Divine Apostasy Book 7 - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The idea of asking for Lalquinrial’s help made Ruwen feel sick. “That is awful.”

“Yes,” Blapy said. “And he will wonder why I need his help. It shows vulnerability, which is never good to reveal to a predator.”

They sat in silence for ten seconds, and Ruwen offered his last idea. “Can you dissolve the Pact?”

Blapy raised her eyebrows. “I wondered if you’d think of that. Yes, I can. But as bad as the surrounding chaos seems, it is nothing compared to the massive destruction and suffering the deities caused before the Pact stopped them. The world would fall off a cliff and directly into an apocalypse.”

“So, our options are to trigger a catastrophe on Grave, reveal your weakness to Lalquinrial and likely make a deal we both hate, my death, or transition from Gem to Divine and pray that gives me the power to expel the explosion without killing anyone, including myself.”

“That’s an excellent summary,” Blapy said. She rubbed her temples. “The amount of trouble Inventory storage has caused me is something I never dreamed possible. It’s the bane of my existence and it might very well cause the destruction of our Universe.”

Ruwen snapped his fingers. “Tarot gave Sift a reading, and it sounded like Hamma and Lylan had found some trouble. Are they okay?”

Blapy scowled. “I hate that golem.”

“You sound like Sift.”

“Now I know we’re all doomed,” Blapy muttered. She focused on Ruwen. “Speaking of that troublemaker, you should go help now.”

Ruwen got to his knees and slowly stood. “I really am sorry.”

Blapy looked up at him. “I know you are.”

“What about Hamma and Lylan?”

Blapy shrugged. “The two of them are moping around in the Pyramid.”

That didn’t sound like Hamma or Lylan. “Are they okay?”

Blapy tilted her head. “Are any of you ever okay?”

The Savage Seven strutted from their positions around the chamber and gathered around Blapy. She shook her head a final time, as if in disapproval, and disappeared along with the chickens.

Ruwen activated Glow in the sudden darkness and pulled himself out from under the pumice dust. A small part of his orange belt lay in the mound, and he placed it in his Inventory. Destroying his formal Clan attire would probably get him in trouble with the Founders, but future Ruwen could deal with that.

Dressing in the dark clothes of the Black Pyramid, Ruwen crawled into the only exit. A shaft sloped gently downward from the small chamber, and he laid on his stomach in the cramped tunnel. The shaft spanned two feet and stood three high, and he forced down a wave of claustrophobia.

Ruwen used Stone Echo and Survey to determine his location in relation to Sift. He also wanted to make sure the tunnel didn’t narrow any further and cause him to become stuck headfirst, an outcome that gave him anxiety.

Stone Echo created a sphere five hundred feet in every direction and Survey displayed the results in Ruwen’s vision. He had become accustomed to the Spirit version of Stone Echo which could reach as far as he desired. After reaching level fifty-eight, he had accumulated thirty-six Ability Points, and he considered adding some to Stone Echo now. Each point would increase the radius of the sphere by five hundred feet.

Ruwen studied Survey’s output, and found he lay only twenty feet below the surface, and the tunnel didn’t waver in width or direction. Everything around him consisted of the soft pumice. It looked like someone had shot an arrow from the small chamber he’d awoken in to somewhere below the surface.

Understanding hit Ruwen, and he rested his forehead against the tunnel floor. The chamber didn’t mark a starting point, but the ending one. His body had created this tunnel through the pumice as the explosion forced him away with Divine level blast. The tunnel wouldn’t become too narrow for him because he’d created it to begin with.

In the near future, Ruwen might need to use additional ability points on Stone Echo if he couldn’t heal his Spiritual pathways. For now, knowing the tunnel wouldn’t narrow any further and the surrounding rock consisted of pumice calmed his fears enough to leave Stone Echo in its current state.

Ruwen didn’t know how far the explosion had forced him through the rock. Crawling down this tunnel would not be very efficient. Remembering the tunnels he’d traveled in while touring the terium mine outside of Deepwell, reminded him of something that should be faster: an air sled.

Casting Worker Wagon for two hundred-fifty Mana would be ideal, but Ruwen couldn’t control the wagon’s size and it wouldn’t fit in this tunnel. Instead, he turned to his standby Shed, but realized he only had the power to manipulate the size when using the Spirit based spell. The Mana based one came in a standard ten-by-ten-by-ten-foot cube. Only the location of doors and windows could be altered.

This situation highlighted how dependent Ruwen had become on his Spirit during the eighteen months he’d been gone. He crawled forward, not wanting to waste any more time, and studied his spells and abilities for something to speed his movement.

The level eight Worker spell Climb would create a hundred feet of magical rope. With extra Energy, Ruwen could even propel things down the rope, but he didn’t see how to make a good sled from it. The level twelve Commander spell Move On provided another possibility, but it generated five hundred square feet of surface area, far too much for him to manage in this tight shaft.

Ruwen had traveled two hundred feet, and Survey continued to show the same straight line as the tunnel moved downward with no changes. How far had the explosion thrown him?

Dig or Melt would work, but didn’t seem much faster than crawling. Ruwen didn’t find any good solutions in his spells and abilities, so he glanced through his Inventory.

Only one set of items triggered an idea, and Ruwen wondered if using them would be wise. But he couldn’t hear anything or sense any heartbeats, which meant Sift and the Adepts must be a significant distance away. Crawling might take too long to reach them. Blapy had made it sound like Sift had things under control, but Ruwen didn’t really trust her judgement on such things.

Ruwen dropped three items onto the floor in front of his face. Two of them looked the same, silver squares about the size of his palm. They reflected the light of Glow, creating rainbows across their surface. The third item was a hand sized bottle containing a black liquid. He recalled their descriptions.

Name: Rock Centipede Scales

Quality: Uncommon

Durability: 50 of 50

Weight: 5.0 lbs.

Description: Alchemy component. Very clean.

Name: Lubrication Potion

Quality: Uncommon

Area: 3x3 feet

Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Effect: Friction reduced by 99%.

Description: A black liquid that smells like sulfur. Extraordinarily slippery and resistant to water. Removal requires flames or an alcohol-based solvent.

The scales had come from Ruwen’s first fights in the Black Pyramid. He’d killed the centipedes using Scrub, cleaning them all to death. The lubrication potion had come from the loot they’d take from the Plague Siren Simandreial’s lair in the Spirit Realm.

Using the level one Worker spell Mend Tool, Ruwen spent twenty-five Mana and three seconds of cast time to attach one scale to his left shoe. Not wanting to attach the second scale to his bare hand, he retrieved the fragment of his orange belt, wrapped it around his right hand, and attached the second scale to the belt.

Ruwen had originally wanted to create an air sled, but the tight space had made that impossible. Since the shaft went downhill, he felt dropping the air part and just using the sled was a clever idea. With the lubrication from the potion, he hoped to make quicker progress than crawling. He figured he might need to use his Void Band to propel himself, which is why he left his left hand free.

Carefully removing the waxy substance sealing the bottle’s lid, Ruwen gently opened the potion. The stench of sulfur so close to his face made him gag, but he didn’t spill any of the liquid. Rolling onto his back, he brought his foot forward as much as he could in the tight space.

Slowly, Ruwen tipped the bottle until the liquid dripped onto the centipede scale. When the scale had turned completely black, he moved his right hand over his stomach and repeated the process.

Ruwen finished coating the second scale, and delicately turned his body, resting his weight on his elbow and knee and keeping the scales from touching anything. As he turned, a small drop of black liquid rolled downward from the lip of the potion bottle. It touched his thumb, sliding between his skin and the bottle.

The bottle slid away from the pressure of Ruwen’s thumb, and out of his grasp. Instinctively, he snatched the bottle with his other hand, not wanting it to strike the floor and break.

Instead of grabbing the bottle, however, the centipede scale Ruwen had attached to his right hand smashed the glass, spraying his face, chest, and the surrounding rock in lubricating potion.

Immediately, Ruwen slid down the shaft. He blinked the potion out of his eyes and tried to get the scales under his body. It required all his Peak Diamond Strength and Dexterity to get the scales balanced under his body.

In seconds, gravity had accelerated Ruwen at a pace faster than running, and the speed only kept increasing.

The lubrication potion, true to its name, created a surface so slick, even the air seemed to slide around Ruwen’s potion covered head, and he hurtled downward.

The sameness of the shaft made Ruwen’s speed hard to determine, but his map displayed his velocity as Survey displayed his route. After a minute, his speed leveled out to just under three hundred miles per hour, and he considered using his Void Band to slow his descent. He resisted the urge to slow down, worrying any new variables might cause a crash in the tight space.

Ruwen sensed a mass of sounds and heartbeats, and Survey displayed what he already knew. He had finally returned to the original chamber.