Divine Apostasy Book 7 - Chapter 55

Chapter 55

The next morning Ruwen led the Adepts into the bamboo forest behind the village. He had spent the night exploring the hills and studying the creatures that inhabited the trees. Well, grass technically, but the bamboo grew so tall it was hard to think of it as anything but trees.

Ruwen stopped after thirty minutes of hiking. The bamboo gently shifted in the wind far above, and the sound reminded him of ocean waves. It was difficult to enjoy however as a war took place above them.

The combatants consisted of a long tailed, furry, clawed creature and a type of living bamboo with stubby leaf appendages. Both species stood less than four feet tall, and while the furry ones had a lot of speed, the bamboo creatures used this against them, and tossed them through the bamboo.

Just like with the Coral Vipers, Ruwen could see the foundation for many of the Bamboo Step forms in the bamboo creatures’ movements. He now knew with confidence that the Bamboo Viper Steps had originated from observing these groups.

“What are they fighting over?” Nymthus asked, pointing to the combat in the trees fifty feet away.

“I can’t tell,” Ruwen answered. “But they ignored me all night.”

Sift studied the chaos above. “I’m more worried about bathrooms. I would guess we’re in some danger down here.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we’re not staying down here then,” Ruwen replied. “This is where we head up.”

“What’s up there?” Sift asked.

Ruwen tapped the bamboo stalk on his right. It had a dull, hollow sound. He rapped on the bamboo to his left. Once again it sounded hollow, but the sound had a higher pitch.

Ruwen raised his voice so all the Adepts could hear him over the distant fighting. “It took me awhile to notice, but there is a small section of the forest that none of these creatures enter. When I investigated—” He struck the bamboo to the left, generating the odd sound again. “I realized this isn’t actually bamboo.”

Prythus ran a hand down the stalk. “It looks identical.”

“A masterful illusion,” Ruwen said. “The second hidden trial waits above.”

The Adepts all looked up, including Echo.

Ruwen let them study the distant tops, a hundred feet above. After a few seconds he explained the trial. “What differs between striking a sparring partner and an enemy?”

“Intent,” Echo whispered, and immediately bit her lip at letting the thought escape her mouth.

“Thank you, Echo,” Ruwen said. “Intent,” he repeated for everyone else since none of the Adepts had heard it. “An excellent answer.”

Echo did her best to not look pleased.

Ruwen continued. “Intention is a concept. How do we make it concrete?”

“How hard we strike,” Prythus said.

“Exactly,” Ruwen replied. “The force we apply.”

Ruwen paused to let that stew for a second. “We move through the Steps with,” he glanced at Echo, “intent. Your Sisens have taught you the proper angles to strike, the correct footing, the precise positions to make your intention real.”

Ruwen looked up at the sky, barely visible through the dense fake-bamboo. “There is a hidden balance you have not learned. A balance within the balance. In a moment, I will demonstrate how this balance occurs inside the forms, and how, taken together, balance the Bamboo and Viper Steps.”

The Adepts stared at Ruwen in silence.

“The lessons of this hidden pattern are many,” Ruwen said. “Alchemy teaches actions create reactions and reminds us that every movement creates a force on the universe around us. These forces stack, piling up, and without care, without balance, you fall. This hidden trial teaches mindfulness of how you move through the universe.”

Ruwen verified all the Adepts wore their Bamboo Jacket of Falling. They would need it. He could have jumped to the top of the bamboo, but such a display of power served no purpose. Instead, he grabbed two nearby stalks and placed a foot on each. Keeping even pressure against each stalk with his feet, he climbed.

The Adepts followed. When they reached the top Ruwen balanced on his stalk. He pointed to a spot thirty feet away. “The starting location is a small platform where a fake bamboo stalk fans outward. Take a moment to appreciate the superb crafting of this trial. Each stalk of bamboo is located where the correctly performed Steps require them. Not only that, many stalks get reused multiple times, and a clever spring mechanism alters the internal tension after each encounter. Stomping on the starting platform resets the trial. A true marvel.”

With that, Ruwen strode toward the platform, moving across the bamboo tops like they were a road. He reached the platform and faced the Adepts, who looked like ground squirrels poking their heads above the dirt. He gave the platform a gentle stomp, and the faint vibration of the trial resetting traveled through his feet.

The wind’s strength bent the real bamboo, causing it to sway. The fake bamboo of the trial remained still, another clue that this area differed from the others. Ruwen hated that the Clan had placed this trial so high. They could have used a platform on a small pole like he’d trained Sift on. Despite all the ways he could survive a fall, including his new jacket, he still hated the height.

The density of the bamboo hid the altitude well, but Ruwen closed his eyes anyway. That way he didn’t need to think about it at all. Then, like he’d done thousands and thousands of times, he moved through the Steps.

When Ruwen finished, he opened his eyes. The Adepts watched in awed silence. Well, except for Echo, who looked neutral, and Sift, who appeared bored.

“This trial is not as forgiving as the breathing one,” Ruwen said. “A small failure here is met with immediate consequences and your ability to recover is limited. Be prepared to fall. A lot. Your jacket will keep you safe. Sisen? Anything to add?”

Sift looked at the Adepts. “Break the forms down into groups that circle a common point. One of this trial’s lessons is focusing on the present. Thinking of a strike ten Steps away will lead to disaster. As your Bamboo Jacket of Falling has already warned you, the first step is the hardest.”

Ruwen bowed to Sift before facing the Adepts. “Let’s begin.”

After an hour, Ruwen created a hundred feet of magical rope using Climb. Then used small amounts of Energy to move the Adepts upward to the top of the forest after they fell. Which they did in almost a constant stream. Echo didn’t bother with his rope, preferring to jump a couple times to reach the top.

Learning the way Ruwen had, on a platform, would have been easier as it provided some forgiveness and allowed for small corrections. In the trial here, however, if an Adept used too much force, or too little, the bamboo bent, destroying any hope of recovering, and robbing the Adept of knowing which way they’d errored.

By the end of the day, only Echo had progressed past the fifth Step. The pace of her advancement created a cloud of anger and frustration that she didn’t try and hide. Curses accompanied the entire length of her falls, and everyone kept their distance from her, except Ruwen, who continued to offer advice after every collapse. Such emotional responses reminded him of Echo’s mother, the Plague Siren Simandreial.

As the sun descended toward the horizon, the Adepts marched back toward the village. Ruwen explained how he’d trained on a platform, and recommended they create such a structure in their schools back home.

They reached the village and found it hidden in the Quartermaster’s bamboo forest. They moved through the stalks toward the beach.

“Are you going to use your token?” Ruwen asked Sift.

Sift waved a dismissive hand. “I already gave that to Prythus.”

“Good idea.”

“Don’t bother trying.”

“What?”

“None of them will take your tokens. They all think you’re a god or something. Well, Echo doesn’t. She’d probably take it.”

Ruwen frowned. “I think I’d rather keep it then. Why do they think that?”

Sift shrugged. “Probably because of your Steps and what you did on the island. You’re not alone. I had to threaten Prythus with a god curse if he didn’t take my token.”

“Wait, so you let him think you’re a god and threatened to curse him?”

“How else would I get rid of the token?”

“Why didn’t you just drop it in the sand?”

Sift waved a finger. “I did. And a very angry Quartermaster gave it back to me ten minutes later. I upset a Quartermaster exactly one time in my life. I’m not risking faulty gear from a furious Quartermaster ever again. Cloak of Invisibility, Fluffy says. Walk right through the Whipping Vines, Fluffy says.” Sift turned to Ruwen and held up three fingers. “Three weeks before I could sit down without pain.”

Sift shook his head and continued. “Nope. God curse it is.”

“You’re terrible.”

“No, I’m practical, and you’re stuck with a token.”

“Shoot, that sucks,” Ruwen muttered. As the sound of the surf grew louder, he continued. “You shouldn’t let people think you’re a god.”

“Blasphemy. I’d make a better god than most of the ones I’ve met. I’d use my Divine power to make Spirit Sweets for my followers.” Sift closed his eyes. “It would fall from the heavens like delicious rain.”

Ruwen had created a cake for Sift using one of Uru’s Architect Role recipes while traveling back home in Shelly and Sift had said he’d finally understood the point of Divine power. He’d been trying to come up with a proper name ever since: Core Cake, Divine Dessert, and now, Spirit Sweets.

“I’ve seen worse goals from the current gods,” Ruwen admitted. “But you still shouldn’t threaten people. More cupcakes, less curses.”

“You do god your way, I’ll do me.”

“Fair enough,” Ruwen said as he stepped into the warm ocean water.

The god discussion reminded Ruwen of his need to transition to Divine and his wish to bring his friends along as well. He smiled, picturing Sift streaking across the sky, probably literally, dropping pastries on his followers. Not a bad place to live, Ruwen thought.

The bamboo forest disappeared as the Quartermaster packed up his shop. The Founders and Addas had already arrived on the beach and Padda held an armful of brown belts.

Like the day before, the Adepts meditated as the sun sank, and just as before, they all remained after it had set. One by one the Adepts approached the Founders, spoke briefly with them, and received their brown belt. Ruwen felt a little embarrassed to have caused such a disruption in the Founders’ traditional process, but not enough to change his path.

Thorn remained silent when Ruwen approached and returned his bow after a brief pause.

“No one has ever successfully completed the Trial of Force on their first attempt,” Dusk said.

“I failed for months, before learning its lessons,” Ruwen replied.

Thorn stiffened, the change so slight Ruwen doubted anyone without Diamond Perception would have noticed. He faced her and bowed. “One of the lessons. I have obviously not learned them all.”

Thorn didn’t respond and Ruwen turned his attention back to Dusk. “I meant only that I failed thousands of times.”

Dusk nodded at the Adepts behind Ruwen. “I wonder how such a forceful step is balanced.”

Ruwen thought back to Sift’s words to the Adepts that morning. “The balance of the present must also balance the past and future. It is a difficult thing to judge.”

“Choices are like Steps,” Dusk replied. “Their impact, right or wrong, is not always apparent.”

Ruwen bowed. “I take every choice seriously.”

Dusk nodded to Padda, and he handed her the last brown belt. She faced Ruwen and presented him the belt and relic token. “Time will tell if serious is enough.”