Divine Apostasy Book 7 - Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Sift started forward to help, but Ruwen had expected that, and already had his free hand behind his back. He signaled Sift in Shade Speak. Stop. Okay. Thanks.

Sift stopped, as Dusk frowned. “This is foolish.”

“With all due respect, Founder” Ruwen said. “I’ve been far more foolish.”

“What are you thinking?” Dusk asked in disbelief.

Ruwen kept his fist extended. “The Shadow oath I took triggers when I become a Master. You wanted to avoid this by removing my Step knowledge, preventing me from advancing. I’m just going to skip Master all together.”

“So you skipped Grandmaster?” Dusk asked.

Ruwen shrugged. “The only Grandmasters I’ve seen are Madda and Padda. First, I consider them friends, and don’t want to force them into fighting me. Second, there are no Grandmasters here for the hidden forms.”

“You are so sure?” Dusk asked.

“Yes,” Ruwen responded simply. “At least not nearby. Only the gods can hide from me now.”

“As you wish,” Dusk said. “With the soul stone costs, it will take at least three months to summon all the Clan.”

“Wait, what?”

“Challenging a Founder is historic and requires the entire Clan.”

The last thing Ruwen wanted to do was wait here another three months. “Do I need to stay here the whole time?”

“You are in the Master’s trial,” Dusk said. “Leaving before it ends is automatic failure.”

Ruwen kept his fist out and steady. “Are there any quicker options?”

“Now you want to explore options?”

The comment annoyed Ruwen. “Don’t think I haven’t thought this through, Founder. I don’t know the technicalities of your ceremonies, that is all. Is there a quicker option?”

Dusk nodded. “You can face those you’ve wronged in a Step match.”

“So three matches,” Ruwen said. He nodded at Mist and Thorn. “One with each Founder?”

Dusk shook her head. “No, Adept. One match. With all those you’ve wronged. You would face all three of us at once.”

“Okay,” Ruwen said.

Dusk frowned in confusion. “Are you serious? Instead of waiting three months and facing one impossible opponent, you wish to face three immediately?”

“I’m in a hurry.”

Mist and Thorn stepped forward.

Thorn spoke softly. “Do not mock us, Adept.”

Ruwen shook his head. “On the contrary. If you had any idea how long and hard I’ve trained, it would flatter you.”

“You are barely seventeen,” Mist said. “I have spent longer arranging rocks.”

“Time is complicated, and my training unconventional,” Ruwen said.

Thorn spoke quietly. “Your Steps are flawless, and your comprehension of balance, now that you’ve taken the seventh step, matches our own. You are worthy to challenge us. Wait the three months and give yourself a chance to succeed.”

Ruwen nodded at Thorn. Her words confirmed what he’d guessed. Despite her issues with his training methods, she wanted to help him. He thought seriously for five seconds, balancing his preparation for this fight with the problems back home, and the possible trouble Hamma and Lylan had found.

“If I fight the three of you now,” Ruwen asked. “What happens to my rank?”

Dusk turned to Mist and then Thorn, and Ruwen wondered if they had some type of method to speak to each other mentally.

After another moment, Dusk faced Ruwen. “Technically, the match is not a challenge for advancement, so if you managed to succeed, you would not gain the rank of Founder. However, we think it appropriate that such a display of skill merits recognition, despite the forum for its display. If you triumph, you will earn the rank of Grandmaster, and be recognized as such for both Bamboo and Viper forms. Shadow Grandmasters require a different type of confirmation, and you will need to demonstrate that at another time to gain advancement.”

Ruwen kept his fist extended and bowed slightly from his hips. He knew the Founders had added this reward to allow his plan to succeed. If he wanted to avoid the rank of Master, he needed to transition from Adept to either Grandmaster or Founder to evade the punishment for breaking the Shadow oath.

Ruwen remembered his fight with Phoenix in the Spirit Realm. He had needed to prove his innocence there as well, and it hadn’t required Ruwen to win, only survive. “What are the match details? How is success measured?”

“Soul magic is allowed,” Mist said. “Spirit based or any other type of magic is forbidden. No potions or enhancers are allowed.”

“You are given an amulet of guilt,” Thorn said. “Each of us will hold an amulet of innocence. They must always remain visible. The match is over when either you have gained all three amulets from us, or any of us obtains your amulet.”

Ruwen hid his disappointment. This match would be far harder than his one in the Spirit Realm because he needed to do more than survive. “If I acquire an amulet of innocence, does that Founder remain to fight?”

“Yes,” Dusk said. “We will always outnumber you three to one. Your plan is clever and has merit. Wait the three months. Succeeding against one of us is possible, but winning against us all would take a miracle.”

Ruwen considered the situation. The match’s constraints against magic and his damaged pathways and meridians, meant parts of his original preparations wouldn’t work. For instance, he couldn’t summon Overlord for help, or any type of Minion. He couldn’t use his Void Band in any fashion, and no buffs or spells. The loss of Blink was especially painful as he’d counted on that to counter any Shadow Stepping he might encounter.

Despite these losses, Ruwen kept three powerful advantages. He had trained extensively against Overlord and his Minions, endlessly sparring Grandmaster level opponents. Ruwen’s Perception, coupled with his peak Diamond body, gave him an almost complete picture of his surroundings and opponents’ intentions. Those intentions fed into his strongest ability, Probability Waves, which had allowed him to survive an assault from a literal god.

Ruwen had used Overlord’s Blinking obsession to practice against an opponent who could Shadow Step. He had integrated this experience into his Probability Wave training and felt confident he could predict its use. Not being able to Blink or Shadow Step would hinder him, but how much depended on the Founders’ ability to fight as a team.

Still, all things considered, Ruwen didn’t think he’d need a miracle to succeed. Perhaps a little luck though, which made him consider Tarot, and the Misfortune Golem’s impact on Ruwen’s life. It was hard to know how many of the problems he’d encountered had come from Tarot’s karmic imbalance, when Ruwen’s life already seemed like one extended disaster after another.

The tiny golem had saved Ruwen’s life after the Infernal Ring explosion. Maybe Blapy would have found an excuse to save him anyway, but the fact remained, Tarot had arrived to take any blame for Blapy’s actions.

That made Ruwen wonder if Blapy could have planned that. Could she have planted Tarot in Ruwen’s path? He stopped that line of thinking, scolding himself for getting distracted when he had such an important decision to make. Still, getting rid of Tarot, even with the slight tilt toward bad luck, seemed unwise.

That left the reason for the rush. Kysandra had warned Ruwen in the Black Pyramid’s Blood Gate, that the situation at home had gotten bad. Bad for a lot of people, not just Big D and Bliz. She had talked about an impending civil war that might undo everything they’d sacrificed to restore Uru’s Third Temple, and worse, lead to the destruction of the entire country.

Kysandra had wanted Ruwen to come home immediately. Instead, he had spent a few days in the Infernal Realm, more time in the Third Secret, and almost a week here. Time flowed differently on each planet, so he didn’t know for sure how long his two-week detour had taken back on Grave.

What Ruwen did know, was Kysandra had looked worried, and he knew it took a lot to worry that woman. She had wanted him to come immediately, and instead, two weeks had likely passed. It might already be too late to fix the issues back home.

Then there was Tarot’s fortune for Sift that implied Lylan and Hamma were in trouble. Ruwen had told Sift Lylan and Hamma could take care of themselves, and they didn’t need help. He believed that, but he also worried. How many times had he needed his friends’ help in the past two years? A lot. And while he might have succeeded with some of it on his own, having his friends around made everything better.

And Ruwen had to admit, he really missed Hamma.

Not just Hamma. The hole Rami left within him by her absence created a constant ache. He also desperately wondered how much progress Fractal had made, and if the little crystal was okay. Ruwen couldn’t help but feel he’d failed Fractal by his absence for the last year and a half.

Ruwen prayed his parents had returned home, and that Tremine, Bliz, and Big D hadn’t suffered because of Ruwen or his disappearance.

When Ruwen thought about it, there were a ton of reasons to hurry back home. Waiting three months felt irresponsible and dangerous to him.

More irresponsible and dangerous than fighting the three Founders of his Step Clan?

The Founders had waited patiently while Ruwen worked through his thoughts. Dusk’s fist remained inches from Ruwen’s.

Gently, Ruwen moved his fist forward until it touched Dusk’s. “I am worthy to instruct others in the most advanced Bamboo and Viper Steps and have earned the rank of Grandmaster. I respectfully request a match to prove it.”