World Keeper-Chapter 1241: A Legacy

A dense clanging rang out within an open-air forge, a torrent of flame surging into the sky every time a golden hammer slammed down against the black anvil. The gruff, redheaded dwarf’s eyes reflected the fire before him, gripping his hammer tight.

Ever since the creation of the void golems, Tubrock had been looking for something to make his next, big project. Chelsea and Julia created the World Tree on their own, which irked him to no end, and now he wanted to create something truly special.

For the sake of this project, Tubrock created an entirely new forge, this one hidden within the heart of the World Tree itself. This location meant that he had access to limitless energy, able to pour his heart into whatever he desired to make.

As he hammered, he thought back to his past achievements. Most notably, there was Olympus, and its original model, the Sky Citadel. There were the golem races, though one had been wiped from existence in a tragic accident. There was the ‘ancient culture’ of Lorek. And, naturally, there were the divine relics worn by the Greater Pantheon.

For a time, Tubrock’s skill in creating divine relics had been overshadowed by the game, Fragments of Acidia. This game had such an advanced crafting culture that even the God of the Forge had to accept defeat. But that was ages ago. Tubrock would not be outdone by anyone for long, not if he could help it.

He was always creating lesser products, wanting to keep himself sharp. However, most of these items were subsequently destroyed, so as to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Tubrock rarely grew attached to his creations for this reason, as many of them were only temporary items.

This object, though, he wanted to truly shine. He wanted to forge something that would forever serve as his crowning glory. With a shout, he lifted his hammer, golden flames streaming down from the sky as he struck again and again.

When Tubrock began to work, he hadn’t even settled on the form he wanted this item to take. His hammer was guiding him, just as much as he was guiding his hammer.

Now, as the superheated metal took on a circular shape, he knew what he wanted to create. Again and again, the hammer struck, the ground surrounding the forge reduced to molten slag. At the heart of it all, Tubrock kept his focus purely on his work. If he destroyed a planet in the forging process, that was completely acceptable to him. That was why he had created this universe to begin with.

“TERRA!” He shouted towards the sky, holding his hammer high. “Once more, lass! Make it one for the ages!”

In response to his call, a gentle light poured into Tubrock’s hammer, and he struck it down one last time. As he did, the anvil shattered, the blackened ground caving in beneath the force of his final strike. However, Tubrock simply laughed, holding his hammer high in triumph. “I’ve not lost it, yet!” He declared, looking at the cooling piece of metal on the ground before him.

Despite the heavy strikes of his hammer, the item appeared to be intricately carved, a circular golden surface with flowery patterns along the edge. Tubrock grinned broadly beneath his beard, pulling out a golden shard from his pocket and infusing it into the item. “May ye be born of fire and metal, but live a life like no other.” He said, the surface of the object shimmering and turning fully reflective.

“Terra, ye’ll wanna full descend for this one.” He spoke, grabbing the mirror carefully and lifting it up, before smashing open a void gate with his hammer. “This’ll be a right surprise, I bet.”

I sat in the living room, watching a movie with Aurivy. With Julia gone, I spent more time with Aurivy to keep her company. It reminded me of the days when Aurivy considered me her big brother, though she had long outgrown such notions. If she ever took it seriously herself to begin with.

Neither of us brought up the invasion, both having full confidence in the strength of the team that we sent. The fact that we hadn’t received a notification by now surely meant that Sanction did not have a defensive ticket to stop it, and it was only a matter of time.

As I was thinking that and enjoying the movie, I felt a familiar divinity descend behind me. Blinking, I turned my head around and saw Terra. Not the introverted bookworm that I had only rarely been able to speak to, but the true form of Terra. “Is everything okay?” I asked in confusion, and she responded with a knowing smile.

“Everything is great.” She said, walking over to grab my hand. “Rivy, mind if I borrow Dale for a few minutes?”

Aurivy blinked, looking over at Terra. It was rare for her to personally descend, as it consumed far more energy for her to do so than any other member of the Pantheon. Even then, if she stayed too long, the system would impose restrictions on her. “Huh? Oh, sure! Lemme know what happened later, okay?” She asked, and Terra nodded her head with that same smile.

“Will do.” She said, before pulling me out of the room and towards the temple area. The temple was the easiest place for her to descend to, so I could understand why she took me there, but still…

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“What’s this--” I started, but she interrupted me with a shake of her head.

“It’s a surprise. He’ll be here soon.” She answered, which confused me even more. Just as I was going to ask who was coming, I felt yet another divinity. This time, it was Tubrock, who walked into the temple holding a golden mirror.

“There ye are! Right on time!” He said with a broad grin, walking up towards the two of us. “I’ve made somethin’ special for the two of ye. Dale, ye remember your first attempt at a magical intelligence, ol’ Ana?”

I nodded my head in confusion, and he handed the mirror over to me. “Consider this the result of an old wish. I’ve already infused both of your divinities into it. All that’s left is the final touch. If ye would, please infuse this mirror with a fresh soul.”

“How did you get my divinity to infuse into this?” I couldn’t help but ask as I accepted the mirror, using my Souls domain to infuse the mirror with a soul as Tubrock said.

“I’ve always had shards of your divinity!” He answered as if it were obvious. “If’n I ever need to make ye an artifact, I can just use one of the shards to customize it for ye.”

“Anyhow, that’s not the point. The point is this!” He pointed at the mirror in my hands. “Hmm… Lass, what d’ye think? Shall I tell him what it is, or should you?”

Terra chuckled lightly, shaking her head. “I’ll do it.” She said, before turning to face me. “Dale, this is a mirror that fuses our essences. Moreover, it was created to house a spirit born of those essences.”

Hearing her words, my eyes widened, and I looked down at the mirror. “Wait, do you mean…”

“Yup.” Terra confirmed with a grin. “The spirit that grows within this mirror will be as much a child for the two of us as is physically possible.”

I nearly dropped the mirror in surprise when I heard that, having to quickly adjust my grip. This had not been what I was expecting when Terra showed up, and was quite sudden. However, I wasn’t against the idea at all. I’d always wanted to be able to give Terra something special. I just didn’t think that Tubrock would be the one doing it for me.

“There’s a bit more to it than that, lass. Tell him the rest.” Tubrock grinned, and Terra rolled her eyes with a nod.

“I was getting to that.” She said, before placing one hand on the mirror. “This mirror also comes with a special function based on our combined powers. It can peer through fate, looking into both the past and the future, and at distant lands. The mirror’s spirit will be able to see into these windows of time at will, looking through countless futures. It won’t be able to influence fate in the same way as my old Origin did, but it will be able to handle both predictions and report past incidents.”

“All that’s left is to give our child a name.” Terra spoke in a gentle voice, her hand squeezing mine. As she said that, I could feel the spirit solidifying within the mirror, and knew that it was ready to accept its identity.

“...Cypher.” I said, looking down at the mirror. In response to my words, the image of a young man appeared. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties, though his eyes held an innocence that didn’t quite match his outward appearance.

“I am… Cypher?” The image within the mirror spoke, and both Terra and I nodded our heads. “Thank you, father.”

Terra pouted her lips, leaning over the mirror. “Hey, I’m here too!” She retorted playfully, causing both Tubrock and I to laugh as Cypher looked at her.

“You are mother.” Cypher said with a bright smile, and Terra nodded her head.

“That’s right. For now, why don’t you run around, and see what you can learn?” Terra suggested, her tone turning gentle again. “You’re a smart boy, so it shouldn’t be hard for you to understand a lot of things.”

Cypher nodded his head, his figure dissolving within the mirror. Terra’s smile widened as she saw that, before standing upright. “I need to get going. I can feel the system starting to get irritated that I’ve been down here for so long. Thankfully, I haven’t really tried to influence the world directly or anything, or I might have been kicked back to the Administration Room long ago.”

I nodded, leaning over to give Terra a quick peck on the lips. “See you later.” I promised, and her smile widened even further before she disappeared. Tubrock simply laughed at the display, turning around and leaving the temple.

Unsure what to do with this mirror, I first took it back out to the living room, where Aurivy was waiting. She had paused the movie, seemingly anticipating that I would return soon. When she saw the mirror in my hands, a strand of hair shot stray up from her head, like a radar. “What’s that?” She asked, curiously.

“Apparently, it’s my son.” I responded with a light chuckle, walking over to sit next to her.

“Your… son?” Aurivy blinked in confusion, before grinning mischievously. “You know, it usually takes a lot longer to have a kid. Good for you, speedrunning the process!”

I rolled my eyes at the joke, lightly nudging her with my elbow as I explained about the mirror, as well as Cypher that lived within it. Aurivy tilted her head, absorbing the information. “Sweet. So, your son is going to be your new secretary, once he’s all grown up?”

I couldn’t help but blink at that. “I mean, I hadn’t really considered that?” Like an artificial intelligence, I knew that Cypher could project his body outside of the mirror. That much had been included in the information I saw as a Keeper when I observed the item. However, I wasn’t really sure what that would be like, yet. Or how quickly Cypher would be able to develop. Depending on how quickly he could see through time, he might be able to absorb an entire education in a matter of hours, as well as review modern politics and other important information about the world.

Part of me knew that this was just asking for a headache. But, at the same time, I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of it.