Rubbing my face, I looked away from the screen and stood up. As things were going now, it really was going to turn into an all out war. There was no longer any hope of the situation being avoided without our intervention, so it was only a matter of how much there was left to salvage after the fighting was over. At least the odds were against the centaurs leading a campaign to exterminate the halflings on their original continent, so this wouldn’t turn into a mass genocide.

Wanting to distract myself, I pulled up the population window for all of the races, realizing that I hadn’t looked at all of them recently. At least not in a few hundred years by the world standards. Although I had looked at the halflings and centaurs, they were only two of the races available.

Looking at the numbers, I was pleasantly surprised. Especially when I saw the average level, and the population of the daeva. Considering that level took into consideration the entire population, it meant that most of the daeva had likely already reached the new level limit. As for the other races, they also gave me a pleasant surprise, when I considered how much their population had grown over the last three hundred or so years.

Maybe Irena set population increases as one of her goals when she was originally planning to change the government in the afterlife. Perhaps the only race that hadn’t shown much of a growth in numbers were the elves, but that could be understood. After all, three hundred years is barely half of their lifespan. The fact that their average level was so high was enough to show that they made up for numbers with power.

Still, the population of the world had finally hit one and a half million. And with their individual strength, their own security would have been far higher than what my Earth was like in that age. Though… that made me think of something. Quickly pulling out my paper, I wrote a message to Terra, asking her to come to the room to talk.

Soon after, I heard a lazy yawn from the door, as it opened to reveal my favorite redheaded catgirl. Once she was in the room, she closed the door and sent a small smile my way. “What did you need, Dale?” She asked, looking like I had woken her up from a nap.

“I have a rather important question, and you’re the only one that I can ask about it.” I said, motioning for her to sit down on the bed. Hearing that, she seemed to immediately wake up, focusing as she sat down. “The Games are based on the overall strength of the world and its inhabitants, correct? Not their level of technology or anything like that?”

When I asked that, Terra revealed a calm smile. “That’s right. You’re worried that the game mechanics of your world will throw them into the Keeper Games long before they become as advanced as your world was, right?”

With a startled expression, I nodded my head. “Right. It doesn’t take them very long to catch up whenever I raise the level cap, so I was wondering if it would be best to keep it low for a while. Right now, people at max level could already easily defeat a small group of trained soldiers from my world, assuming they had the same equipment.”

However, contrary to my expectations, Terra shook her head. “That’s fine for now. They won’t be able to keep that level of growth for too long. Right now, they are simply discovering the mechanics of the world, and their levels come from their life experiences. When the level limit is raised to… let’s say three hundred, then they will have to struggle to reach it in one lifetime.”

Tilting her head in thought, Terra crossed her arms in front of her chest as she continued. “Once the world hits an age equivalent to what your world had, the average level should be somewhere around two-eighty. And it is only that high because of the sheer number of classes each person has access to. For the truly strong that focus on just a few classes, it would be rare to exceed five hundred.”

Thinking about that, it did make sense. Even if they were able to catch up to the level limit now, that was largely because it was still fairly low, and there were a lot of classes that they could accidentally train. Later on, there just wouldn’t be enough time in a single lifespan to do everything. But, that also made me think of something else.

“What about people who train in the energies? I imagine that a ki cultivator of sufficient strength could prolong their life, couldn’t they?” When I asked that, Terra’s smile seemed to grow even more.

“That’s right, Dale. But, there’s more to it than that. Actually, every combat class will eventually touch on the different energy types. That’s because there is a limit to how far skill can take you.” To emphasize her point, Terra gave an example. “For instance, imagine a level one thousand Archer who is unable to tap into ki, mana, or natural energy. They rely purely on their skills. Even if they have godly equipment, they would lose to a level five hundred monk. This is because the monk’s ki would simply let them move faster than any arrows fired by the bow. Their fists would hit harder, and the fight would be over before it began.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued. “At a certain point, that archer will instead learn how to enhance their arrows with different energies. Their arrows will be able to track the monk, divide into hundreds, or even jump across great distances in an instant. That is the path of strength that your world is currently on, the path of energy growth.”

I nodded my head slowly, accepting that. “What other paths are there…?”

“I can’t go into too much detail, because it would violate the rules. But…” She began lifting up her fingers to give examples. “There is the path of technology growth, where a world ignores the energies and uses their own technology to become powerful. There is the path of magical growth, where the world ignores the other energies, and even often technology. The path of monsters would have someone breed the ultimate race of monsters. Finally, there is the path of gods, where a Keeper creates a race of godlike beings from birth on their world. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages.”

I thought about that, and considered the different paths. It could be said that my Earth had been on the technology path, though the Keeper had never intended to enter the games in the first place. He probably chose that method because it had the longest amount of ‘safe’ time, then. The path of gods did interest me a bit, but I didn’t give it too much thought before I found the disadvantages. If they were gods from birth, their civilization would have practically no advancement time before entering the Games. They might not even be fully able to control their own power.

“I see… Thanks, Terra. Would rather not have to limit things any more at this point if I could help it.” I smiled slightly. I knew that I could purchase systems that would guide the growth of the people, but I honestly did not want to do that. To me, the freedom for them to choose themselves was more important. Maybe after I had done this a couple times, I would begin guiding new worlds, but not for this one.

“That’s fine.” She said, once again returning to her sleepy expression. “Now, if you don’t mind… I need to get back to my nap. It’s a bit harder than I expected to maintain two incarnations at once, even when they aren’t born yet.” As she said that, she turned around and crawled onto the bed, curling up into a ball on top of the blankets.

Shaking my head with a small sigh, I decided to check on the world again. It would probably take a few months before the next confrontation, so at least that was something. 

When Shara saw the message appear in front of her, she had been truly surprised. She had never heard of this kingdom message before, and why would she have? Across the entire southern half of the halfling territory, this was the first time that a large group had come together to form a single community with a recognized leader. Knitting her brows together, she thought about what this would mean.

Mother, please hear me. I wish to know, what does this mean? She closed her eyes in prayer after not being able to come to an answer on her own. She had never directly spoken to Aurivy before, and she was almost afraid that She would not answer her prayers. Especially after what Shara had done recently.

However, her expectations were proven wrong, a look of excitement appearing on Shara’s face as a wise voice spoke into her mind. This is the first kingdom to ever rise up among these lands for my people. It shows that everyone here has chosen to follow you with their heart, and are willing to let you guide them down the path you deem correct.

But, Mother, is my path truly correct? Shara could not help but ask. She had been worried over this ever since Danar had left them. Her path was one of violence, one where she would be shedding the blood of others to defend her people. A noble ideal, but did it not go against everything Aurivy stood for?

A gentle laugh filled her mind as she was answered once again. Look into your heart and ask yourself that. I will not forsake you for your decision, for it was one you made when thinking of those you love. Shara lowered her head to consider those words, but before she could come up with an answer, she found her goddess speaking into her mind of her own choice. Ask yourself this, Shara. Do you love your people enough to live for them, to show them what it means to lead? And do you love them enough to die for them, if that is what it takes to keep them safe?

Shara’s face was filled with astonishment, her eyes opening wide as she heard Aurivy’s words. Her goddess did not hate her, even though she had spilled first blood, even though she was leading others to end their journeys to prepare for a bloody violence with those strange creatures. From what Aurivy had said, it seemed as if she truly had been forgiven, and was even encouraged to follow her path.

And in truth, following her path was exactly what Aurivy wanted. She did not approve of this war, or the misunderstanding that had caused it. She even held a bit of a grudge against the centaurs for being so violent, but she would not let that affect her view of Tryval. No, what she approved of here was how one of her people was willing to put aside everything, to travel down a lonely road for the sake of her people.

She wanted Shara to become an example, to become a legend among the halflings. The one who stood up to impossible odds to be the shield that would defend them from harm. The one that rallied the people for a common goal, leading them to new heights.

Aurivy knew that Shara’s kingdom was doomed to be short lived. But, the candle that burns brightest is always the first one out. Rather than make Shara conflicted about her choice, make her hesitate when the time comes, she chose to make her burn even brighter. Deep down, she wanted Shara to become the flame that would light a new path for the halflings, a path where they worked together in harmony, as opposed to the scattered union that they currently held.

And her encouragement did exactly that. With her eyes watering, Shara chose the name for her kingdom. A name that would take its place in history for every halfling to remember.