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Chapter 557: Divine Commerce

“Now then, for our final order of business.” I spoke up to attract everyone’s attention. “This is something that involves almost everyone here, and also the main reason behind today’s meeting.”

Aurivy pouted her lips when I said that, but Terra reached over to ruffle her hair. “Your presentation was still important, Rivy.” Terra’s words seemed to cheer the halfling goddess up slightly, causing her to nod while I explained the idea that Ryone and I came up with.

“In essence, this is an expansion on the trade platform that Ryone and Leowynn developed before.” When I said that, I could see the color draining from Ashley’s face. “And at the same time, it will also require some work on everyone’s part. Anyone that wants to participate can, but those that don’t… I have the feeling this could influence our popularity among worshippers.”

Clearing her throat, Ryone decided to take over. “It’s like this. For a while now, all of us have been receiving offerings from our followers. Most of these offerings we convert directly into divine power, which causes a net deficit in materials within the world.”

“Due to the size of our worlds, that deficit hasn’t caused any real problems yet, but that will not always be the case. Take my own followers as an example. They send me money and jewels, which removes those items from circulation. The value of gold will increase over time, and it will heavily influence trade between worlds.”

“The idea we developed is for us to send items back into circulation without causing us to lose more divine energy than we obtain. Normally, this would not have been possible. However, thanks to our most recent additions, we now have a way to carry out this impossible plan.” Ryone’s eyes went to Leowynn and Chel, smiling at both of them.

“That’s right.” I nodded in agreement, drawing confused looks from the two girls. “Since we’ve discovered that it is possible to create raw materials directly from the energy of the void, Leowynn has the potential power to produce endless resources with her domain. The only problems are energy consumption, and her own knowledge of how to perform this feat.”

After saying that, I looked directly at Chel. “James introduced that he specialized in void-folding mechanics. As not only his System Companion, but his research assistant, that means that you would surely know the basics of how to convert void energy into raw materials. With your help, we solve the ‘knowledge’ problem.”

“As for the energy consumption problem, it is the mortals themselves that will solve that for us. From now on, eighty percent of the divine power obtained from an offering should be converted into tokens that are left behind for the follower to claim. These tokens can then be used on the market to purchase items or effects relevant to the god the tokens came from.”

Ryone smiled, speaking up once more. “Take myself, for instance. My tokens could be converted either directly into currency, or for single-use magical items, or even knowledge regarding magic. It is up to each person what ‘service’ they want to make available to the market.”

“The raw materials needed to exchange for any physical reward would come from Leowynn, meaning that her tokens would be required as well, whether it was currency or magical items. For the latter option, I would be requesting Tubrock’s help to forge the shape of the item, so naturally his tokens would be involved as well.”

“For now…” I cut in after she was done explaining. “I want everyone to decide whether or not they will be taking part in this expansion, and what sort of options they would like to offer for the platform. There’s no immediate rush to get it sorted out, as we’ll need to wait on Leowynn learning how to create the materials needed.”

“I’m in.” Terra grinned immediately. “As for what I could offer… I could make an enhanced version of my danger sense, to give people clues about the threats they face. It won’t be cheap, but… what’s the price of keeping yourself alive?”

“I think my answer’s pretty obvious.” Tubrock chuckled gruffly, nodding his head. “It could be interesting ta set up. Though, to save myself some time, think I’ll add an additional requirement ta only make copies of items ‘at have offered up in the past. Makes sure nobody tries ta get any kinda legendary artifact outta me.”

“I’m… unsure what it is that I could offer, if I am to be honest.” Tryval spoke next, his brow furrowed in thought. “My domains do not particularly lend towards marketable services.”

“I was actually thinking about your issue.” Ryone responded with a smile. “Once Leowynn has learned how to wield her powers, we can establish a garden for you in the void. In the garden, you’ll be able to grow all types of plants, and they can be your service. I’m sure there would be no shortage of apothecaries that would highly value rare herbs.”

Tryval seemed to consider the suggestion, before nodding his head in thanks. “I suppose that means I’d be next.” Bihena smiled faintly. “Like Tryval… I’m not entirely sure what physical services I could provide. But if it is more of a blessing like Terra’s… I can come up with blessings both for seafaring and combat.”

Like that, everyone decided one by one the kinds of things they would like to offer on the platform. It seemed clear that if one of them did not offer ‘benefits’ to their followers while everyone else did, they would suffer a large drop in popularity. Normally, this wouldn’t have been an issue at all, as nobody had such a direct benefit.

However, with the invention of the trade platform, that had changed. Leowynn and Ryone had a sudden spike in followers simply due to the fact that worshipping both of them offered such a large ‘reward’. In a way, setting things up like this would help to balance out everyone’s followers again. Aside, of course, from Leowynn whose popularity would only increase with the demand for physical goods.

Of the remaining gods and goddesses, Udona decided to add healing and textbooks to the market. Accalia added her ability to identify monsters, and also ‘advice’ from her Wisdom domain. Aurivy’s answer was easy, as she put in transportation services. Keliope added a defense blessing that was in line with her domains.

The only two that seemed to have trouble deciding were Irena and Ashley. Ultimately, Irena decided to offer up two options. The first would allow an individual to request contact with a spirit in the Underworld for a short time, while the second was focused on her Justice domain. As long as someone had been wronged, and knew the identity of the one that wronged them, they would be able to use the tokens to request justice. The degree of justice would naturally change depending on the degree of the crime. Or, more specifically, on the karma of the criminal offender.

Finally, Ashley… considering that Tubrock had already covered the crafting of physical goods, she had a hard time deciding what was left for her to offer. Theoretically, Tubrock could create any kind of technological construct that she herself could. Just look at the golems he had created, they were all incredibly advanced.

Ultimately, the two of them reached an agreement. Any items with moving parts or software requirements would fall under her domain. Items that required enchantments would similarly fall under Ryone’s. Tubrock would be in charge of forging the individual pieces, and it would be up to Ashley to assemble them, or Ryone to enchant them.

Like that, everyone was able to decide on what they wanted to add to the market. Now it was just a matter of having them all establish the tokens imbued with those qualities, Leowynn learning how to manipulate the void, and Ashley to install the update on the platform.

As the meeting was drawing to a close, I felt something seeming to shift within the air. The ten day timer was over, meaning that the flow of time within the mortal world had returned to normal.

James. A voice echoed into the mind of the dark-skinned human as he was busily assembling a machine in his lab, causing him to blink and look up.

“What’s up, boss man?” He asked out loud, knowing that he was the only one still in the lab so late at night. If Chel were there, she’d always accompany him when he pulled an all-nighter, but his current lab assistants weren’t quite so enduring.

We’ve added a new class to the world, and need your help revealing it by creating the energy type it uses. Chel indicated you should be familiar with it, the Pilot’s Essence.

James blinked, before a small smirk rose up on his lips. “Yeah, I can handle that. Really giving me some work this time, huh?” In truth, the project he was currently working on was just as groundbreaking as a new class, if not moreso. However, he didn’t see any reason to refuse this request, given the relationship between the former and current Keeper.

Of course, he did know about the Pilot’s Essence, and that was why he considered it ‘quite some work’. The energy itself wasn’t all that difficult to create once you knew the formula, but discovering the formula by accident? The difficulty was considerably harder than even perfection.

This was due to the fact that Pilot’s Essence wasn’t a ‘perfect’ conversion rate. In fact, it was quite terrible for conversion. Out of a total of twenty-three units of energy being put in, barely a third of it was viable, while the rest would explode in your face. For someone that didn’t already know what would happen, they would only see the explosion as a failed product. By the time the energy had settled, the ‘successful’ result would have silently dissipated.

In order to create an energy core for Pilot’s Essence, one had to repeatedly perform the fusion, absorbing the energy while resisting the explosive force. Work too fast, and you’d become a living bomb. Work too slowly, and the energy inside of you would fade away before you were done.

Thanks to this, it was necessary to create a stable environment where one would be protected from the explosive waste, typically by extracting it before it detonates. “Give me… three months, and I can have it done for you.”

That’s fine. What is that device you’re working on? There was a hint of curiosity in the Keeper’s tone, which didn’t surprise James. Since his mind was unreadable to the Keeper, it was only natural that he wouldn’t be able to infer the meaning of his invention.

“It’s the Perfection Chamber. Something we came up with in my world, near the end. Streamlines the process of merging the different energies within the body, and greatly reduces the risk of failure.” James gave the machine a light pat as he explained, a proud expression on his face.

“Going by the energy density, in relation to levels in your world, I’ve been able to calculate the success rates. If anyone reaches a total of one thousand levels, with at least fifty each that contribute to the development of the spirit, mana, and ki, there should be a ninety-nine percent success rate. Of course, at that level they would have no choice but to take the procedure, because their bodies would be completely saturated with energy, and at risk of critical failure.”

“If they have only five hundred levels, with the same requirement as before, there’s a seventy-five percent chance of success. They’ll lose some ‘weight’ in the process, but it’s still doable. Below five hundred, the success rate drops drastically. The lowest level one can perform the procedure should be around two hundred, but… I estimate it would only have a three percent success rate.”

People with five hundred levels aren’t too uncommon in my world. Though, a one in four chance of dying… it’ll be popular, but most will probably choose to wait until they are higher level for a better chance.

“Heheh, I’m just hoping that the media sees it that way.” James spoke with a rueful grin. “Advertise the dangers as much as you want, but people will still blame you when something goes awry.”

Don’t worry about them. We’re working on something up here that will grab their attention soon enough.