Seeing Balu so energetic, I cracked a small smile, following along behind her with Irena. By the time we entered the building, there were only a few people sitting along the scattered tables. Given the nature of this meeting, it was hard to tell which ones were Keepers, and which were just here to enjoy the good food.

Waiting for us on our arrival was a ‘man’ with pitch-black skin, a single large eye on its head with no nose and a wide mouth. “EarthForceOne, Starkiller, right this way.” They spoke as if expecting us, and given that these were all embodiments of the system’s knowledge, they probably were.

Balu let out a happy squeak as she followed behind the waiter, the three of us guided towards a round, white table with three chairs around it. “We’ll be by with your order soon.” The waiter assured us with a small nod before turning and walking off, leaving the three of us alone at the table.

“So, how have things been?” Balu asked, adjusting herself to get comfortable in her seat before looking between myself and Irena.

“Alright, I suppose.” I gave a brief nod. “Been working on a few projects.” My invasion force sent to attack Vanity had not reached a conclusion yet, so I couldn’t be sure how that would fare.

Balu thought about my words for a moment. “Yeah, I guess it’s kinda hard to discuss things in such a public place. So, I guess you probably have questions about the items you wanted to buy?” She gave a small twitch of her nose at that, and a silver screen seemed to sprout around the table, isolating us from the rest of the building.

“It’s a privacy field. Some people have issues eating in front of others, or try to study the food brought to other Keepers to make guesses on what assets they have in their world. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but the system made these fields optional for anyone that wanted them.” Once she saw Irena and I looking around the translucent wall around us, Balu explained in a cheerful tone. “Nobody can see or hear what’s going on at the table, as long as that field is up.”

I hesitated for a moment, before nodding my head. “Do features like this get added often?”

Balu blinked, before giving a quick shake of her head. “Nope, maybe one every few years. When it happens, there will be an announcement that goes out to all Keepers, along with the standard invitation.”

Well, at least they keep us informed. “Okay… so, you wanted me to ask questions… I guess the easiest ones would be for you to explain how the grimoire and cultivation mat work, so I know what I’m buying.”

“That’s… not an uncommon question.” Balu sighed with a difficult expression. “Normally, I’d have to make you wait until after you bought the items before I could explain that. We can’t have people learn how they function, then decide to cancel the deal and either make the item themselves, or sell it to a potential enemy. If you yourself have the item, the risk of the latter is lessened because you would be giving away your own information as well.”

“For this time… I’ll make an exception. Just don’t tell Grimor, alright?” She had a pleading look on her face when she said that, to which I found myself nodding subconsciously.

With a sigh of relief, she began to explain. “The power of the grimoire lies in its simplicity, as well as a hidden function. When casting a spell with the book open, you are capable of storing that spell, along with all of the mana used to cast it, within the book. Then later, you can cast that spell from the grimoire, and add additional mana to it.”

“The hidden function is that it is possible to ‘recast’ the spell into the book, as long as there is enough mana capacity available. So, for instance… take your basic ‘fire blast’ spell. For the first storage, you channel the spell and a large sum of mana into the book to produce a medium sized attack. Then later, when your mana is recovered, you cast the spell from the book again, channeling it through your body and back into the grimoire with another sum of mana. Like this, it is possible to overcharge spells. A first tier spell overcharged to its limits, has the potential to rival a third tier spell.”

Okay, now that was an interesting feature to include in a grimoire. “And what about overcharging a third tier spell?” I couldn’t help but ask, curious if it would be possible to release power of the fourth, or even fifth tiers.

Balu, however, shook her head. “That’s why the mana storage is important. A basic grimoire with this blueprint only has the capacity to store one top third tier spell. If you want something better, you need to modify the blueprint by finding suitable materials from your own world. Theoretically, it’s possible to reach any level of spell, so long as there are materials capable of storing the mana required.”

“As for the cultivation mat, it is a somewhat more elegant item. The primary function allows anyone resting on it to gather ki more rapidly from their surroundings. Now… you’ve probably figured out by now, but that’s just not how ki works in some worlds. In some, ki comes from the world around you, and in others it comes from the user themselves.”

“In cases where it is the latter, I’ve found that the cultivation mat has a different function. It causes the ki within the body to begin pulsing and speeding up. This allows whoever is on the mat to more easily sense the energy within their own body, and guide it to form more complicated paths.”

I gave a small nod as I listened to the explanation. “What about combined energies? For instance… elemental ki?”

Balu’s brow furrowed, her nose twitching as she focused to remember. “I think… the mat is still effective on those energy types, but the efficiency is less than basic ki. The weaker ki is as an ingredient in the energy, the less of an effect you will see from it. For instance, the divine body energy I had you cultivate… only about a third of it is composed of ki, so the effect would be fairly low. Same with world sight.”

“Again, the mat can be improved depending on materials used, and if the design is modified. I’m only sending the most basic versions, as per the normal trade rules. The same designs that you would get if you purchased from the system directly.”

That was pretty straightforward. And, while I wasn’t sure which grimoire would be rated higher between hers and the one I submitted to the market, I had to admit that the one she offered had a useful secondary function. I knew that there were materials within my world that were very good at storing mana, so it was possible that I could take it beyond its initial properties once the item had been reverse engineered by both Tubrock and Ryone.

Nodding my head, I reached my hand across the table. I still wasn’t used to personally transferring points to someone else, but Terra wasn’t here this time. Besides that, I had already figured out how to comfortably use the system interface, so now was as good of a time as any to try it out.

Balu beam a toothy smile, stretching out her furred hand to grab mine. As our hands met, I focused on the hidden interface, creasing my brows together.

You have chosen to transfer 130 points to Keeper Starkiller. No mental influences detected. Please confirm deposit.

I let out a sigh of relief when the window appeared, giving a small nod. Balu was, thankfully, patient with the process. Once I had confirmed it, her nose gave another twitch, and I received another window stating that the transfer had gone through.

Almost as if it had been waiting, the waiter returned at that moment with three dishes, stepping through the privacy field. The first to receive her meal was Balu, who had a large salad of green leaves and orange circular sliced fruit, interspersed with flakes of meat and covered in a white gravy. She actually drooled as she saw it, her eyes going wide.

Next was Irena, who seemed to receive a drink instead of food. A tall, wide glass filled with swimming nebulous gasses. She arched a curious brow towards the glass, but seemed to assume it was alright.

Finally, there was my own dish, something I was immediately able to recognize. Ever since I achieved my godly body, I no longer had the need to eat. Tsubaki naturally understood this, having a similar quality. Yet, she continued to insist on cooking for me. Only now, instead of gathering powerful, nutritious ingredients to make sure that I never left the table hungry, she focused her efforts on improving the taste. Something easier to do when the meat was not nearly as hard as iron, or the herbs strong enough to overpower normal cuisine.

While her cooking was certainly not bad before, the quality immediately shot up once she was able to focus purely on taste. This dish looked like a copy of one that she had previously made for me. A lightly roasted steak, sprinkled with a thin layer of sauces, and with a side of greens.

I couldn’t help but gulp when I saw that, wondering if it would taste the same as when Tsubaki made it. Across from me, Balu had already begun to dig into her own meal, with Irena looking curiously towards her drink. As if she understood something, she dipped a finger into the gases, watching as a trail followed behind it while she brought it to her mouth.

It was only an experimental test, but her eyes shot open, quickly looking down towards her meal. If I had to wager a guess, it was another construct of spiritual energy. Only now, it did not have the ‘disguise’ of a normal meal, showing itself for what it really was.

Opening her mouth, she took a deep breath, strands of the mist leaping up from her cup. I watched in awe as she quite literally inhaled her meal. Shaking my head, I looked down and began eating my own steak and savoring its taste.

It didn’t take long for the three of us to finish, everyone waiting patiently after they were done. Once the waiter came back and took our plates away, Balu stretched her arms out. “Well, thanks for the meal, Dale! I’ve already got the items ready on my end, and I’ll send them by once the meeting’s over.”

“Thanks. Though, before you run off.” I held a hand up to stop her, figuring she was about to make a run for it to try and find Bihena. “I did have one other question that I wanted to ask you, as an experienced Keeper.”

“Oh?” She glanced towards me, seeming interested by what I had to say.

“How do you know when it is time to advance to the next rank? I’m going to assume that you haven’t been stuck at the first rank forever, right?” This was actually a question that I planned to ask Sarah as well, but I wanted to get multiple opinions on the matter.

“Oh, that’s easy.” Balu simply shrugged her shoulders. “Just whenever it’s natural. As an avenger, I had to find a balance that let me rest at the top of the first tier. But, I could advance whenever I wanted.”

“If your world is stable, and getting to a point where it is ready to advance on its own, then there’s really no need to stop it, unless you wanna be like me. The only problem is if you force it to advance by introducing new elements that destabilize the world. By the time you are getting everything sorted, you might be attacked by an enemy Keeper of your new rank, and not have time to prepare a response.”

“Also, keep in mind, a Keeper is never allowed to attack another Keeper of a lower rank. If you are on the defending team, and your rank increases, the invasion will still go through. It will be a pretty easy victory at that point, but that’s just how it is. Now, if you’re the attacking Keeper, and your rank increases, that’s another thing entirely.”

“Under those circumstances, the invasion is cancelled, and both parties are entered into the selection for the next round’s matches instead. Same thing if you are defending, and your rank ends up dropping due to a reset or something.”