Chapter 466: What the Heart Wants

“What do you mean we’ve been doing it wrong?” Dana asked with a blink, looking over to Crystal Heart as they stood next to a table, where a blueprint was being drawn in marker.

“The warp core.” Crystal smiled brightly as her familiar sat in the corner, idly playing with Dana’s world spirit ‘pet’. “We’ve been thinking about it all wrong. We keep looking for a way to designate the arrival coordinates with magic, and then have the drive pull the ship in that direction.”

“Isn’t that how the Citadel’s is built?” The smaller elf girl asked in confusion, causing Crystal to shake her head.

“I thought so too, at first. The interface always shows that we lock onto the coordinates, and only then do we start moving, after all.”

After saying that, Crystal began erasing a large portion of the magical diagrams which had been incorporated with the blueprint. “But what if we look at it another way? The enchantment determines the local position in relation to the target coordinates, aims us in that direction, and we simply accelerate?”

“The engines don’t have that kind of acceleration power, though…” Dana furrowed her brow as she watched Crystal drawing a new enchantment diagram.

“Not on their own. My theory is that an energy field is shot out ahead of us once we reach sufficient speed, which we then collide with. This energy carries with it a speed-enhancing effect and a shield against particulates.”

“So long as we’re moving at a sufficient speed, that energy will continue to adhere to the ship’s shields. Once we reach the target coordinates, we slow down enough that the energy washes off of us. Without the energy, we return to our normal, relative speed and can casually decelerate.”

Dana blinked, looking down at the completed spell formula. “How’d you come up with this?” Dana was genuinely impressed by the thought process, as well as how Crystal had managed to complete the entire spell diagram on her own. Though, Crystal’s next words brought a wry smile to her lips.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Actually… this isn’t my spell. I found it when browsing the net earlier. There’s a human speed mage that uses this spell on a smaller scale to increase his travel speed. Likes to brag that he can run across the oceans faster than normal people could wait in line for a travel gate. He got into an argument with a skeptic who tried to say he was bluffing, and ended up posting his spell’s diagram.”

Dana gave a playful giggle when she heard that. “Well, all the better for us.” Saying that, she brought her gaze back down to the drawing, nodding her head. “We’ll need to adjust the spell to compensate for the increased scale, but this should let us create a warp drive with Earth’s magic.”

I watched over the world, nodding my head as I allowed it to fast forward once more. From the looks of things, people were making excellent progress with advancing, and I couldn’t see any situations that required my immediate attention. Maybe once those who had obtained their ‘perfection’ began on the path to ascension, I would need to look back in and check on them. But until then, I should be good for a while.

As I was thinking that, I felt a pair of smooth arms wrap around me from behind. “Hmm…” A female voice entered my ears.

“Finished with your magic research, finally?” I asked, glancing back towards Ryone. Ever since I had gotten the fourth tier of geometric magic knowledge, I had not seen much of the elven goddess at all.

“Sorry, Dale.” She apologized with the sweetest of smiles, not seeming very sorry at all. “There was a lot to go through. I mean… it’s the overlapping of multiple three-dimensional objects, each one being filled to the brim with complex formulas. Even for me, I needed a fair bit of time to understand it all.”

I gave a small nod, reaching back to grab the elven goddess by the waist. There was a brief yelp, and a fit of laughter as she was brought over the back of the couch to rest across my lap. “Think you’ve mastered it now, then?”

Ryone wrapped her arms up around my neck, shaking her head. “Oh, not even close. I’ve got the theoretical knowledge down, but I’ve only practiced some of the more basic of fourth tier spells. For those on the upper end, even I was hesitant to try.”

“Worried your power will go out of control?” I asked with a questioning gaze. Since this was the Admin Room, there had never been the need to worry about such things. In the worst case scenario, it would explode in her face, and she’d have to wipe off some soot.

Ryone simply grinned at me, however. “Not at all. I’m worried I’ll succeed. A prerequisite for a high-fourth tier spell is for the spell itself to have some degree of sentience. The spell is able to make decisions on its own after being cast to fulfill its purpose. If I cast a spell like that in the Admin Room… will the spell go away when it’s done? Will it even be able to appear in the first place?”

I gave a nod as I understood her concerns. “I see… I can only wonder what the last three tiers of spells will be like. Maybe the seventh tier spells will themselves be gods or something?”

Ryone rolled her eyes. “That’s unlikely. It’s hard to say for sure without any kind of sample to look at, though. What I do know… by my guess, fourth tier should be the limit of what Keepers at your rank attain.”

When she saw me raise an eyebrow at her statement, she explained. “There are some spell elements within the fourth tier capable of affecting divine beings. It’s possible for fourth tier spells to kill a god. That’s why I’ve made you this.”

Ryone held up a hand, which flash with a dim light before a locket dropped down from her palm. “That’s what I’ve been working on ever since I finished studying the magic theory. I call it the Mirror’s Path, due to the effect.”

“And what effect is that?” I asked out loud, taking the locket and studying it. When I opened the locket, I saw that one side had a mirror, while the other had a small picture of Ryone and Terra standing together.

“It’s a life-saving treasure that I prepared for you. In case you are ever without your divine energy, infuse it with a bit of your mana. You’ll be taken to a mirror dimension to escape whatever situation you are in. But… I should warn you about something.”

“If my research on this is right, you won’t be able to use any of your ki, mana, natural energy, or even your spirit in this dimension. Of course, that means that if someone manages to somehow follow you, neither will they. Any spells or effects that they tried to use in that space would fail.”

“And how do I get out, then?” I asked, looking down at the locket. If this object was as powerful as Ryone said, then I would definitely need to keep it close at hand.

“That part, at least, is easy. You just have to find your way to another mirror within the dimension, and break it. After it’s broken, the mirror will become a portal for about ten seconds to let you pass through. And yes, if you look through a mirror before breaking it, you will see what is happening in the real world. But that view is only one way.”

I gave a small nod, clutching the locket in my hand. “Thank you.” I whispered sincerely, leaning in to plant a kiss on her lips. This was a treasure that she made with my domain in mind, something she wanted to keep me safe, so naturally I was going to value it highly.

Ryone had an almost dopey grin on her face after the kiss. After a moment, she shook her head, pulling herself out of her own thoughts. “Anyways, I know you’re wanting an artificial intelligence deity, so-”

I cut her off with a grin. “Ashley’s already working on that, Ryone. We even learned the process to let a machine ascend to godhood while you were busy.”

The elven goddess gave a small pout. “I missed all the fun things, didn’t I?”

“Actually… you kind of did.” I had to agree, looking at the television and focusing. “A new race appeared in the world.” As I said that, the screen switched over to show Sorii.

“Lady Alice, I would like to ask for your presence.” Cicily’s voice spoke up as she stood in front of the habitat airlock. She understood that the demons were simply incapable of breathing the carbon-rich air, unlike her own people. Still, she found it somewhat annoying that the habitat did not have a convenient item like a doorbell.

Of course, they were not exactly expecting to have neighbors when planning the terraforming process, so that was normal. It just meant that Cicily had to resort to other measures to get their attention. Something that had clearly worked when Alice opened the door with a look of exasperation on her face.

“Oh, good, you got my message.” Cicily said with the sweetest of smiles. “I have some potions I wish to trade with your people, using you as a broker.”

“Sure, fine, whatever.” Alice groaned. “But first, can you get rid of that?” She pointed up towards the sky, where the clouds had been reshaped into a very animated figure of Alice, waving down towards the habitat.

“Of course.” Cicily nodded her head, the clouds no longer held together by her will and allowed to return to their natural shapes. She retrieved a ‘bag’ made of large leaves from her pack, and handed it towards Alice. “These are the potions.”

“Any chance you can tell me what they do?” It wasn’t impossible to appraise the items after they were sent back to Desbar. However, doing so would cost time and resources, and Alice would not be able to negotiate a trade before having an idea of the potions’ effects.

“Hmm. Well, there is one potion to change hair color. Another one allows for temporary underwater breathing. Oh, and I noticed you were sick, so be sure to drink the pink ones once a day for about a week?”

“I’m not sick.” Alice spoke up, though she seemed more confused than anything about why Cicily would say that.

“You’re not?” The plant woman responded, taking a closer look at Alice. “It feels like something is wrong, though. Different from your crew members. Here…” She lifted a hand, placing it over Alice’s heart. “Your heartbeat has been irregular lately, and I can feel as if there should be a faint tightness in your chest? It feels like a parasite, but not. It started about a week ago, I think?”

Alice listened with equal parts confusion and concern. It was true that she had been feeling a tightness in her chest lately, but she had been assuming that was just stress. The way that Cicily described it could only be a few things, and none of them were particularly pleasant. “Thanks… I’ll get checked up at medical. You’re sure about the effects of the potions, though?”

Cicily nodded her head quickly. “Naturally! Although I can’t guarantee what effects they will have for other races, I can assure you that demons will have the effects I listed. If your people can provide a satisfactory trade, I am willing to disclose the recipe for these potions, as well.”

“I’ll be sure to tell them that.” Alice agreed. While the first two potions weren’t too incredibly practical, the medicine surely would be if there was something wrong with Alice. And this wasn’t the first time that Cicily had traded potions before, usually only asking for things such as new plant seeds to help create diversity in the forest.