World Keeper

Chapter 392: Lift-Off

Chapter 392: Lift-Off

As the days began to pass once again, I kept a close watch on how long it would be before the annual meeting. So far, it looked like there were only a couple of weeks left to go, so it was once again time for everyone to get ready. I made sure to remind everyone of the event, and let them know that anyone who didn’t already have a world would be able to use whatever points they earned in the meeting to purchase their own.

For those that already had a world, I gave them the option to earn points to add to their pool, that way they could save up for any enhancements they might want to add. Of course, there was also the option of not keeping their points for themselves, but I doubted any of them would go for that. With all of the new ideas being submitted lately to the market, I wasn’t so worried about running out of points if I needed something in a hurry.

Naturally, I kept my eyes on what was happening within the world as well. My world spirit avatar frequently visited Vision Expanse to casually train the different skills that it had access to. Though, it was missing a fair few, since it had access to neither magic nor ki. I recalled seeing that Aurivy was a summoner, so perhaps I would be able to create an aeon avatar at some point…

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Finally, the time was here. Logaine sat atop the throne of his Sky Citadel and breathed deeply. It had been almost a month now since he had conquered this base with his team, and they were finally preparing for their maiden voyage.

All of the stations within the Citadel had been repaired, and the most senior craftsmen from the guild had been moved over from their main headquarters. Counting the main team of Legion, that meant thirty people from the guild were present. There were also another twenty from the various companies that had chosen to ‘sponsor’ this trip.

Out of all of the different rooms, the one that the group had perhaps been the most excited for was naturally the library. As they expected, it contained skill books for a wide variety of different skills. Most of these were basics that could be trained easily in any starting city, and had no immediate value for the group.

However, there were also a few advanced books in it as well. Many had been burned when the group reclaimed the library, but some… some still survived. The art of summoning, the knowledge to control spiritual energy, even a few spellsmithing guides had managed to survive the process.

These books had been immediately removed from the library as soon as they were discovered, considered to be the hidden treasures of Legion. Naturally, none of these were ‘unique skills’, as they had all appeared in the playerbase before now. But that was from people undergoing a variety of quests to obtain them. With the skill books in hand, they could train as many people in those skills as they found had the talent for them.

But now, that was all secondary. Now, they were preparing for their first real journey. “Navigation display, up. External view, up.” Logain called out, and two screens appeared along the far wall, displayed for both himself and the various guests in the throne room. One was the view projected from a small sphere that rested atop the citadel, currently pointing forward.

It was the other display that many of the guests took a real interest in. It seemed to be a radar, with silent pulses of mana stretching outwards to create a map of the surroundings. Logain clutched the armrest of the throne, willing it to ascend. Those within barely felt a tremor while the citadel rose up higher into the sky.

While the difference wasn’t immediately noticeable from the external view, they were able to see in the navigation display how quickly they were climbing. Eventually, clouds began to pass by the outside camera. After a few minutes, they were able to see the darkness of a night’s sky at noon, the dotted stars contained within the endless landscape.

Please set the autopilot for the fourth planet from our sun. Logain spoke mentally to his fairy, obviously not familiar enough with navigating the void of space to perform manual piloting for the entire duration.

Yes, sir! The fairy responded, and the citadel’s direction shifted, a silent hum filling the air as they were propelled through space. Once they escaped the planet’s gravity, they were able to accelerate further, no longer pulled back by the restraining forces of Vespa. However, after a few short moments of acceleration, Logain noticed that they simply began coasting.

Summoning the console from the throne to investigate, he saw that the mana that had been allocated by default to the propulsion systems had run out and was currently recharging. In that console, he was able to see and adjust how much mana was sent to each individual system, but… he was not about to change anything. He rather liked being able to breathe.

“Alright, everyone.” He called out to the group. “If you want to run any tests outside, now is your chance. I’ve already confirmed that the air is breathable up to the edge of the courtyard. And I don’t need to remind everyone that sabotaging each other is the easiest way to get yourself sent right back to Vespa.”

This was what had honestly taken the most time to prepare, and what had caused them to wait four weeks instead of four days before they left. Many of their sponsors had needed to create certain pieces of equipment that were beyond the normal technology level of Vespa. Which meant that they had to either invent the required components, or find magical alternatives within the world.

After his call, over a dozen individuals of various races moved towards the door. Some were excited while others seemed to be positively bored. As for those that stayed behind? They were not here to advance the knowledge of space travel.

They were the rich sons and daughters of corporations that had bought their ticket on this voyage purely for the bragging rights. But, Legion did have a mission to bring additional people, so they had no reason to turn down the extra funds that these rich heirs were providing.

Those scientists outside all retrieved their equipment from their inventories. Most of them moved right to the edge of the courtyard, where a simple railing had been constructed, and stuck the machines in their hands just past the barrier to get their readings. They measured the gravity, radiation, heat, anything that they were capable of doing so.

Logain was… honestly not that knowledgeable about what they were doing. It was all science stuff beyond his abilities, so he did his best not to pay them any mind. Instead, he kept his eyes on the navigational window. On our projected course, how long will it take us to reach the next world?

If we are able to continue accelerating whenever the mana has recharged, and encounter no obstacles, we shall reach the designated target in eighteen days! The fairy spoke up, though this number made Logain inhale sharply. He had been prepared for a week or two of travel. Even though he had entertained the notion that it might take up to months, that was truly a worst case scenario.

Still… at least we are able to cover our losses for this trip. Hopefully there will be something in the new world that lets us catch up, or some extra content that we can show. Logain shook his head as those thoughts went through his mind. He had been assured that there would be a reward, but without knowing who Julia’s source was, he couldn’t be sure of the validity to that claim.

As he thought about that, a different idea occurred to him. If we establish a city on the new world, will we be able to use the fast travel feature? If we can, it’s possible that we can establish our new city as a potential spawn zone and populate it with NPCs. That will give us a steady flow of income while we train ourselves back up, until someone else comes through and makes their own city.

This thought cheered him up enough that he nodded his head in satisfaction. As long as the guild was taken care of, he wouldn’t have much to worry about.

“You seem to be in a good mood.” Crystal Heart spoke up with an amused look to her face. She didn’t have any of her weapons summoned, and only wore a casual, silver dress.

“Just planning ahead.” Logain admitted honestly. “What about you, have you finished ‘studying’?”

The elven mage gave a faint nod at that. “I learned the ones suitable for myself.” Seeing as there were those who had not left the throne room, they had to be somewhat careful with their choice of words. “I’m just concerned that this voyage will be positively dull.”

Logain couldn’t hold back the chuckle that rose up in response. “Just consider it a paid vacation, unless we actually get attacked. Once we reach the new world, I’m sure that there will be something for everyone to do.”

Again, Crystal nodded, her eyes glancing towards their guests. “How long until you think they log off for the rest of the trip?”

He let out a low sigh, shaking his head. “I give it an hour at most, before they get bored.” He kept his voice low, so as to not let himself be overheard. “But of course, as far as their friends are concerned, they braved the dangers and stuck with the crew through thick and thin. I’m sure that some will even speak about how they ‘rescued’ us from fearsome monsters.”

Crystal giggled faintly, her smile growing. “Oh, but of course. I’m sure there will even be those who have claimed to become my boyfriends during this trip.”

There was a slight twitch to Logain’s brow when Crystal mentioned that, but it only made the elven woman’s smile brighter. Any confirmation of mutual feelings was better than none, no matter how remote the chance.

And perhaps, after spending so much time with the Goddess of Love, Crystal might have accepted the truth in her own heart. She had been learning a lot, lately… Enough that she felt almost silly for worrying about how she had previously ‘threatened’ Aurivy.

Naturally, she wasn’t going to tell everyone how easy-going the goddess was. Neither of them wanted that, between the religious scandals and the complete lack of respect for Aurivy’s position that it could cause. No… they were both quite satisfied with simply being secret friends.

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I gave a faint nod as I watched the Sky Citadel speeding through the void of space. It looked like things were starting to get heated up, so… it was about time for me to make my move as well. Ryone… how’s Spica coming along?

It should be ready for its debut any day now! Want to come and check it out?

I nodded again, silently transferring myself to the Admin Room. Before I connected Spica to the other worlds, it would be best if I first took a look at it myself, and made sure that there wouldn’t be any big problems that would arise from the merger. If there were… well, I would have to apologize to Ryone, and ask her to wait a bit until they were taken care of, or until we advanced in rank and no longer had to worry about it.