have been able to help out all that much either, have they?”
The Keeper shook his head. “Sher Dien’s planar research isn’t able to keep up with our needs, either. That’s why I plan to ask Ryone to help their mages. As for Kione…” He seemed to think deeply about it. “We know how to create fourth tier familiars, but I do not believe we know how to make proper use of them. I’ll get the relevant information soon. After that, I may even decide to get a familiar, myself.”
Petra blinked, but quickly nodded her head. “I’m not all that good with magic, so I won’t bother with it.”
The Keeper glanced back at her with a small grin. “What if you could have a familiar that took the form of a powerful weapon, having it release destructive powers on your behalf while you wield it in battle? The familiars of Kione are not only for mages, Petra.”
Petra’s eyes went wide in understanding. “I… see. Well, I’ll see what information you can find, then!” As for the gate before her, she knew that it was her job to activate it, while at the same time the Keeper created yet another desert city.
The opening for the next gate was dark, making Petra fear that something had gone wrong with the crystal, but that turned out not to be the case. Rather, the gate was within a small cave on the side of a mountain. The chill quickly set into her body, causing her to shudder.
Once the Keeper appeared, he instructed her to spread her shadow out again, learning the basic landscape of this layer. This one was a more normal world, filled with grasslands, oceans, and various types of terrain. However, there was something else to be concerned with for this world.
“I see… there’s another sapient race here.” The Keeper spoke in surprise after erecting a city within the mountain, the crumbling of stone ringing out in Petra’s ears. Petra had seen them as well while going through the world’s landscape, though she only noticed them due to the massive scale of their architecture.
Beings made of various different metals, standing more than one hundred meters tall, had formed a great society in this layer. “Are you going to meet with them?” Petra asked, thinking that might be a hidden objective in this mission. Surprisingly, the Keeper shook his head.
“They don’t need my immediate guidance. I’ll watch over them for a time with the others. Regardless, they can’t enter the gates with bodies that large, so they are destined to remain on this floor, unless a large-scale dimensional gate is created.”
After saying so, the Keeper retrieved yet another level orb and tossed it to Petra. Then, he casually moved them to the next gate, and repeated this process. The next layer was engulfed in a massive storm, one that threatened to throw even Petra off her feet until the Keeper applied a spell to anchor her to the ground.
This storm seemed to engulf the whole world, present at both gates with no signs of stopping. However, the Keeper merely seemed to make a note that the layer was likely to be rich in some special mineral that caused the anomalous weather before moving on.
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After the storm came the most intense heat that Petra had ever felt. The portal was on a jagged island within a sea of flowing lava, mountains erupting constantly in the distance. Still, the Keeper merely gave a cursory glance of the area while retrieving the level stone, building a pair of cities, and moving on.
Another layer that seemed almost normal, and then one that was entirely underwater. When they reached the thirty-fourth floor, Petra was pinned to the ground by the intense pressure of the sea, once again relying on the Keeper to stabilize her situation.
After she saw him create an underwater city in moments that had taken months for mortals to complete, she couldn’t help but complain. “If you can do all of this yourself, why haven’t you done so until now?”
The Keeper glanced back at her when he heard this. “It’s simple. I didn’t want to interfere as much as possible. I wanted to let you all make your own achievements. If I wanted to, I could push all the way to the ninetieth floor, once the level restriction is no longer a problem for me. But what would be the point? All that it would do is open up more dangerous areas that could become a threat to those not ready for them.”
“I do not want everyone to rely on me for their convenience, when the power of mortals is more than enough to carry out the tasks. Regardless of my abilities, I am only one person. If not because of Fyor’s special circumstances, I wouldn’t be getting personally involved now.”
“Like we said before, Kione and Sher Dien can be improved by simply circulating knowledge. However, that is not the case for Fyor. Fyor’s growth relies on the discovery of new layers, each of which is an increasingly larger world. You could fit the entirety of Deckan between here and this floor’s ceiling four times over, and it will only get bigger as we go.”
“With most worlds, their development will be faster the further they go, but Fyor is the opposite. Because of the increasing size and the need for constant exploration, their speed of development is only going to get slower and slower over time. That’s why I have to get involved here, to lay the foundation that the people can build upon.”
After saying that, he immediately found the orb of this layer, and tossed it to her once again, before moving on. The next layer was a frozen waste, followed by a relatively normal layer, and then a world with trees that seemed to connect to the sky above. Even the Keeper’s eyes were wide in surprise at the size of the trees, a satisfied smile on his face.
When they arrived at the thirty-eighth layer, Petra had already grown numb to their advancement speed, not seeming to mind whatever special circumstances she saw in the world. The gate leading down was within a deep canyon, and the one going up on a long beach.. All she needed to do was spread her shadow, stuff the orb in her inventory, and activate the next gate.
However, the thirty-ninth floor even made the Keeper pause. They emerged within a golden meadow, a powerful divinity radiating within the air. For a moment, Petra thought that they might have accidentally stumbled upon Sanctum, but that did not seem to be the case.
The Keeper gave a small grin, nodding his head in satisfaction. “I was wondering when we’d find this.” As he said that, he took a deep breath. Rather than mobilizing his own divinity, he seemed to take control of the energy around them, erecting a massive city with tall walls and a magnificent castle. “This is going to be an important layer in the future.”
“Is this… a layer for gods?” Petra couldn’t help but ask, causing the Keeper to nod in agreement.
“That’s right, Petra. Whether man or beast, every living thing in this floor possesses some form of divinity, even if it is just that of a demigoddess like yourself. If there is any floor that deserves special attention in the future, it will be this one, so remember it well.”
Petra nodded her head, the Keeper in the process of searching for this layer’s level orb when a golden light flashed before them. Standing before the Keeper was a figure clad in golden armor, wings behind his back. “Who are you to build a city in this land?” He asked in a harsh tone, giving off the demeanor of a trained soldier.
Petra gulped, knowing that this was likely to be out of her league. They had traveled so many floors, it wasn’t just a matter of the enemy being one or two hundred levels higher than her. Not only was the enemy more than one thousand levels above her, but he was also a god.
The Keeper looked at the angelic figure calmly. “I am the creator of this world. Whoever rules this land, you can tell them that I will speak to them in the near future. However, I am quite busy at the moment.”
The angelic being’s eyes went wide, and a sword manifested in his hand. “I will not take an insult like that lightly. Do you take me for a fool?”
The Keeper arched a brow, shaking his head. “Deliver my message to your leader.” He said, waving his hand dismissively at the angel. For a brief moment, the Keeper’s divinity turned overwhelming, almost oppressive, the opposing soldier vanishing just as quickly as he had arrived. “I’ll need to spend a bit more effort on the defenses of this city, it looks like…”
As he muttered that, the divinity in the air became thinner, receding like a tide to form a golden barrier around the city. Once that was complete, he gave a satisfied nod, though Petra quickly cleared her throat.
“Uhm… sir? What will you do if the location of the other gate is within one of their cities?”
The Keeper paused when he heard that, seeming to consider it. “I would prefer to get all the way to the fortieth floor like I said before. Stopping just one step short will both me to no end. I suppose I could just barge into their city, and throw you at the portal?”
Petra’s red face went pale at that idea, before she noticed that the Keeper was smiling playfully. “You… you wouldn’t really do that, right?”
The Keeper shook his head. “You already have enough orbs on you. Once you turn those in, it won’t be a problem for me to take the next gate myself. It’d be best if you could have the location for your travels, but that isn’t strictly necessary.”
As he said that, he stared into his mirror. “Thankfully, the portal isn’t in a public square or a temple, or anything like that.”
“So it is in a city.” Petra groaned, having assumed so. The fact that one gate was left unattended in this area was already an anomaly, but she couldn’t believe both would be in a land of gods. Then, however, she noticed an awkward expression on the Keeper’s face. “Where is it?”
“Are you sure that you don’t want me to just throw you into the portal?” He asked, glancing back at her.
“Please, no. Sir… where is it?” Petra asked again, the Keeper turning the mirror to let her see the black stone monument resting within a golden pond, the ring of the pond filled with flowers, and walls all around them. Petra couldn’t help but cough lightly. “Sir, is that a bath?”
“I do believe it is, Petra. I do believe it is.”