World Keeper: Birth of a World

by Justin Miller

  This time, I appeared next to the remaining six female lions, who protectively stood in a circle around their cubs. The three facing me let out roars to deter me, fire sprouting from their mouths to wrap around their fangs. However, they had just seen how easily the other three had been killed, so none of them were so willing to extend their neck for me.

  Before I could consider whether to charge them or circle around, I felt a heavy impact on my back knocking me forward. The male lion had finally caught up with me, and used its full strength to tackle me to the ground. I didn’t even have to turn around to know that its mouth was descending towards my head, its powerful jaws open and ready to snap my neck.

  Unfortunately for it, my abilities were not just for show. As soon as I landed, my free hand slapped the ground, propelling both myself and the lion into the air. When I felt the lion lifting slightly off my back, I spun around, my sword slicing through its flaming neck. Although I had taken some damage from its initial attack, it was not to the degree that it would seriously harm me.

  The lion let out a weak whine as its throat was cut, unable to muster the strength to roar. However, this left me stuck in the air, with six angry lionesses down below. And, neither my ki or chakra movement method could be used without something to kick off of. I briefly considered kicking off of the lion’s body to descend faster, but I wanted to keep it as close as possible.

  Seeing the females preparing to pounce at me when I got low enough, I took the initiative and threw my sword at the nearest one. Almost immediately, I felt the loss of strength from the enchanted weapon leaving my grip, but it was worth it. The sword accurately flew down and pierced the spine of the female next to the one I was aiming at. I won’t argue with results!

  With only five left, I decided that I would use my ninja abilities for the rest of this battle, and used the remaining time I was descending to channel chakra through my body. Although it was not as useful for defense as ki, its more mysterious properties would help me here.

  Sure enough, as soon as I was just a couple meters above them, one of the lionesses reached up with their large paws, swatting me from the sky. Even bracing myself for the impact, I clearly felt the pain surging through the arm that was struck. With my body shooting down even faster, I barely had enough time to land on my feet before the remaining lionesses were surrounding me.

  Once again, I vanished using my chakra, appearing behind the lioness in front of me. However, to my surprise, that lioness immediately sent a kick flying back at me. I only had enough time to take another step, putting some more distance between myself and the lioness to avoid her attack. Wow, they learned fast. I felt a chill run down my spine as I changed my plan.

  Initially, I had wanted to take advantage of my ninja movement to attack them before they could respond. But now, that plan seemed to have gone right out the window. So, what’s a Keeper to do when Plan A doesn’t work? I appeared next to the lioness I had killed with the thrown sword to retrieve my bloodied weapon, and returned to purely using ki for this fight.

  With ki, I was able to charge and kill the closest one before the others could react, though that left me with four angry paws smacking me one after another. More red damage numbers appeared over my head, slowly dragging my health down. They weren’t giving me room to counterattack anymore, forcing me to focus my full attention on defending against their attacks.

  Annoyed by my inability to fight back, I decided to try a rather risky maneuver. I gathered ki in my throat, then jumped back as one of the paws smacked my chest. Once I landed, I opened my mouth to give my loudest shout, powered by over a thousand ki.

  To call the result satisfactory was… a bit of an understatement. Ripples formed in front of me in waves as my shout echoed out through the air. Three of the remaining four lionesses were tossed up and back, sent flying by the force behind the unorthodox attack. The remaining one, which was the furthest one away, merely slid back a few feet, shaking its head. However, the flames on its paws had vanished, meaning it had likely been dazed.

  Not one to miss such an opportunity, I charged forward, separating the necks of all four lionesses before they could regain their senses. I HAVE to remember that for later. With all of the adults of the pride dead, I turned to look back at the cubs. Of them, the largest was the size of a large dog, and was standing protectively in front of the rest.

  Though the cub would likely fight me if I went close, it was not a threat. Even the lionesses’ prolonged assault had only taken off two thousand of my health, leaving me with more than enough to handle whatever these little guys could do. However, I needed them to calm down.

  “Enough.” I said, glaring at the cubs, taking advantage of my aura and raising both my ki and mana to the peak. There was an invisible pressure that the cubs seemed to fight against, before they whined pitifully, lowering their heads.

  With that taken care of, I turned to the corpses of the lions. Channeling some of my mana into my eyes, I could see the white clouds that represented their souls still clinging to their bodies. The one I wanted was the male, and I focused my mind on that particular body, imposing my will on its own. I felt a powerful struggle, a primal force trying to drive back my mind. However, after a few long moments, it gave way. The lion spirit stood up from its own corpse and walked towards me.

  After waiting for a short while to confirm that the spirit wasn’t going to attack me, I turned to the nine females. I only required the male, so I directly refined the others into raw spiritual energy. Next, I did the same thing to the boar spirit already inhabiting my body, letting the new lion take its place. Finally, I fed the lion spirit energy until it reached the level that I was able to physically summon it.

  With all of that out of the way, I took a look at the windows that I had been previously ignoring.

  Warrior has leveled up!

  Hero class unlocked!

  Sword of Light ability unlocked!

  Monk has leveled up!

  Monk has leveled up!

  Monk has leveled up!

  Monster Tamer class unlocked!

  Tame Monster ability unlocked!

  Monster Tamer leveled up!

  Spirit Tamer leveled up!

  Successfully contracted level 97 Firemane Lion - Stage 1

  Level 97 Firemane Lion has advanced to Stage 2, and may now be summoned.

  One thing left to try… I closed my eyes, and focused on gathering and directing the spirit energy within my body. I was directing it to my arms, my legs, my chest, and my head, creating a full suit of metal armor. Previously, I didn’t have enough energy to do this, but now I had hunted several more powerful spirits.

  A soft glow spread out over my body, a near translucent barrier forming above my skin. Those looking with the ability to see spirits would see a glowing metal armor, akin to that a knight would wear, appearing on my body. And, when the lion spirit inside of me surged, the armor shifted. Lion mouths became visible on my chest and shoulders, and my helmet began to look like the head of a lion. The fingers of my gauntlets grew small points at the end that resembled claws, and my legs had a flame pattern engraved into them.

  More importantly, when the lion spirit merged with the armor I had created, I became able to see it clearly even without channeling the mana into my eyes. It had become a physical existence. This caused me to grin widely, and try something new. The lion could use magic to create fire, and the entire reason I had chosen a monster with magic was because I suspected that I would be able to do the same thing if I did so.

  The answer was simple. As soon as I channeled some of my mana into my armor, my entire body lit up like a flaming god of war. Fire harmlessly wrapped around my hands and feet. The eyes of the lions on my shoulders let off flames as if they were small torches. Finally, I could see from the shadows that a larger flame had erupted around the back of my head, likely resembling the lion’s namesake.

  This will do. This will definitely do.

  Chapter 49

  Wi
thin one of the great forests of the world, a fog was slowly rolling in. Through these woods, small figures could be seen running alongside various monsters. Some appeared as wolves, some as giant spiders, and others as bears. However, they all paused at the appearance of the unexpected fog.

  This scene occurred in front of eleven halflings, and when the fog cleared there was the sorrowful whining of a young lion cub. These halflings, chosen for their ability and compassion, adopted the young cubs to raise. In the coming months, they would appear riding their new companions through the forests, the mightiest beasts they had ever seen.

  Meanwhile, another fog arose within the walls of Try’s Hold. Few paid attention to this fog, as such things were common among the plains. However, in this particular fog, twenty isolated unicorn centaurs vanished from where they stood.

  When they reappeared, they were standing in a strangely even line. All twenty were facing another unicorn centaur, with a slim athletic build and black hair. “Hello.” He spoke, as if he had been expecting them to arrive in such a manner. “We have some things to discuss.”

  The native centaurs were on guard against this figure, yet could not muster the courage to attack. None of them were particularly powerful, having mostly managed matters within the cities. Only two of the twenty had ever been out to hunt personally, while the others had only left the safety of the city’s walls for brief runs. As such, they could do little but listen as the figure spoke.

  “You have been chosen to be the founders of a new group, one that will protect these lands for ages to come.” The figure spoke of strange beasts, unseen by many. One of the chosen seemed to understand what he talked about, calling them the spirits of the fallen. Between the two of them, they taught the rest how to see these spirits.

  “These creatures have always lived alongside you, and you have never noticed their presence. However, times are slowly changing. There are stronger, more violent spirits emerging. Nobody is ready for these, yet, and in fact nobody is even equipped to threaten them. A special kind of power is needed for that.” As he spoke, the figure casually waved his hand. A roar rang out through the plains, and a white beast as large as the body of the centaurs appeared from thin air. As the native centaurs looked at this beast, they could feel the primal strength hidden in its ghostly frame.

  “This is only part of the power you need, the power to tame the fallen spirits. And this, this is the other part.” After speaking, a strange mist seemed to surround the speaking centaur. At the same time, the ghostly lion turned and charged at him. The native centaurs gasped, expecting him to be torn to shreds by this ferocious beast. However, instead the lion simply merged into his body, causing the mist surrounding him to solidify.

  What was left afterwards was a full set of leather armor, more complete than anything the centaurs had created before. Leather plates covered the entirety of his lower body, as well as the upper sections of his front legs. Extra leather hung off the sides, protecting his underbelly from attacks. For his upper body, his torso, arms, and head had been similarly covered in armor.

  On his chest piece, there was a clear image of a lion’s head stitched into the armor, while his helmet resembled a lion’s skull, wrapped perfectly to fit around his head. Finally, in his right arm he wielded a lance, and in his left a shield. The lance seemed as if it was carved from bone, or a giant fang. The shield was one of leather and bone, in the shape of a giant paw.

  “This is the power to create weapons and armor by using the power of the spirits. For any of you that agree to join this cause, I will teach you how to achieve this power.” Saying so, his spear rested at his side as the stranger looked at each and every centaur gathered.

  Surprisingly, not a single one rejected the offer, but before they began they were made to take an oath. This was not any simple oath, but one enforced through the leather scrolls that could bind a person’s actions. This oath consisted of a set of rules which must be followed and passed down to all future generations with similar methods.

  First, the group known as the Wraith Enforcers, or simply Wraith for short, will not allow themselves to purposefully be known by others. Whether their organization or abilities, they would keep all of these things secret. This was to prevent the possibility of others seeing that it was possible to obtain power from the fallen spirits. The only ones to be taught of the organization are new recruits, who will submit this same Quest Oath.

  Next, Wraith would not openly participate in any political feud or war. Their purpose was to defend the world of the living from the creatures that don’t belong there, not to fight against other living beings. When it comes to matters of politics and military, they would officially remain neutral.

  Third, there could be no fewer than twenty members of Wraith at any given time. This was to prevent the group from dying out over time due to a lack of numbers. Furthermore, one elected member would live away from the public, holding quest scrolls from the other members to ensure their survival. With this, the group could survive even if specifically targeted.

  Fourth, in the event where a powerful spirit appears that can threaten the living world, all nearby members of Wraith would participate in order to subjugate it. This was the true purpose of the Wraith Enforcers, so hiding from these enemies would serve no purpose. In the event where the nearby members are not enough to subdue the spirit, they are permitted to prioritize their own lives.

  Fifth, the members of Wraith will train in the following classes to prepare for the day when they are needed. Spirit Tamer, to communicate with and secure spirit partners to fight with. Spirit Hunter, to create armor and weapons capable of harming powerful spirits. Warrior, in order to hone their abilities with their chosen weapon types. Aside from these three classes, members are permitted to train in their own classes as well, to display their individual ability. However, the abilities from Spirit Tamer and Spirit Hunter are not to be used in front of those not from Wraith, unless it is in battle against a spirit capable of threatening the living.

  Finally, members of Wraith are forbidden from forcefully taming spirits of intelligent races or creatures. If the spirit willingly agrees to the partnership, it is permitted. However, force shall be used under no circumstances to coerce those spirits.

  While these rules did not directly restrict the freedom of the centaurs, they were still wary of it. They had seen the power that they could achieve after witnessing this nameless figure, but realized that they could not show that same power in front of others. On the other hand, they understood the attraction power like this possessed. If many people knew that they could become stronger by capturing the fallen spirits, there might be those who would even kill their fellows to obtain that power.

  After some consideration, they chose to give the oath. As each one created a pair of leather scrolls, the figure was handed one from each centaur. When he did, the contracts glowed in a bright light, and shattered.

  Once all of the scrolls had been handed in, the figure nodded to himself. Then, he looked up into the sky, and spoke to the heavens. “Find us somewhere good to hunt.” As soon as his words fell, another mist rose in the surroundings, carrying them away once again. This time, their travel was a more mysterious one. Although it had been the middle of the day when they left, it was early in the morning when they arrived. The sun was just rising over the horizon, so many thought they had been sent through time.

  This caused the air of mystery surrounding the figure to rise even more. But, he did exactly what he had promised. He took the twenty of them hunting, teaching them how to kill various weaker monsters. Although they were clearly weaker than the lion that the man possessed, he assured them that they would reach that level one day.

  By the time their hunt ended, each of them had contracted a monster or beast suitable to their level. They then went around, no longer fighting, but instead harvesting the raw energy of the spirits to feed their contracted spirits. It was only after all twenty were capable of summoning ghostly figures of thei
r own that the hunt neared its end. Each centaur was given a few additional spirits to refine, told to keep the raw energy separated from their spirit.

  When they had finished, he spoke to the sky again, and once more they had traveled through time and space. Half of a day seemed to go by in a flash, and it went from high noon to dusk in moments. Looking around, the centaurs vaguely recognized this at the place that they had initially met the strange figure.

  The rest of the day was spent teaching the centaurs how to manifest armor and weapons from the raw energy they had refined. This was probably the most difficult task they had faced, and took them until the moon was high in the sky to complete. However, by the end, they had each managed to create their own weapons and armor. Sadly, none of them were able to make it physical as the strange figure had, but he assured them again that that would come later.