After discussing my plans with the sylvans in order to help their future growth, I left them with the details on how to construct a temple, as well as the images of the three goddesses that I suggested they worship. In reality, the sylvans should have been a natural fit for Tryval as the God of Plants, but… I didn’t think that would be too appropriate here. Although his domains were indeed quite suitable for them, they did not require a boost to their basic nature. Instead, what they required was the ability to branch out their abilities to supplent what they were lacking.
With that taken care of, I returned to the Admin Room, wanting to check up on other areas briefly. With the ti acceleration in place, the sylvans would be able to finish constructing their temples and see the benefits of the trade platform after rely a few hours, a day at the very latest.
Far off within the empty reaches of space, in a distant solar system of Earth’s realm, a frozen planet was undergoing a great change. The world of the nethrak, the world that Tower had created from his own body, was evolving.
By now, Tower had completed his primary objective. There was a race of ‘monsters’ that were fully devoted to him as their god. Their worship fueled his divinity. With the billions of them present on his planet, he believed he knew what his Mother felt when she received the worship of the people from various worlds.
For the people living on the surface, this change seed minor, only a quake that rocked the ground. They were unable to appreciate the enormity of what he was doing, as he had chosen to make this change within an uninhabited section of his world. Yet, for the slis orbiting around the planet within their spacecraft, the change was very obvious.
“What’s that?” A black sli asked, glancing out the window curiously as he absorbed the planet below. He had taken a liking to simply watching the world, appreciating how small everything beca in the grand sche of things. Of course, the others saw his actions a bit differently.
“It’s probably just another storm, Shin.” A white sli answered, still resting within the confines of a small box along the wall. He had noticed that his friend would often take an interest in any unusual weather patterns or the smallest anomaly visible from their position.
“No, co here. This ti it’s different, I swear!” Shin called out, his face pressed quite flat against the window. Flat enough that when his friend sighed and got up, he had to physically pry him off the window before wiping the black goo off of it to take a look.
“If this is just a blizzard…” He began, but paused in his speech when he saw what was happening below. What he witnessed was no blizzard, but a growing black spot within the ground.
As he focused on his vision, he was able to make out the frozen oceans shattering and collapsing in on themselves, spreading out over an area of a hundred miles before stopping. And then, sothing seed to rise up from the depths of the pit to fill the empty gap. This ti, the white sli needed to activate a spell in order to accurately see what was rising.
It was… a city. A giant city of stone rising from the center of the frozen ocean. Its buildings were laid out in hundreds of concentric circles, and at the center was a towering spire a hundred ters wide. When the sli saw this, he hesitated. Why would there be a building in such an isolated area?
“Let’s land first and check it out.” He suggested, looking towards Shin. Their mission was to remain in orbit to watch for any dangerous monsters approaching the planet that could endanger the people below. The nethrak were a rather primitive people still, and so the slis had decided that they would act as their guardians until a ti ca in which the nethrak were able to travel the stars themselves.
However, now that they had seen this strange city rising from the planet, they knew that they had to investigate. After all, there was a chance that the danger the nethrak might face would co from below instead of above, right?
With that thought in mind, the two slis controlled their small craft to begin descent. While the two of them quickly entered their small, tal boxes that could barely contain them in their liquid form, the ship around them began to change in appearance. Its original circular disk narrowed, turning into a tallic spear a thousand ters long. At the tail of the spear was a single thruster that directed them towards the planet before firing.
As the ship itself was a sli, it was able to control its descent to a certain degree by altering its shape at will. While the ship fell, it ensured that its widened tip was always facing towards the ground. Even as they hit the atmosphere, and the tal sli appeared to begin boiling, this did not change.
The creature was fully prepared to sustain a certain amount of damage when descending, and so it paid no heed to its health bar appearing over its form. Instead, as soon as they broke through the first layer of atmosphere, the ship changed shapes once again. This ti, it widened to a width of a hundred and fifty ters, its entire thickness no more than two ters. Like this, it appeared to be a falling iron plate.
While the first form was designed to penetrate the upper atmosphere at high speeds, the second was to create as much surface area as possible to catch the wind and rapidly decelerate. Such a tactic would be impossible for any other race to achieve, but was only natural for the slis that cared not for inertia. Their liquid bodies ensured that they only felt a mild discomfort within their small containers.
Only when the speed of the ship had reached safe levels did it return to its ‘normal’ appearance. At that point, the two containers opened again, the black and white slis erging with a liquid squelch. “What’s the damage like?” Shin asked as he took up the controls to steer the ship manually.
“Looks like we only lost two percent this ti.” The white sli answered in a relieved tone. “As long as we let it eat a little bit on the surface, it should be able to fully recover before we leave.”
Shin nodded his head, looking at the viewport as he controlled the ship to land just outside the city. Despite the city having been risen from a deep pit after the ocean crumbled away, it did not appear to show any signs of damage. More remarkably, the gap between the city and the ocean had already filled itself in by the ti they arrived, leading to a seamless transition from ice to stone.
Once the landing had been complete, the two slis disembarked, Shin turning back to the sli as he released a strange, gurgling noise. “Water!” He called out, before the ship seed to lt. Having received its command, and being told what material it was allowed to eat, it spread itself out over the surface of the ocean while slowly devouring the ice beneath it.
His partner waited nearby for him, neither of the slis particularly bothered by the cold. It was only natural, as the two of them were Light and Shadow slis. It would take much more extre temperatures for either of them to be truly concerned.
The two humanoid slis slowly entered the city, their eyes roaming around. The outer district seed to be low-class residential zones, small buildings with little more than the most basic living requirents. However, after they walked roughly a hundred ters, they were astonished by what they saw next.
A green-skinned woman standing roughly three ters tall and with a slim build was standing outside what appeared to be a small restaurant. As the two approached, she turned and regarded them with a smile. “Welco! Are you here to eat, or just looking around?”
“…Looking around.” Shin answered, sowhat warily. It was wholly unnatural for there to be any living creatures in this city, especially one that apparently had a job. More importantly, his sensitive senses were able to notice that there was sothing unusual about this woman.
“Very well. Is there anything you’d like so assistance with?” She asked, still showing that sa pleasant expression.
Seeing how on guard Shin was, his partner spoke up first. “Can you tell us what this city is?”
“Of course! The ssage is being sent out to the nethrak villages right now, so I’ll have it played for the two of you as well.” Saying that, the woman remained in a neutral pose, simply closing her eyes. Monts later, a translucent image appeared before the two slis, showing a humanoid crystal figure.
The two of them recognized this figure as the ‘god’ that governed this world, who introduced himself as Tower when the slis made first contact. As they were wondering what was going on, the figure released a deep tone. “My children, I have received your affection now for countless years… so it is rightly ti that I grant you sothing in return.”
“Within the western ocean, I have erected a haven of stone, a city capable of housing fifty million individuals. Within this haven, there are nurous entities provided by myself to run establishnts such as restaurants and law enforcent. However, this city has two other purposes, and this is what I would like everyone to take note of.”
“First and foremost, this city shall be where I myself live, and I will reside within the central structure. It is through this that I hope to beco closer with all of you.” The two slis glanced towards the massive tower erected in the center of the city, visible even from this distance.
“Secondly… this city shall serve as a base of training to strengthen you. Beneath the city, I have erected a massive dungeon, which reaches deep into the planet. By killing the monsters within this dungeon, you will be rewarded with small gemstones containing the crystallized essence of magic.”
“These gems shall be how you pay for various services within the city, including your als and rent. They shall be the only recognized form of currency within the city. This ans that if you wish to reside within this haven, you must either prove your worth in battle against these monsters and grow stronger, or prove yourself in the field of business.”
“I hope to see many of you soon…” As the figure said that, it gradually began to fade away. Once the ssage was over, the woman opened her eyes to look at the two slis.
“Has this answered your questions?” She asked happily, the two looking at one another.
“So you are created by the God of Monsters?” Shin asked, to which the woman nodded her head.
“That is correct. I am a mber of the Service Race that has been given life and intelligence by Lord Tower. Each of my kind has a specific job, and abilities befitting that job. I myself was created to act as both an attraction to this establishnt and as security. What do you think, did Lord Tower make pretty enough?” Her smile went wide at that, and she inclined her head to the side.
The two slis… did not entirely know what to say. Their personal preferences were far removed from those of the nethrak. “I’m… sure that the nethrak will like you.” Shin answered with uncertainty, earning a small pout from the woman.
“If it is alright with you, could you show us to the dungeon’s entrance?” His friend spoke up quickly to rescue Shin from the awkward conversation. However, the woman blinked in response.
“I apologize, but I can’t leave my post. Although it is unlikely that we will receive any new guests for so ti, this is a rule of the Service Race. If you are looking for a guide, please head three rings inwards and look for a building with a symbol of a map on its sign. You can study the layout of the city there, or hire a guide to take you to various locations, so long as you can afford the fee.”
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