“Hmm hmm hmm…” Dana hummed to herself happily as she stood within a large room with an open ceiling. All along the floor was a massive spell diagram, with seven intricately carved spheres positioned at equal points around it.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small vial of what seemed to be metal shavings, and casually threw them into the center of the spell array. As the vial landed, she began speaking, holding both of her hands forward. “I am the forgotten daughter, queen of the deepest abyss. Hear me, spirit of the world, and come forth.”

Green light began to shine from the seven spheres, before spreading along the lines of the diagram. “Trace the origin of that which comes from a realm beyond. Open the path to what I desire. By my name, I beckon. Split the void and connect beyond the veil of space.”

As the green light finally reached the center of the diagram, the vial of shavings shattered. A green circle traced itself through the air, its center showing a golden sky. I’ll be back in a little while, Tsuba!

Are you sure you don’t wish for my company? Tsubaki asked mentally, causing Dana to giggle.

I’ll be fine! You’re needed here in case we have another incident. I’m not very helpful with stuff like that, so it’s best if you just leave the errands like this to me! If the worst happens, I’ll trigger the forced recall spell after getting enough materials to bring the citadel over.

There was clear hesitation before Tsubaki sent a simple feeling of acceptance. Feeling that, Dana nodded her hand, glancing around to the air of the room. “Thanks, miss!” She called out, before running into the portal. After she entered, and the portal closed, a small sigh echoed in the empty room.

On the other end of the portal, Dana appeared on a vacant street, metal buildings rising on either side. A deep hum sounded out from beneath the surface, accompanied by the sounds of pistons. Almost like the beat of a giant heart. In the sky, she could see hovering spheres projecting energy, as well as vehicles flying along.

Putting her hands behind her back, she began happily skipping along the street. “I’m just a lovely little girl, waiting to be noticed within a strange, strange world~.” She sang under her breath.

It didn’t even take a full minute before she could feel the eyes of others on her, but she simply kept skipping along without a care. The key to this world had yet to be created yet, so this should be the first time that a being from one of the other worlds had appeared on their planet like this.

As she kept going, she gradually began to see less and less vehicles flying above her. The streets remained empty, though she could faintly hear the sounds of metal feet scattering away. “Ohh~?” She muttered in a cute tone, realizing what was going on. “Is the big bad girl scaring all the… they called themselves the March, right?”

By the time that she finished saying that, four figures materialized around her. Each of them were metallic humanoids with sharp frames, their colors black and blue. “Halt.” The one before her said, and she obediently stopped.

“Yes, mister?” She asked, looking up to the taller golem. At a glance, it should either be a soldier or a police officer, though it lacked any visible weapons.

“Please state your place of origin, and purpose of your appearance here.”

“You could just ask me what I want.” Dana smiled, rolling her eyes playfully.

“I did.” Okay, so they were not very good with jokes. Or, at the least, this one wasn’t. With a sigh, Dana simply shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m from Earth, one of the other worlds connected to the Fairy Gate. I came here because I wanna learn things!” She puffed out her chest when she said that, confusing the four golems around her.

“Is there a secret compartment in your chest that contains your mission details?” The one in front of her asked after seeing her strange gesture.

“Wha- no, nothing like that!” Dana grumbled. She had heard about their strange language, so was using a technique involving spiritual energy to translate for her. “Take me to your leader! I’ve always wanted to say that…”

There was a moment of hesitation before the golem in front of her spoke. “Requesting priority transport for five to diplomatic zone two. One individual is in possession of an energy-based body, be advised.”

“Oh, you could tell that, huh---ooh shiny light.” Dana started talking, before noticing that flowing white lights were appearing around their bodies. A half second later, and they were standing within a large conference room.

“Please wait here, and do not attempt to leave.” The mechanical officer said, before the four of them left the room.

Dana offered a shrug, not really planning to leave one way or the other. Once she arrived in this world, she quickly realized that creating a key would be more difficult than expected. Unless, of course there were regions left undeveloped. Maybe she would even have to go offworld in order to get the materials she needed.

And so, she waited, unsure of how long it was going to take. In the meantime, she was going over alternate ways of creating gates to this world, if the normal method of producing a key was not an option.

Maybe I can use a spell to record the dimensional coordinates of this realm. Could I get away with a third tier spell for that, or would I need fourth tier? No, if I do it right, maybe even a second tier would be enough…

A dimensional gate could work, but I’d need to bring one here later and find somewhere to install it. That means asking those guys in Deckan for more shavings… they really hated having to give some of it up this time. Stingy foxes…

“I was told you wished to speak to me.” A voice broke Dana out of her thoughts, a figure sitting at the head of the table. No… appearing to sit there. On a closer look, she could tell that it was simply a hologram projected by magic.

“Well, that’s one way to handle meetings, I guess.” Dana shook her head. “My name is Dana Jafer, and I am one of the servants of the Keeper.” She let that sink in, waiting for any recognition from the fellow across from her.

“The… Keeper. Am I meant to know who this figure is?” The figure asked, having clearly not heard of a ‘Keeper’ of another world before.

Dana let out a low groan, thinking. “You guys worship some kind of maker, right? You call him the Creator?”

“That is correct.”

“And his name is Tubrock, yeah?” Naturally, among the gods, Dana knew exactly which one of them would have an interest in golems. It could only be either Udona or Tubrock, and Udona didn’t have the technical skill required to craft them.

“You are aware of the Creator’s name?” This time, there was a tone of surprise in the figure’s voice as he looked at Dana.

“Oh, yeah. I’ve met him a few times.” Dana spoke with an honest smile. “He’s a great guy, and you suddenly seem very angry with me.”

“I believe that this meeting is over.” The figure spoke, reaching for something on the table, or rather the equivalent wherever they were.

“I mean, I can prove it if you want?” Dana spoke up, realizing that the whole ‘I know your god on a personal level’ thing is a touch rude to some civilizations without proof to back it up.

When he heard that, his hand stopped. Instead, it moved off to the side, pressing down against something other than its original target. “There is a cleansing protocol in place within all diplomatic chambers. If you are incapable of providing this proof you have mentioned, I will immediately activate the one located within your current room.”

“Sheesh, harsh much, aren’t you?” Dana smirked, before closing her eyes. Hey, Uncle Tubrock, mind lending me a hand here? Apparently, this guy wants to roast me if I can’t prove that I know you.

Oi… why are you dragging me into this? A gruff, dwarven voice spoke into her mind, though he did take action. At least, Dana assumed that he was the one that threw some large, heavy object which caused the figure within the projection to shoot off through the wall of the room.

Thank you! Oh, also, while I have your attention, amazing work with this planet! I mean, really, you outdid yourself even more than the citadel.

A small, content laugh echoed deeply in Dana’s mind. Thanks for that, lass. Just wait till ya see the others.

Others? Dana blinked in confusion. Tubrock couldn’t have personally crafted every planet in this realm, right?! If he did that, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to get the materials she needed for the key.

Spoilers. He spoke in a cheeky tone, clearly wanting her to find out for herself.

Just as she was going to press him for more information, she saw the projection from before walking back into the room. Only, this time there was a sizable dent within the side of their head. “I apologize for my rudeness.” The projection said as soon as he sat down.

“That’s fine. I didn’t expect him to give you that kind of a sign.” Dana was suddenly feeling a bit sorry for bringing up Tubrock’s name, since it led to a rather clear injury of the party she was talking to.

“Regardless… should I take your earlier words to mean that the Creator is the same person as this Keeper you spoke of?”

“Oh, no, not at all.” Dana shook her head quickly. “Tubrock isn’t the Keeper. He just… well… you’re going to get mad as soon as I say this. He works for the Keeper.”

The figure focused intently on Dana, and she could feel the rising mood despite its lack of expressions. “So, you wish to say that you operate on the same level as our Creator?” She could see the figure’s hands once again moving towards the table.

“I mean, yes and no?” She thought about that for a moment. “We both work for the Keeper, but I’m not nearly as strong as Tubrock. I’m basically the Keeper’s housekeeper, and Tubrock is an assistant manager? I’d say he’s above me in rank, we just both report directly to the Keeper.”

She could still see the figure’s hand moving towards the table. “Please don’t make me call him and have him hit you with another hammer… that was his hammer, right? He didn’t just throw a random rock at you?”

“It was a lot of rocks, actually.” The figure complained, slowly sitting back up. He was still clearly agitated by the idea that someone was claiming to be on the same level as the creator for their entire species, but… he was enduring. “What is it you want?”

“I want to learn how to use a dimensium pulse to create a storage space!” Dana beamed a wide smile towards the figure as she said that. “Oh, and I’m willing to pay for it! I can trade information that I’m sure you don’t have.”

Hearing her confidence, the figure seemed intrigued. “And what information is it that you are so certain we do not already possess?”

“How to shed your physical bodies to achieve an energy state.” Dana answered with that same smile. This world was clearly familiar with the concept of energy bodies, but… given what she had seen, she did not believe that they had reached the realm of Perfection yet. Of course, she was somewhat cheating, as this information could easily be achieved after they integrate more deeply with Deckan and the other worlds.

At the same time, though, the information that she wanted could similarly be achieved if she simply waited. She was exchanging one shortcut for another.