Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The statement surprised Ruwen but he clamped down on his curiosity. It would be better if Pine spoke at his own pace. Ruwen continually interrupting Pine’s train of thought wouldn’t help either of them.

“He showed up here. A gringo from the United States. He had nothing, arriving here in a t-shirt, jeans, and sandals. We knew he was crazy when he asked us to kill him. The majority of the local drug trade is with America so we assumed he was a drug addict who’d lost his way from Guadalajara. Despite our abilities we follow the Step Clan’s teachings and we didn’t force him to leave. He sat in the dirt halfway between the house and the shed.”

Pine sighed and studied the ground for a few seconds before looking back up. “He warned us the avocado grove would soon die. That we needed to kill him before that happened. Days went by and he just sat. He didn’t eat or drink or even use the bathroom. He just there in the dirt meditating. Even that didn’t surprise us. Some drugs removed the need for such basic necessities.”

Pine waved a finger. “But there was a flaw in our logic. Kane didn’t look like a drug addict. The opposite in fact. He sat there meditating all day and night. Every day he’d warn us he was killing the grove. Weeks went by. How was he surviving? Then the trees began dying.”

“Isabella had reached her limit. She picked Kane up and threw him off our land. He returned. After repeated warnings she threw him in a nearby lake infested with crocodiles. He survived. Fearful for the farm she tried to disable him and eventually tried to kill him.”

Ruwen knew exactly how easy it was for a practitioner of the Bamboo Viper Steps to kill a man. It was trivial.

“And he survived,” Ruwen said.

“Yes. He might appear to die—his brain turned to paste or throat shattered or neck snapped.”

“But he recovered,” Ruwen said.

“Every time.”

“How long did it take? Did it depend on the type of injury?”

“Not really. Kane was insanely durable and when he took a fatal blow, he always returned in under a minute. Every single time, he looked disappointed that he’d survived.”

“That really sounds unhealthy. And no obvious signs of magic? Your chakras didn’t detect anything?”

“The opposite. Third Eye ignored him. Root provided a general sense of dread and fear but wouldn’t point to Kane specifically. It felt more like what I imagine an impending meteor strike might generate.”

“Honestly it sounds like he was a Cultivator,” Ruwen said. “I’m less sure about the revivals, but I know there is magic for that because gods can do it in their own realms.”

“You think he was a god?”

Ruwen shrugged. “I’d need to meet him to know for sure.”

“That’s the problem. When Isabella couldn’t kill Kane, he left. By then, Isabella had fallen for him and she followed. Within a year they were married, and eventually, Ash was born. Kane continued to destroy the plants around him. I tried to detect a problem with his aura, but it looked healthy to me. Regardless, he couldn’t stay at the farm. They had a place not too far from here. The jungle there still hasn’t grown back. It looks like the surface of the moon.”

Ruwen activated Last Breath to give himself time to think.

Lir? You’ve spent a couple of months on this planet. Do you know who this guy is that’s unkillable and destroys plants?

My current hypothesis has reached a certainty of seventy-seven percent. If Ash is factored into my calculations, this increases to ninety-six percent.

Ash? How is Kane’s son involved?

 Ash is currently inside the dungeon I mentioned to you earlier.

The super powerful one.

Correct. It gave Ash a quest related to cleansing his blood of a family curse. He now exhibits this same killing of plant life that his father possesses. Although in Ash’s case it occurs much quicker. This likely points to the effect being at least partially level based.

Blood magic? Ruwen asked. Is that common here?

Blood magic is not found on this planet. This indicates Kane is either a Destruction Realm entity or some type of magical creature in human form. We cannot rule out Kane being a deity however.

What’s with the wanting to die? That seems weird to me.

The quest Ash received reflects details found in the scriptures of a large religion. It is my analysis that the event described is an allegory for some other event.

What is the story about? Ruwen asked.

One brother killed the other out of jealousy. There are three details that make it plausible Kane is the surviving brother. Phonetically his current name, while spelled differently, sounds the same as the original. Second, he worked the land as a farmer, and the angry god removed his ability to work the earth. Third, the story ends with a curse that he would walk the Earth forever.

Wow, Kane really upset that god. Do you think they’re still here? Maybe they were one of Pen’s disciples?

I have already discussed this probability with Uru and she responded that whoever did this was unlikely to be one of Pen’s disciples because for the most part only she and Pen obsessed about this planet.

Ruwen considered all this information before responding to Lir. That points back to an entity from the Destruction Realm or a magical creature.

Lir didn’t respond.

Do you think there’s another possibility? Ruwen asked.

Lir still didn’t respond.

Lir? Are you okay? Should I come in there?

No, my apologies, Architect Starfield. It is difficult for me to communicate my thoughts because I lack logical or statistical support for what I wish to say.

That’s great, Lir. You’re growing. We call that a hunch or intuition.

I call it guessing.

Hmm, well you aren’t wrong. Tell me anyway please. Now I’m curious.

Ruwen imagined Lir sighing and wringing his hands.

Finally, Lir spoke. The dungeon could have done it.

That surprised Ruwen. It hadn’t occurred to him, but Lir had already said that he thought the dungeon might be more powerful than Blapy and the Black Pyramid.

Okay, Ruwen said. I think I’m finally understanding what you mean by powerful.

Technically the dungeon might be a planet-sized creature or hiding a Destruction Entity.

But you don’t think that do you. You think it’s something else.

Not that I can prove.

But you feel that way.

This conversation makes me uncomfortable.

I hear you, Brother. Unlike Hamma, I’ll let you off the hook. No more feelings in this conversation.

Thank you.

So, let me recap. There is a planet sized dungeon that is likely something we’ve never encountered before. It might have the power to, I’m guessing here, either open a Blood Node or utilize an existing open Node to negatively impact someone, while also making them unkillable. This cursed man married Isabella, a direct descendant of Pen’s chakra experiment. Ash, their son, is also part of Pen’s chakra experiment, has interacted with me in the past, and is now training as Echo’s Sijun. Ash also happens to be inside this very dungeon we’re worried about.

That is an accurate summary.

Did you catch what my parents told me last night?

No, we did not eavesdrop on your reunion.

Oh, thanks, Ruwen said. Well, they told me Ash is my fifth hand. What are the odds that I’m forced to go into that dungeon.

I am uncertain if that is a request or a rhetorical question.

Rhetorical. But we both know how these things always go.

Yes, Lir replied. There are too many karmic threads attaching you to this dungeon. Your fate will yank it into your vortex.

Probably. Anyway, can you keep extra tabs on that dungeon and learn everything you can. The more we know the better our chances of not breaking everything.

Of course.

Thanks, Lir.

Ruwen released Last Breath and asked Pine a question. “I’m sorry in advance if this is too personal and don’t answer if it’s too upsetting. Why do you think Isabella isn’t coming back?”

Pine touched his heart. “I felt her here my whole life. That connection disappeared and has never returned.”

Ruwen nodded his understanding but despite the difference in their ages, he had far more experience. Especially when it involved magic. He could think of ten reasons off the top of his head why that connection severed. The last thing he wanted to do, however, was give Pine false hope. He sympathized with the man but keep an open mind.

“Enough of my ramblings,” Pine said. “I’m like a squirrel with ADHD. Let’s get back on topic. I’ll explain the methods to Activate and Awaken your chakras, how to level them, and maybe we can even talk about auras.”

That sounded perfect to Ruwen. Maybe he could learn enough from Pine that he could avoid entering that dungeon.