Divine Apostasy Book 9 - Chapter 5

[Author’s Note: I have made significant changes to the storyline and this chapter is part of the new direction. I am reposting this chapter with the current changes and marking the previous chapter as (OLD). Sorry for the confusion as I work through the best way to tell the story. Thank you.]

Chapter 5

Ruwen sat atop a chunk of terium the size of a house eagerly Harvesting it for Spirit and glanced around the hollowed-out mountain for the fifth time. Though he couldn’t see it, Survey displayed the ceiling, which started six thousand feet above him. Survey also revealed the tens of thousands of feet below his current perch and detailed the epic amount of terium placed here by Fractal as he expanded deeper and farther into Grave. Ruwen had taken up a place on the mountain’s eastern interior wall and the darkness hid the other walls, which were miles distant.

The terium took too long to break down, so the Dungeon Keeper had hollowed-out many of the surrounding mountains near New Eiru and used them as a dumping ground. Ruwen had drawn a fifty-foot-by-fifty-foot gate rune door to Miranda’s Divine Realm, and it gave off a faint glow, only visible because of the otherwise complete darkness.

Overlord, in his Fallen Lord Minion, wielded a Crazor four hundred feet behind Ruwen, the bursts of red light throwing harsh shadows on the wall Ruwen faced. Uruziel, in her Risen Queen Minion, moved about and used his Gravity Role to launch chunks of terium through the gate rune portal. Since he couldn’t use his Void Band in Miranda’s Realm, he needed to send the Spirit he required through first.

Just under an hour had passed since Ruwen had left Sift, which gave him plenty of time. The next hour here would translate into thirty years inside Miranda’s Divine Realm, and he doubted he could last a fraction of that time anyway. As focused and driven as he’d let himself become, even he had limits, and this outing would test them.

Rami’s voice came over their mental link. I’ll arrive at the lair in about five minutes.

No rush.

It thrilled Ruwen that Rami wanted to go. Even with Overlord and Uruziel, Ruwen knew he would get lonely, and having Rami there would help a lot. She wanted to do the indexing she had failed to do the last time they’d visited that Realm, and she also needed time to study Pen’s journals.

“We have five more minutes,” Ruwen said loudly.

Overlord and Uruziel paused for a second before carrying on with their work. It gave Ruwen a few minutes to finally talk with Lir.

Lir, do you have a few minutes to talk?

Of course.

Great. I guess it makes sense, but it still surprised me when I didn’t get any experience or notifications or anything after killing those gods.

I no longer have direct access to your body. You have not noticed yet, but you no longer Regenerate Health or Mana either.

Ruwen hadn’t noticed that. During the fight with the deities Lir had arrived at the battlefield and linked Ruwen to the temple Mana banks directly.

You can still talk with me, though?

When the goddess automated the Ascendancy process, she linked me to the Architect Role you now possess.

Can you still speak with Uru?

Only while she remains inside the country.

Ruwen realized this constant connection with Lir was another thing Uru had lost.

I liked getting notifications and seeing my progress reflected in my displays.

I could attempt to estimate your development.

Thanks, Lir, but it wouldn’t be the same.

I planned to wait until our top ten issues meeting, but this seems like an appropriate time to discuss an observation that might prove relevant.

I’d love to hear it.

When you became an apostate, ninety-three percent of the automated processes implanted when you Ascended failed. The method responsible for populating your log still functioned, except for the duration of the energy disturbance that struck you in Miranda’s Divine Realm.

Ruwen watched a slab of terium barely smaller than the gate rune door hurdle through the air and through the doorway. Uruziel had perfect control over the Gravity Role and her expertise was on full display.

You mentioned that to me when I first got back. You said my log differed from your version, and that you didn’t have any of those weird entries.

Correct. Which brings me to the basis for my hypothesis. The template applied during Ascendancy which provides an improved interface is not dependent on Ascendancy. That is, the template could be applied at any time to increase the interactions and clarity with environmental femites.

Is that why my interface remains even though you can’t accurately update it anymore?

Precisely. It made me wonder where the additional log entries came from, and one possibility is another interface. One that briefly became visible when the power surge occurred.

Ruwen thought back to his newly leveled Architect Role and how a new tab had appeared with options related to displays.

How would we test that? Ruwen asked.

With your permission, I will remove the femite template you received during your Ascendancy.

Ruwen’s current interface might not be as useful as before, but it still worked well with things like Survey and Stone Echo.

Can you put it back if nothing else appears?

Yes.

Then go ahead.

A tingling sensation at the base of Ruwen’s neck made him want to hunch his shoulders, and his vision glitched, like he’d taken a long blink.

“Uru, have mercy,” Ruwen whispered. Then to Lir he added, Did you do your thing? Because something is still here.

May I look?

Sure, come on over.

Pressure filled Ruwen’s head like he’d gotten congested, and then immediately disappeared. Screens and displays flashed open and closed too fast for him to comprehend. He considered activating Last Breath to see what Lir was doing but decided not to add any variables to Lir’s analysis.

The flashing stopped, leaving Ruwen’s vision completely clear. He’d always had a display and the sudden lack of one made him uneasy. A stab of fear struck him as he realized his map had disappeared along with the arrow pointing toward Lylan.

As soon as Ruwen thought of a map, one appeared, taking a small area in the top right of his vision. The arrow remained and he sighed in relief. With another thought he dismissed the map, and his vision once again remained free of any displays. Not completely free as a faint silver light glowed at the bottom of his vision.

Ruwen focused on the dim glow and the mass of screens appeared. He immediately wished his vision clear, and they all disappeared.

Lir spoke again, his voice closer somehow. I have never seen such a template and I do not recognize twenty-four percent of the items listed.

When that light hit me, it upgraded my Architect Role and more options appeared. Can you look at that as well?

While I can access some Roles, I lack the ability to view any settings or system variables.

Ruwen reached out to Rami. Can you help Lir see what happened to my Architect Role.

Sure, Rami responded.

Not even a second passed and Lir responded. Your Architect Role contains a new tree labeled Framework which contains three types of templates: default, base, and custom. Only the custom template, which matches your displays exactly, appears active.

That’s a huge relief.

Ruwen wanted to keep the knowledge of soul leveling and whatever chakras represented hidden. Once word got out those things could level, it wouldn’t take long for the gods to figure out how to advance. Those deities might quickly reach power levels capable of stopping him from finishing his tasks.

Have you ever heard of dimensional rifts, legacy shards, or paragon jewels, Ruwen asked. He had no idea what they were, but the upgrade had apparently caused those three things to spawn in the universe.

I have no information on those items.

Rami’s voice filled Ruwen’s mind. I’m headed to the lair now.

Okay, I’ll be there shortly, Ruwen responded and then focused on Lir. Thanks, Lir. Can you open a portal to my lair please. We’ll talk again when I return.

Of course.

Ruwen shifted his mental focus to Overlord and Uruziel. It’s time to go. Thanks for the awesome work here.

Uruziel tossed a final wedge-shaped chunk of terium the size of three wagons through the gate rune door before the Risen Queen Minion dissipated. Overlord’s minion disappeared as well, and Ruwen used an enhanced version of Melt to destroy the gate runes and door.

Ruwen entered the portal Lir created and stepped onto a pile of crystals. Rami climbed behind his ear and without wasting any more time he strode to the nearest wall and created a gate rune door to Miranda’s Divine Realm. He ran his right thumb against the Apocalypse Band, excited to study the sword and broken amulet the ring contained.

Around an hour remained before Ruwen needed to return to Sift and Hamma. That gave him thirty years to increase his power, gain some critical experience wielding that power, and gain some understanding about the changes to his Architect Role. From his experience on the far side of the Universe he didn’t think he’d last the full thirty years but having that much time relieved some of the urgency he felt.

Architect Starfield? Lir asked.

Ruwen stopped, the gate rune door to Miranda’s Realm two feet away. Lir very rarely initiated conversations, always waiting until Ruwen made contact to address any concerns. Yes, Lir?

I would like to correct an earlier statement. When I asserted I could only estimate your displayed values and attributes, I had not yet viewed and processed the information contained in the new displays revealed during the upgrade of your Architect Role.

Hope bloomed in Ruwen’s thoughts. And?

Combining the information in these new displays with your previous values, I can calculate eighty-eight percent of the previous values with ninety-seven percent confidence.

That’s fantastic!

There is a significant condition that requires a complete understanding between us. I recommend we invite Rami into this discussion to prevent any misunderstandings.

That put a damper on Ruwen’s excitement, wondering what could concern the Temple. Rami, Lir might have a solution for my displays, but wants you there to make sure I understand.

Hey, Lir, Rami said. What’s up?

Have you seen Architect Starfield’s new displays? Lir asked Rami.

New displays? No. One second.

Once again displays flashed open and closed in Ruwen’s vision, too fast to even comprehend the display’s topic.

Oh my, Rami said. Those contain a stunning amount of new information.

Ruwen’s curiosity flared. Like what?

We can discuss the displays in detail if you wish, Lir responded, but it will not address the original concern.

That was Lir’s nice way of saying stay focused. Right, that can wait. Let’s talk about your original concern.

Lir summarized for Rami. Architect Starfield’s Divine Apostasy removed my standard methods for monitoring his state and updating the appropriate display. The Architect expressed a desire to regain this functionality, and I informed him only estimates could be provided.

Rami spoke. Until you saw the new displays contained values as a percentage of theoretical maximum.

Exactly, Lir replied. It allows for a far more accurate calculation and keeps results within one standard deviation.

Ruwen frowned as he listened to the explanation. Why had it taken Lir almost a minute to bring up this new information. As fast as Lir thought and processed information, he should have realized this immediately, not almost a full minute later. In fact, he hadn’t spoken until Ruwen had almost stepped through the portal and disappeared from contact.

Lir didn’t continue and after a moment Rami spoke. Can you modify the existing methods with these new variables and let them manage Ruwen’s display?

Not the existing methods, Lir replied. The outflow and absorption of Spirit, Essence, and Soul Energy while challenging might be manageable, but with Core Velocity changing the speed and power of every spell combining with unknown effects such as Harmony, angelic wings that act as weapons, and the Architect Role itself, a more sophisticated solution is required.

Again, Lir remained quiet instead of explaining and it worried Ruwen.

Are you okay, Lir? Ruwen asked.

Thank you for asking, Architect. No, I am not okay. I believe I am experiencing my first panic attack.