World Keeper

Chapter 694: The Familiar Queen

I sat within the Admin Room, looking over my world. Sitting next to me were Accalia and Keliope, each of whom were enjoying some snacks as if we were watching a movie. “So, that’s the kind of person that I’ll be working with in the citadel from now on.” I said as I looked at Lifre on the screen, who had converted her bedroom into a grand battlefield to fight the fearsome paperwork.

Keliope chuckled, tossing some popcorn into her mouth. “You’ve gotta admit, she is creative with her use of power. You can’t really expect someone who earned a domain like Adventure to just stay cooped up behind a desk, right?”

I gave a small nod of agreement at that. “True enough, I guess. It’s definitely not the most efficient way to handle her work, but it’s a method that keeps her interested, so she’s less likely to slack off.”

Accalia smirked, leaning back on the couch. “I mean, your assistants have always been a special kind of eccentric. First you had the ninja maid trained for unwavering loyalty in a hellish environment. Then, the actual queen of monster hell. Now, a mimic with a thirst for adventure. Next up, you might have an alien princess.” She said in a teasing tone.

I couldn’t help but let out a groan at that. “Don’t jinx it. Anyways, what’s the progress looking like for Kione?” It had been a while since I looked at that world or Sher Dien, so I hadn’t really gotten any news related to its development.

Accalia chuckled playfully, manifesting a remote in her hand. “Let’s find out?” She said, before aiming the remote at the screen and hitting a button.

“My lady, your guest has arrived.” A human with black hair tied in a bun and wearing a black and white maid uniform spoke reverently, bowing her head. The person before her was a lycan with blonde hair, her body seemingly sculpted to perfect. This was a common sign that one had achieved a form of energy body, and were able to create the bodies of their dreams.

“Let them in, Sasha.” The lycan woman said with a small smile, the human slowly backing off. Soon, she was able to hear footsteps approaching her door, two different sets. No doubt they belonged to the lady’s guest, as well as their familiar.

When the door opened again, it was a rather portly man that walked in, accompanied by a knight in silver armor, a family crest engraved on its chest. With her perception, she was able to tell that the armor was in fact empty. “My my, a living armor. And at the third tier, no less, so I believe that it is now better to call it an Armor Knight?” She asked in a playful voice. “And with those patterns, you have quite the distinctive familiar, Sir Lac.”

The portly man chuckled at that, patting his large stomach. “You praise me too much, Lady Sallier. I assume you know why I’ve asked to meet with you today?”

The lady of the house let out a long, almost bored sigh. “Like everyone else, you’re either here for my hand, or for me to help your familiar reach the fourth stage, isn’t that right?” She asked, glancing towards her guest.

The path to reach the fourth stage for a familiar had been discovered long ago, but it was not an easy task to accomplish. In fact, the first familiar suspected to be at that rank had appeared for more than a century. The problem was… the power of the fourth stage was nearly impossible for one to reach with the strength of a mortal soul.

Those who had advanced to this level often did so through siphoning the power of another’s soul, or having their own familiars feast on the souls of monsters. The first method was absolutely criminal, while the second could only be achieved by a select few types of familiars with abilities related to devouring. For most, the third tier had proven to be the limit, just as it had been in the magic systems of other worlds.

Yet, there were always exceptions. In recent years, the lady of the house had discovered several new ways to develop a familiar. The easiest weapon was for the quality of the user’s soul itself to evolve, to wash away all impurity and transcend normal limits. This did not mean for them to ascend to godhood, as there were many deities that still possessed third-ranked familiars.

Although gods could evolve their familiars by slowly feeding it the power of their divine soul, it was less effective than the path that Lady Sallier had chosen. Instead of divinity, she achieved perfection of the soul and body both, using the chambers that could be found built in the trade cities of each world. Once she obtained her perfection, she found that it was a simple matter to elevate the status of a familiar by infusing it with a trace of her spirit.

The portly man’s eye flinched at her words, as they had truly hit the nail on the head. While it was an open secret that the Perfect Soul could refine familiars to the fourth tier, that did not mean that everyone was willing to pursue that path. No matter how low, there was still the risk of death when one entered the perfection chamber.

For a man such as he who had lived his life in extravagance, never seeing the need to enter personal combat, the odds of death in the perfection chamber could be compared to flipping a coin. Even if he had only a ten percent chance of death, he would not gamble his life away in such a manner, let alone when the odds were as high as fifty percent.

However, he forced his friendly smile back onto his face, speaking as if nothing was wrong. “If you’re already aware, Lady Sallier, this will make things easier. As you said, I would like your help promoting my Armor Knight. Once he has evolved, there are numerous means at my disposal with which I can repay you. Simply state your price.”

The lycan woman shook her head with a solemn sigh. “You want me to give you a piece of my soul. What sort of price can someone ask for that? If I were to ask you to give up a part of your soul in exchange… should I tell you to kill your familiar, and come back when you have another one ready to promote?” She asked, her eyes staring straight towards the man, whose canine ears briefly stood on end.

His expression hardened when he heard her question, eyes focused on the noblewoman. “Lady Sallier, while your talents with familiars are renowned, you are not the only one who has the ability I require. Please do not be so rude as to ask me to kill my familiar.”

“But is it not the same thing? You want me to sacrifice a part of my soul, but are unwilling to do so yourself?” She asked with a faint smile. “Besides, if you want to go to someone else, you are free to do so. After all, it’s more than just my perfect soul that entices people like you to come here, isn’t it?”

The smile on the woman’s face seemed almost mocking, but her guest had to force himself to restrain his temper. She was right, after all. While there were naturally others that had achieved perfection of the soul, millions of them even, there was only one Lady Sallier. She possessed a special talent that no other had managed to reproduce, earning her the title of Familiar Queen.

The man let out a long sigh, thinking of what he could offer in exchange for her help. After a moment, however, he found that he had nothing that he could offer that she could not obtain on her own.

Lady Sallier watched as the man left with a dejected expression, her smile growing a bit wider. When she heard the door downstairs closing, she stood up and turned to face the window. She could see him walking off her land, casting a long shadow behind him. Tapping on her chin, she suddenly called out. “Shadow, dear, did you learn anything about the Lac family?”

Her shadow stretched out, covering the wall on the right side of her office. Two red eyes appeared, as well as a jagged mouth. “Contemptible. They enjoy the status of a Duke family, but have not entered the fray for generations. They train their soldiers to live and die for the crown so that they will fight the enemy without restraint.”

“Hmm…” She nodded her head at that. “Certainly not the best bunch to leave in charge, but not worthy of the death sentence. Take Selene to the capital, and have him replaced by a more competent family. Tell them that I’ll help their royal guard recruit new familiars.” She gave a small smile as she said that, to which the shadow cackled.

“As you wish, my lady.” The shadow said, before sinking back down into the floor. This was the true power of Lady Sallier, who lived alone at the edge of the mountains. She had carved out a land suitable for herself to live in, destroying any monsters in her wake, and had earned the recognition of the people.

All of this was because of her special talents. The first was that she could feel no pain, whether it was of the flesh or the soul. Where others would be sent into a near catatonic state from having a familiar perish, she would merely feel uncomfortable for a few moments. The second talent she boasted was exceptional control over her own spirit, partly due to the fact that her first talent eased the pain others would feel when forcefully manipulating their soul.

With these two talents combined, she had formed a legion of familiars under her command. She split her soul again and again, each time creating a new familiar to help her. “I don’t believe I have an Armor Knight, yet…” She muttered to herself with a small smile.

Blue flame lit up in the corners of her office as she turned around. She did not inscribe a special pattern on the floor, or gather any materials. She simply held out her hand. “Come and serve me, soldier without flesh or bone. Remember the spirit that dwells within your empty shell, and live again.”

On each of her fingers, a dot of blue flame formed, before they all flew out and collided in the center of the room. Above the woman’s head, her health bar appeared, and began slowly declining, but there was no change in her expression. She simply watched as the blue flame became the image of a floating suit of armor, and nodded her head.

“Now… let’s get you promoted.” The basic living armor was far removed from an Armor Knight. There were many gaps in the armor, through which a spectral mist could be seen. If one were to attack this mist, it could deal substantial damage to the familiar.

Focusing on the power of her soul, she infused it into her new familiar, not minding how her health dropped yet again. Instead, she simply watched as the armor grew to cover more of its body, sealing the gaps and closing off the mist. Soon, the armor was as thick and all-encompassing as the Armor Knight that had just visited her home.

However, the evolution was not yet complete. Now that she had promoted this new familiar to the third tier, it was time to see what would become of it when it evolved once again. A smile formed on her face as she watched the armored form shrink down slightly, becoming more agile. A sword appeared in one of its hands, a shield in another. These were not items merely equipped to the familiar, but a part of its body. Finally, a crown decorated its helmet, set with multicolored jewels.

“I see… I suppose that we should call you an Armor King, now?” She muttered, looking at the new familiar. “I’ll call you King for short. Go and report downstairs to have the others begin training you.” She said with a small smile, watching as King bowed his head, turning to walk away.

Lady Sallier lived alone at the edge of the mountains, but her large house was far from empty. Instead, she had over fifty familiars of varying types serving her. They patrolled her land, tended her crops, and acted as servants in her home. And, when she needed to deploy them to punish someone that had shown themselves to be undeserving of their rank, they were her messengers and soldiers, each one having achieved the fourth rank.

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