"I’m happy that you know what the biggest issue is, but can you fix it? It is said that the barrier has stood there, unchanged, for the past century," her voice unwavering, and her eyes holding the silent expectation of someone who has seen a possible solution to their troubles.
"That much I’m aware of, but worry not; that’s a matter beyond your concern. Once the spatial limitation is resolved, development should be pushed to 200%, the kingdom is thriving thankfully, but is too small for the plans for interconnection" I got up, straightening out the invisible wrinkles in my garments, as I said it "I’ll leave you be now, it about time for me to take my leave, and also for you to wake up, considering the people walking into your chambers" before she could voice the visible confusion she was in, the landscape dissolved into the darkness of a dreamless sleep.
"Goodbye for now, Aithara", my voice wafted like a lingering lucid dream as I left.
Within the comfort of my domain, I looked down at the now-awakening Aithara. The group in her chambers were all handmaidens, possibly there to help wake her up or ready her for a royal event; it’s never easy to tell with royals.
Now, to fix this suffocating shelter.
"System!"
[# Yes, host? #]
"Time to expand my Authority" The anticipation rolled off me in waves
[# Intent Confirmed: Expand the shelter range.
Cost: 25,000,000FP#]
The astronomical amount caused me to suck air through my teeth
"Activating the authority didn’t cost anything, so why is a simple expansion so expensive"
[# Activating the authority was like opening a bottle and downing its contents, but a couple drops remain; expanding it is having to refill the bottle so you can thoroughly get out the leftover drops while having more to drink, and refilling this bottle isn’t cheap #]
"Ugh, that has to be the most senseless analogy I’ve heard in both my lifetimes", I replied in stupefied shock
[# Initiate Expansion: Yes / No #]
My finger hovered over the panel, my eyes rolled, and a reluctant sigh escaped me as I eventually pressed down on the ’Yes’ button.
[# Nice doing business with you, host #] The system’s chime was a mocking sound, as I felt the familiar pull of faith leaving my body
But with that pull came the manifestation.
In the mortal plane, the land began to tremble; the once-stable barrier began to pulse with an extremely bright golden glow. Its previous silence was replaced by a marrow-deep vibration, as it slowly but steadily started to stretch out and away from the kingdom.
And of course this didn’t go unnoticed; one by one, people stepped out of their houses to see what the disturbance was all about, from the residents closer to the agricultural outskirts to the royals stepping onto their balconies and temple dwellers pausing their duties to see what was going on, to see what was happening to their haven.
Without a warning, a series of prayers began to reach me, the words unclear due to the influx, but the emotions: confusion, fear, reverence, amazement, gratitude, fascination. They painted a picture far clearer than any sentence could; the people didn’t understand what was happening, but they were sure it would be for the better. Because to them, there was only one person who could have an effect on their barrier.
With the expansion underway, the agricultural fields once metres short of the barrier’s boundary now appeared to be growing farther and farther away from said boundary, but while the people rejoiced, farmers at their new land, and the royals along with their council at a silent issue now solved. A new problem began to unfold, not for them. For me.
"System?" My brows furrowed as I pensively called out
[# Yes? #]
"Why’s the barrier simply pushing those cursed beasts outward? I assumed it would make them vanish or something?" I asked, watching the barrier expand more and more, pushing an increasing amount of cursed beasts towards the border of the other territories with each passing moment.
[# It isn’t magic host- #]
"It technically is", my voice clipped as I cut the system off,
[# Regardless... your Authority is protection; whatever isn’t allowed inside simply stays outside. It’s not going to vapourise beasts just because they are a bit inconvenient to your plans #]
"That’s a... begrudgingly fair point; you could have started with that..."
"And since you’re suddenly so smart, any ideas?" Because I was not going to say I didn’t have any
[# I’m glad someone finally sees that they’re stupid #]
"..." Did the system hear my hidden thoughts?1
[# And as far as ideas go, I have three, ranging from the most to the least expensive... I’ll start with the free one;
★ Have Aithara deploy the combat forces of Vasyti to kill the beasts. #]
"Wait, wait, wait, wait- why does Vasyti have a combat force?"
[# As I was saying #]
With a sigh... Hold... did the system just sigh, and did it just ignore my question?????
[# ★ You could use your Minor Miracle skill to ’make them vanish’, as you so eloquently put it.
Or
★ Just go the heck down there and obliterate those beasts #]
They were... Ideas... But I could only take one; the first one was already a no. I just got back; there’s no way I’m going to start a battle of attrition between the beasts and monsters, especially when I don’t know the capabilities of the Vastyri forces or the beasts. It would be stupid for me to send my own followers to their own deaths.
Using the miracle skill was an idea worth trying, to be honest, but I don’t think taking out that many beasts is a ’minor miracle’ by any means.
[# Actually, host, that is just the nominal limit of the skill; don’t be limited by the word ’Minor’, because you can carry out Miracles of any scale if you have the right medium and amount of faith #]
"Oh- seems far too convenient for it to just ’work’ like that, but anyway is a way, I guess"
And about the last option, the divine energy cost would be astronomical to descend alone- let alone descending and committing to full-scale wipeout using my abilities.
...
But...
Who says I need to descend, though?
My authority can already manifest on the planet, though, at a cost, so why would I need to perform a miracle?
Heck, am I really limiting myself?
...
With a steadying breath, I tapped into my Authority, calling on one of the first skills I ever used.
"Barrier Compression" The command was a resonant echo that reverberated throughout my domain, causing ripples to spread throughout my domain down into the mortal plane.
[Insufficient DE available; FP conversion imminent]
"Do it!"
[# 10,000,000FP<-> 10,000DE #]
[# 10,000DE deducted successfully #]
What followed happened in what the mortals would call the blink of an eye; golden dots, little distant suns, appeared around the still expanding Shelter.
At first, it was a few sporadic dots clustered at various positions on the boundary of the growing barrier that were actively still being pushed out. More of those lights appeared; at first it was one here, four there, and two more elsewhere, until all one could see from above was a dense golden cluster.
Hidden thought = the narrative voice...