Divine Apostasy Book 7 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ruwen stepped out of the tent for the first time, and his skin warmed from the red-tinged sun shining through a blanket of white clouds. Their tent sat at the edge of a courtyard a hundred feet long. In the center of the open area stood a thick pillar fifteen-foot high.

Ruwen strode to the twelve-sided pillar and slowly walked around it. The roughly hewn granite had five smooth circles in a line down the center of each side. Every circle contained a gate rune, making each side a portal to another world. He memorized them all, assuming they led to all the worlds the Adepts had arrived from.

Food vendors and merchants lined the perimeter and Sift already stood next to the closest dessert cart. Everyone here wore short sleeve shirts and either shorts or summer dresses. After Fortifying to Diamond, Ruwen didn’t care about the weather much anymore. He could regulate the temperature of his body and his surroundings if things became uncomfortable.

Other than the clothing and red sun, Ruwen could have stood in a small village outside Deepwell. He turned again, scanning the horizon, and found the tower all the Adepts had spoken of.

Sift, a donut in each hand, joined Ruwen and they strode quickly out of town, the members of Rung Four following. It didn’t take long for the tower to come into complete view.

The tower looked just like Sift had described it. A smooth windowless cylinder climbing hundreds of feet into the air. Ruwen hadn’t know if the sky here was whitish-grey naturally or if it just had a lot of clouds. Now he knew it was clouds as they engulfed the tower at three hundred feet.

The tower sat minutes from the outskirts of the town. A field of grass surrounded the tower and Sift had released Shelly here earlier in the week. The grass stood about mid-calf and had a blue tinge, surrounding the tower in a thousand foot circle. Small flowers the size of Ruwen’s thumb covered large portions of the field, poking up above the grass and giving the field a beautiful multi-colored look.

Ruwen kneeled and, using the knowledge he’d gained from the Collector Novice Manual, carefully removed both a clump of grass and a group of flowers. He opened his Void Band only long enough to drop them into his Inventory.

A new notification appeared.

Notice: A living entity has entered your Void Band. Estimated energy consumption to sustain additional life: 0.10 energy per second. You are currently consuming 0.26 energy per second. You have 10 seconds to make one of the following choices:

Choice 1: Remove the entity.

Choice 2: Select Yes, incur the energy cost, and sustain the entity’s life.

Choice 3: Select No, and the entity will perish

Remove or Yes or No

Ruwen selected Yes, and the notification disappeared. The Mobile Alchemy Lab the Black Pyramid had loaned him consumed point twenty-five Energy and the Burning Wheat he’d taken from the Mist Wraith Talker’s level consumed point zero one Energy. That brought his total Energy consumption to zero point thirty-six Energy per second. His current Energy Regen had reached two hundred and two point fifty-four Energy per second, which more than covered the cost.

“You really might be worse than Hamma,” Sift said, looking down at Ruwen.

Ruwen looked up, his face skeptical.

“Fine, but you have a problem. You take stuff from everywhere you go. Once you hit Divine, they will probably name you the God of Thieves.”

Ruwen stood. “My parents always brought me back small things when they traveled. I’m doing the same for Fractal. I’m just being a good Dungeon Keeper. Besides, the God of Thieves is better than the God of Pastries.”

Sift closed his eyes. “Imagine that. A God devoted to desserts. That is truly a way to make the Universe a better place. If I could become a god, I would fill the Universe with custard and cover it in chocolate.”

“The Universe is pretty empty. It would take you a while.” Ruwen thought about Lalquinrial and his willingness to destroy this Universe if it provided the knowledge he desired about the area and beings outside this Universe. “But to be honest, I’ve heard of worse plans.”

Sift glanced at the somber group of Rung Four behind them. “They look nervous.”

Ruwen strode forward without looking back. “Yeah. Facing your failures is always hard. Think about how difficult it is for your parents, seeing you every day.”

Sift threw a punch at Ruwen’s back, just over the kidney, aimed at nerve bundle that would paralyze Ruwen’s right leg for ten seconds. Ruwen stepped to the left and backward, allowing Sift’s punch and his body to pass. Ruwen snatched the pastry Sift held in his left hand and took another step back, holding up the donut.

Sift quickly turned and looked at the donut in Ruwen’s hand. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Stupid is your job,” Ruwen said with a laugh. He glanced at the sweet. “Gross, did you lick half the frosting off this?”

“Don’t judge me. I’m trying them different ways.”

“You act weirder every day.”

“Give me back my donut, or I’ll spend the rest of the day collecting centipedes.”

Ruwen swallowed, the taste of maple syrup strong in his mouth. He held up the donut. “Taking this is a punishment for trying to paralyze me. But because I am fair and benevolent, I’ll give you this disgusting thing back. You could say we are—”

Ruwen paused, praying Sift would say they were even.

“Yeah, we’re equal,” Sift said.

Ruwen hid his disappointment and flicked the donut to Sift.

Sift caught the donut and brushed it off as if Ruwen had made it dirty. “Wise man.” Sift faced the tower again, and they continued forward. “We should make everyone shuffle their feet through the grass. What if one of them steps on Shelly?”

Memories of Shelly slowly turning in joy as she sank into a star filled Ruwen’s thoughts. “I’m going to guess Shelly would survive that.”

“Maybe,” Sift said. He turned to Rung Four, following twenty feet behind. “Keep your eyes open for a little white turtle. I don’t want anyone to step on her.”

“Tortoise,” Ruwen said.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Ruwen replied. He glanced at his Uneven debuff and gave up for the day. “Shelly is really lucky to have you. You display great honor in how you care for her.”

Sift smiled and Ruwen’s Uneven debuff disappeared.

“It’s like every day you have a single moment of clarity,” Sift said.

Ruwen glanced at Sift, surprised by his word choice. “Clarity?”

“One of Lylan’s made-up words. It either means idiot, understanding, or I’m-about-to-stab-you. All three things happened when I told her to stop using nonsense words.”

“Right. Well, Lylan is a woman of many layers.”

Sift nodded. “Most of them sharp.”

They approached the tower entrance and slowed. The tower didn’t have a door, just an archway that led into darkness. A few seconds later, the members of Group Four arrived.

“How do you feel?” Ruwen asked them.

Prythus stood up straight and bowed. “Much better now, Sisen.”

Ruwen shook his head. “I told you not to call me that.” Ruwen pointed at Sift. “He’s the only Sisen here.”

Prythus bowed again, and Ruwen knew they wouldn’t listen. Yesterday’s all day training, the night spent trading knowledge, and this morning’s training had provided significant gains for every member in Rung Four. Ruwen and Sift had purged the most terrible habits from everyone. They’d probably made more progress in the last twenty-four hours than they’d experienced in years. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, they’d all be jumping around in joy.

“Today will be different,” Ruwen said. “I am proud of the gains you’ve made, and I’m confident that together we will master this level.”

As one, the entire group’s heartbeats steadied as Ruwen’s reassuring words smothered the fear, uncertainty, and doubt they felt. He needed to take advantage of every opportunity to work on his leadership skills. The future would force him to lead, and that required practice. Some of this felt dangerously close to manipulation, but he soothed his conscience knowing that while he might have overstated things a little, the seed of the message held truth.

“Ready?” Ruwen asked Sift.

Sift raised a fist and shouted. “Onward into the Tower of Doom!”

The group’s heart rates all increased and Ruwen shook his head. “Doom? Really?”

“Since this is a trial, I’m naming things for more of an impact.”

They entered the darkness.

“What would you name it?” Sift asked.

Ruwen shrugged and thought of the beautiful field that surrounded the tower. “Tower of Flowers. It even rhymes.”

“Ugh, that is horrible. Who wants to go into a tower of flowers?”

The darkness deepened, but light from the room they approached bled into the tunnel and kept the smooth walls and floor visible. Ruwen felt the air movement from the shifting branches before he entered the room.

Hundreds of thin branches drooped downward, their tips touching the ground. Small leaves covered the limbs and the entire tree appeared to move as the branches swayed, each one in a unique pattern. Some limbs rose off the ground, and others twisted. An arched doorway leading to stairs was visible on the other side of the tree.

The limbs’ motions appeared chaotic, but Ruwen’s brain itched, and he narrowed his eyes. Something about the movements looked familiar and a moment later, he smiled.

“What do you think?” Ruwen asked Sift.

“The movements are strange.”

Ruwen walked toward the tree. “Tell me when you see it.”

Everyone followed Ruwen. The room was only thirty feet wide, and the tree touched each side. The only way to the stairs leading up to the next level stood past this tree.

They all watched the tree for another twenty seconds, observing quietly, until Sift sighed loudly. “I see it.”

Ruwen nodded. “That took too long.”

“I know.”

Ruwen didn’t bother to wait for anyone in Rung Four to answer. While they had all made great progress, they had a long way to go before they’d internalized the Steps enough to recognize their patterns in the natural world.

The tree had already cycled through three quarters of its pattern, and Ruwen waited for it to start again. It would be more recognizable to Rung Four if they saw it from the beginning.

Ruwen marveled that something like this tree existed. It had obviously taken some sort of magic to create it. A true marriage of crafting and botany.

The cycle’s start approached Ruwen and as it passed in front of him, he stepped into the branches, performing the first Viper Step. Keeping his cadence in time with the tree’s flow, he moved through the Viper Steps. As he reached the far side, the tree had maneuvered him into the inner branches near the trunk, making it impossible to just jump out to the level two stairs. He continued around, wondering how they reached the stairs.

When Ruwen completed the final Viper Step it was the exact same location that he’d started from. The vines stopped weaving and formed a crisscross barrier behind him. A path opened up to the trunk, and he strode forward. Sliding around the trunk, he found the path continued to the level’s exit.

As soon as Ruwen stepped out of the vines, they began to weave again. Prythus entered next, and when he’d completed the test, another member of Rung Four started. The last day and a half’s practice showed it’s value as not a single person triggered the vines stun and reset.

When the last member of Rung Four stepped out of the tree limbs, the group grinned and laughed in joy. When the vines froze again and Sift came down the tunnel, the Adepts bowed to Ruwen.

Ruwen waved his hands. “No, your hard work bore this fruit.”

Sift stepped out of the vines. “Like I always say, ‘spring seeds for winter needs.’”

“That’s my saying,” Ruwen said. “And you ruined it.”

Sift shook his head. “No, mines better. It rhymes, and it fits on a pastry. Twice as better.”

“Twice as good,” Ruwen corrected.

“That, too.”

Ruwen rubbed his forehead and let it drop. “Let’s go see what level two looks like.”

They all turned toward the stairs.