World Keeper

Chapter 92: The Race of Heroes

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, roughly five hours according to the clock on the computer, I managed to get myself up and moved over to the screen again. I wanted to go ahead and prepare to descend again so that I could take a closer look at the world, but first I wanted to make sure that there weren’t any major developments over the two hundred years that had passed. So, my first action was to open the notifications again.

Some of your species have undergone an evolution, and will have their base stats permanently changed for all successive generations.

Centaurs: Agility +1

Dwarves: Strength +1

Lycan: Awareness +1

Ursa: Strength +1

Okay… guess they were due for an evolution sooner or later. The felyn and kitsune will probably follow soon after. Elves will probably still take a while yet, because of their long lives… I mused as I looked at the information, though it was the next window that surprised me the most.

Congratulations! Earth has earned an achievement!

For having a race evolve into sentience outside of the system’s guidance, your world has earned the Evolver achievement. +10 points, Evolving Trait unlocked.

When I read that, I couldn’t help but stop and blink for several seconds before grabbing the piece of paper we used to communicate. Evolving trait. Explain. I quickly wrote to Terra, not wanting to have a trait attached to the world that I did not know about at least somewhat.

Eh? You got one already? That’s pretty fast! Came the reply soon after. It makes it easier for natural evolution to take place, and generally uses the first creature to evolve as a base template for success. Later sapient creatures will typically have at least something in common with the first race to evolve like that, even if it is just certain organs or bone structures. Things like one brain and one heart, or walking upright.

That was… a surprisingly detailed explanation, compared to what she normally gave. And as I looked through the notifications, I saw that there was still one window remaining. Opening it up, I hoped for a bit more good news.

An unidentified race has ascended to sapience. At any point, you may purchase them into the system of your world. Until such time, they will be treated as typical monsters, and will be unable to access various systems of the world restricted to registered life forms.

Unable to access the systems… So they won’t be able to level up, or issue quests, or things like that? They probably won’t even be able to see the interface. The ramifications of this were quite great. After all, without being able to level up, it would be almost impossible for any sapient race to survive for long against the ever-growing monsters of the world. Even the fact that they evolved to sapience was likely due to luck, with them not living near the more powerful monsters.

Nonetheless, I went to look through the world, doing a search for this new species. What I found was a race surviving on one of the uninhabited continents of the world. From the looks of things, they had just barely began using stone tools and building shelters.

The race itself was tall, over three meters for a grown adult, with thick green skin and bulging muscles. On their heads were three vertical eyes. They seemed to lack any hair, and they only had three fingers and a thumb on their large hands. When I looked at their stats, I began to understand why they were able to survive as long as they had.

Race Name

Unclassified

Comprehension

4

Agility

12

Strength

23

Lifespan

95

Luck

8

Awareness

17

Male:Female ratio

3

Example Adult Male

Example Adult Female

To put it simply, their base statistics were through the roof! They could likely pick up and carry a centaur with one arm, and not even break a sweat. At first, I thought that they looked like orcs or ogres, but their eyes ruined that image for me. The only thing that they were really lacking was their comprehension, which was still almost on the same level as the elves and centaurs.

Curious, I checked to see how much it would cost to bring this new race into the system, to let them have classes and quests and all that. To my surprise, such an unbalanced race would actually cost a hundred and seventy five points. Even more than the dungeon cores, with all of their added abilities.

Grabbing the paper once again, I wrote a quick message to everyone. Meeting, now. Living room. After saying that and letting the message send, I quickly got up and moved to the other room to wait for the others. This was a rather big decision, and it deserved to be spoken of with all of the gods and goddesses.

When I arrived to the living room, I found Udona, Irena, and Keliope all standing there already, talking with one another and looking confused. “What’s going on, Dale?” Irena asked as she noticed my arrival, drawing the attention of the kitsune and ursa goddesses.

“Ah, sorry, but could you wait until everyone gets here?” I asked patiently. Soon, Bihena arrived, and I had to say the same thing once again. After that, the others all seemed to arrive at the same time, though from different directions. Only Terra seemed to understand what was going on, and had a pleased smile on her face as she arrived with Aurivy and Accalia.

Just like during the previous god meeting, I created a large table, with plenty of chairs for everyone and a large cushion for Tryval. “Sorry for calling everyone here on short notice. However, there was a recent development in the world that requires our attention.”

When I said that, everyone’s curious expressions vanished, and they instantly became more serious. “A new race has evolved in the world, and grown to the level where the system recognizes them.” There were a few surprised gasps and murmurs after that revelation, but I kept speaking. “Normally, I wouldn’t mind simply buying them into the system, but given the race in question… I wanted to consult everyone, as well as the potential steps we might take to welcome them, if we do so.”

After saying that, I created a screen behind me for everyone to see, displaying the racial statistics for this new race. Then, Terra cleared her throat slightly, motioning for me to take a look… And I realized that the information was written backwards, so I quickly flipped it around. “As you can see… their abilities far surpass the base levels of any other race, with the exception of their intelligence.”

Aurivy furrowed her brows, crossing her small arms in front of her chest. “So, what’s the problem? Can’t we just buy them like normal, just a bit more expensive?”

However, Bihena quickly shook her head to dismiss that. “Their strength itself can be an issue later. Especially if they are able to adjust to magic, their awareness would probably lend to the ability to control the energies well. They would be a powerful force that could overwhelm any of our races with the same numbers and levels. I imagine that, after inviting them to the system, the Hero class will be common with them, given their monstrous stats.”

I nodded my head towards Bihena. “That was one of my concerns as well. Another was whether or not we should get a new god or goddess for this race, should we buy them. If they don’t have one, then there will likely be discrimination against them in the future. However, if they do, then that will only be more power for them. With their strength, even though they are behind in terms of technology, they could pose a very real threat to the other races when they meet.”

To my surprise, the next to speak wasn’t either Aurivy or Bihena, who had taken up the two sides of the argument… Instead, it was Irena. “I think we should buy them. Otherwise, they are doomed to extinction.” She said simply, her face remaining impassive. “While they can survive now with their abilities, more powerful monsters will begin to appear around them, and it won’t take long before they are wiped out without the system to support them.”

Udona nodded her head at that, agreeing. “I think any race deserves a chance at life… I do not support giving them a god, though…” She shuddered slightly as she said that, likely remembering her own ‘birth’. I didn’t know if her suggestion was for the sake of the world, or for the unborn deity.

Bihena smiled slightly as she heard that. “Without the guidance of a deity, they will not be as united as our races. This will reduce their overall strength, and bring it more towards the level where our races could potentially interact with them in the future without it becoming too dangerous for either side.”

Tubrock was the next to speak, crossing his hands on the table as he leaned forward. “How ‘bout we take a vote? ‘Dat way, it’s fair and ‘der won’t be no complaints later.” As the others heard him, they couldn’t help but nod their heads. With the information already out there, there wasn’t much more left to talk about but the final verdict.

And after the votes, the decision was made. With only Aurivy, Keliope, and Tryval opposing, the vote was eight to three, in favor of purchasing the new race. However, when the vote turned to getting a new god or goddess, it was unanimous. Nobody wanted a new god in the Admin Room, at least not yet.

I nodded my head after counting all the votes. “Alright, then it’s settled. Now, since we are buying them, what should we call them?”

Terra almost instantly raised her hand to speak up when I asked that. “Since they are the race of heroes resembling orcs, why not call them Heroc?” I swear, I heard at least three groans from around the table when she suggested that name.

I never thought I would meet someone with a naming sense worse than me… and that it would be Terra. As I thought that, I looked around, almost hopeful for someone else to have a better suggestion. However, whether it was Tryval, Aurivy, Udona, or any of the others, nobody chimed in. So, I could only sigh helplessly. “Alright, then. We’ll buy the Heroc race.” As I said that, I entered their name into the racial window, and opted to purchase them immediately. “And with this, I declare the second godly meeting official concluded. You may all go back to whatever it is you were doing.”

After I dismissed them, there were various sighs throughout the room as the gods dispersed, most going back to their own rooms while two or three stuck around to chat. Terra actually walked up to me with Aurivy holding her hand and smiled. “Well, that was productive. What are you planning to do now?”

Looking at their hopeful expressions, I could guess that they wanted to spend a bit of time with me. Sadly, I shook my head. I already had plans. “I planned to descend for a bit. See how the elven society is doing before maybe moving on to one of the other races.” I explained. Out of all of the races, the one whose society I know the least about was actually the elves. So, I felt it necessary to get a closer look at how they worked.

And indeed, Aurivy frowned slightly when she heard that. “Aww… Well… when you are done with all of that, how about playing for a little bit? Big sis and I made a pair of sisters in the mortal world for our new incarnations. Once you’re done with checking up on everything, why not going down to visit us?” She asked with an honest smile, and I could only nod my head in agreement before turning around and heading for my room.

Okay, NOW can I finally descend? I asked myself as I immediately began preparing the body that I planned to descend in.