Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Deryssa’s brow furrowed at the question and Ruin displayed the shapes of three simple tones in the space between them.

“Have you ever seen shapes like this?” Ruin asked.

Deryssa’s confusion disappeared and she stepped forward. “Yes.”

Ruin grew excited. Maybe he wouldn’t need help piecing all the sigils together after all.

Deryssa continued without any prompting from Ruin. “Inside the Spire of Remembrance, there are many such odd designs. What are they?”

“Is there a record of them? Do you remember them in detail?”

“No and no,” Deryssa said as she shifted her focus back to Ruin. “I’m sorry. Information like that is not allowed to leave the Spire. The family can’t risk letting our knowledge fall into the wrong hands. And I barely paid attention to the designs. No one has ever thought them important. They just look like decoration.”

Ruin frowned. As a last resort he wondered if Rami could extract any memories from Deryssa’s current form without causing damage. In the meantime, he had another plan. He already knew an expert at puzzles.

“Sounds have shape,” Ruin said, answering Deryssa’s earlier question. “Harmonics combine these shapes into spells to affect the world around them.” Ruin recalled the explanation Gunder had used. “They’re like the language of the Universe. The basis for everything.”

“Music?”

“I think vibrations are a better description, but music is how it would sound to us.”

“And you know this language?”

“A little. I thought I was further along, but I recently learned I’m still level zero.”

Deryssa studied the shapes again. “To think the secret of the Harmonic factions strength is such a simple thing.”

Ruin thought about the precarious nature of trying to keep his inner and outer worlds balanced. The massive sacrifices required to give Harmony power. The fact he didn’t care about the Destruction Realm while inhabiting a body from that Realm was a perfect example.

“Harmony works in my human form which is one of the reasons I want to regain that body as soon as I can. Harmony is my most powerful weapon.”

“Why doesn’t it work as a Saraph? Is it only a Material Realm magic?”

“I think the fact these shapes are inside one of the eight Spires anchoring the Destruction Realm’s existence means they’ll work here.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

That answer to Deryssa’s question boiled down to “I don’t care about this realm,” but he couldn’t say that. So, he told her part of the truth. “It’s an issue of balance. This form and situation is still new to me and it will take time to recover my balance.”

Ruin wanted to avoid additional questions about Harmony, so he switched topics. “I’m going to increase my level since so many of my abilities use it as a base for their effectiveness. Is there anything I should know or consider?”

“At level fifty you receive the option to Specialize your Class. Then at level one hundred you can select a Path. The Specialization is customized to the person, and the path even more so. Destruction Emperors back home always have some type of blessing related Specialization and Path because they hold the Spire of Blessing. Their blessings make them unkillable. Paired with the benefits of the Destruction Emperor Heritage, which makes them the mightiest of the families, you can understand why they’ve held power forever.”

“Can you give me some examples?”

“The current Destruction Emperor became Heaven’s Blessing at level fifty. Then, at one hundred, took the path Purity Blade. The essence in his Meridians is such high quality, it melts the spells of others. It’s like the difference between looking at a fire and staring at the sun.”

“So I’ll get something related to our Spire? What were your choices?”

“Our family has always received the same three options, but the Destruction Emperor forbid two of the choices.” Deryssa displayed the three Classes between them.

Name: Shadow Archivist

Description: Combines the aspects of multiple Spires into powerful new hybrid abilities.

Name: Recall Forger

Description: Uses memories as a weapon, reshaping the battlefield with illusions or unleashing the raw force of past experiences.

Name: Memory’s Fate

Description: Weave fate itself, redirecting and altering probabilities to favorable outcomes and avoid the mistakes of the past.

“Let me guess,” Ruin said. “Since you didn’t have access to any other Spire, they forced you to take Shadow Archivist.”

“Exactly. And we aren’t the only family to suffer under the heel of the Emperor. Through the eons, the Emperors tightened their control over power completely.”

“Which one should I take?”

“You already have an array with a Fate Heritage, and claiming the knowledge of the other spires seems unlikely, so that leaves the Recall Forger.”

Recall Forger sounded a lot like what Rami could do already. This didn’t matter in the big picture because fighting the actual Destruction Emperor seemed suicidal and he planned to avoid it. But he couldn’t help but do his best so he asked for clarification.

“If a person could reach the other towers and,” Ruin looked down at the silver band above his bicep, “and fill this band with the knowledge of those spires, the choice the Emperor forced you into would actually be insanely powerful.”

“Technically yes, but getting that knowledge is a non-starter. Taking that Specialization would be a waste.”

Ruin didn’t respond. He’d just discovered that in the future he might possess the power to transfer the entities in his mind to the real world. Did that also go for Deryssa? She hadn’t originated in his mind but had arrived via the Scarecrow Aspect.

Nevertheless Deryssa existed here now. Ruin didn’t want to leave his universe, but perhaps he could find a way to help her reclaim her family’s rightful place and return their power. What had happened to her and the Val’dor family was unfair, and he sympathized with her. If he could fill that Band of Authority with the knowledge in the other spires, recreate her body in the real world, and somehow transfer the band back to her she could reclaim her life and he could happily ignore the Outerverse.

“Okay, thanks,” Ruin said. “I’m going to level to fifty right now.”

Ruin opened the mobile merchant and found the leveling tokens. He already received the best price because of his Class so he didn’t need to switch Towers.

Some quick math made it apparent that it took five times more experience to level here. Or maybe it was the same experience as the Material Realm but the Destruction Needles used as currency here only bought one fifth of an experience point. Either way, Ruin’s hope that he’d have a lot of currency left quickly disappeared. Thankfully, he gained a one percent discount for every ten million DeN that he used.

The discount took purchasing the fifty levels from over one hundred ten million to just over ninety-nine million. Ruin considered not leveling to fifty so he could keep more of money. Greed was a poor excuse when balanced with his life though. He had multiple buffs that directly correlated to his level. He owed it to himself and those that cared about him to maximize his level. It turned out, he could only afford fifty of them.

Ruin made the purchase and viewed his new Destruction Needle count.

DeN: 3,261,505

A hundred million DeN disappeared with a single confirmation, and fifty leveling tokens appeared in his Inventory. He’d need to decide how to spend those later.

Ruin closed the display, and a mass of Notifications appeared. They were all similar and he studied the last one.

Ding!

The shadows have rewarded you, Ruin Val’dor. The darkness grants you level 50!

When Ruin dismissed it, another Notification replaced it but this one flickered and twisted. Remembering when this happened before, he checked his log and found it slowly moving through some complicated decision tree.

Realm: Destruction

Class: Emperor

Band of Authority: True

Spire: Remembrance

Level 50: True

Race: Saraph 

Heritage: Val’dor

Resistances: Acceptable

Will: Superb

Evolutions: Acceptable (2 of 4)

Sacred Hymns: Latent

Heaven’s Gate: Cracked (2 of 8 seals remain)

Evaluating…

Calculating…

Pruning…

Unlocking…

Unique Specialization: True

Ruin’s displays stopped flickering but nothing else appeared in his log. What did two of four evolutions mean? Latent sacred hymns also made no sense. Worst of all, it referenced Heaven’s Gate, which the Last Emperor prophecy had mentioned. And it said cracked. What happened if the last two seals broke?

Ruin recalled the prophecy enshrined inside the Spire of Remembrance.

Val dor ruin, from ashes born,

the last Emperor rises, a body torn.

Wardens wake to the herald’s call,

blue runes unlock the sacred hall.

Val of fate, wielding hidden tones,

harmonies shielding this realm of bones.

Extinction’s sword through heaven’s gate,

survival depends on the Remembrance of eight.

 Knowing only two seals kept Heaven’s Gate closed gave the prophecy a foreboding air.

Ruin closed his log and another Notification immediately appeared.

Specialize your Destruction Emperor Class?

Ruin mentally acknowledged it, and the Notification disappeared, replaced by his choices for Specialization. Or choice, he corrected. The three choices Deryssa and all her ancestors had received weren’t present. Instead, he’d been given something else.

Name: Avatar of Cycles

Description: Wields the forgotten harmonies of the past to balance the present and preserve the future.