Divine Apostasy Book 6 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Why is that clear?” Ruwen asked.

Overlord stabbed his finger at Ruwen’s chest, but the spinning shields blocked the half-hearted strike. “First, because if you are going to get us out of this mess,” Overlord said, “you’ll need the Architect Role to figure out where to go. Second, we already know twenty-two billion isn’t enough Spirit to power a rune door, so you need to gain more power to see if there’s a value that will work. And lastly, creating new essence recipes and Fortifying to peak Diamond both use Spirit. Spirit is the common denominator.” Overlord leaned against the railing. “But you knew all this already, which means this is about something else.”

“You know me so well,” Ruwen said.

“I don’t see the issue, which means this must be fear related.”

Ruwen sighed. “It’s a literal star. This isn’t like getting too close to a campfire. And what if I do something that makes it unstable, and I somehow destroy or ruin it? What if there are planets that rely on its heat and light?”

“Fear has created all these scenarios,” Overlord said. “There are simple answers to your fears. Stop approaching the star when you get too hot, and only Harvest enough to power the next steps. Eventually, you might learn there are planets nearby, and you can decide if you should continue. But for now, there is no reason not to start.”

“It scares me.”

“Then be careful. But eventually you need to walk this path. Delaying the inevitable out of fear is irrational and dumb.”

“Right,” Ruwen said.

Overlord pointed to a door. “You want a tour of the Citadel? Maybe walk around the fortress below?”

Ruwen shook his head. “Not today. I’m going to stop wasting time and try to Harvest a little.”

“That was the correct answer.”

“Thanks,” Ruwen said. “See you around.”

Ruwen let Last Breath dissolve, and the shed came back into focus. He checked his Spirit total, not knowing if the Aspect would power itself with Spirit or Mana.

Spirit: 21,952,147,106

Ruwen triggered Field Guardian on his Scarecrow Aspect Hood of Nightmares, concentrating on the area just outside the shed. A clone appeared, floating above the outside of the shed, and once again, he experienced the oppressive nothingness around him.

The description on the hood had said line-of-sight, but Ruwen had used Field Guardian multiple times when he couldn’t physically see the clone. That probably meant line-of-sight related to how far away the clone could manifest, not that it must remain within sight. And line-of-sight usually meant the horizon, thirty miles away.

Ruwen’s Mana hadn’t dropped, but his Spirit did by one. After learning his Architect Role used Mana first before tapping Spirit, he’d wondered if the Aspect worked the same. Now he knew it didn’t. Which made sense, since the Aspect hadn’t been made for people that used Mana.

Ruwen turned the Aspect in a slow circle, but before he’d made a single rotation, it disappeared. Confused, he created it again, but within seconds, it dissipated a second time.

Sitting in the shed, Ruwen recalled one of the Field Guardian’s restrictions.

Restriction: Clone(s) dissipate when damaged.

But that didn’t make sense. The clone didn’t need air. Could it be the cold? Ruwen created another clone outside the shed, putting it on the side away from the star. The shade there should make it even colder.

To Ruwen’s surprise, the clone remained. After thirty seconds, he moved it upward to the top of the shed. Light from the distant star bathed the burlap, and within seconds, the clone disappeared.

Something in the starlight caused damage. And that meant, even this far from the star, there might be enough energy to Harvest.

Ruwen stood in the shed and placed his feet shoulder width apart. He focused on his Core and pictured the Harvester poses in his mind. Starting with his wrists crossed at his waist in the Harvester Closed Pose, he slowly raised his hands until they were over his head, palms facing each other, in the Harvester Open Pose.

Nothing happened.

In the lair of the Plague Siren, after Ruwen had shattered the demon’s center by shoving his Core into hers, Spirit had flooded the area and been easy to collect. But the first time he’d used this pose in front of Fractal during the camping trip, he’d needed to add one more step.

Ruwen pictured a hand-sized flask from Alchemy lab, the entire contents sucked from the container, leaving it empty even from air. He placed the picture of the empty jar in his Core. From his previous experiments, an empty flask that size should affect a thousand feet.

Energy, like high-speed grains of sand, flowed into Ruwen. Within seconds, the shed wall facing the star disintegrated as the energy he Harvested ate through the shed material.

After a minute, Ruwen lowered his arms into the Harvesting Closed Pose, and looked at his Spirit total.

Spirit: 21,952,176,811

Ruwen’s Spirit total had increased by almost thirty thousand. But unlike the previous times he’d Harvested, this Spirit felt different. After a few minutes of thought, he realized it felt a lot like the very first time he’d Harvested.

Blapy had taken Ruwen away from Padda, Madda, and Sift to protect them from Ruwen’s uncontrolled initial Harvest. His weak abilities had only pulled the light and heat from the surroundings. When he compared that to his Harvesting of the Plague Siren’s Core, or the Spirit and Chaos Orbs over Stone Harbor in the Spirit Realm, he understood the difference.

Most sources of Spirit contained a somewhat balanced mixture of essences, but the star provided mostly Light essence. Unless Ruwen could find another source to Harvest, he’d have to still be careful with how he used his resources. Except for Light based magic. That he could go crazy on.

Ruwen studied the distant star, his missing wall now serving as a large window. Since he could replenish his Spirit somewhat from the star, he needed to learn how to convert that Spirit into Mana. With that in place, he could experiment with his Architect Role and still be able to cast Mana based spells if needed.

Taking twelve, size one essence rods, Ruwen touched each rod to a different Meridian, and then brought them together. The rods disappeared leaving a tiny blue orb behind.

With a mental hand, Ruwen touched the blue orb and watched his Mana bar.

Nothing happened.

Ruwen pushed the orb to his head, hoping his mind would consume it, but it just sat there. He moved it around his body, but the orb stubbornly remained whole. Frustrated, he forced the orb into his Core, where it dissolved immediately.

In the Spirit Realm, Ruwen had created a few different spells with his essence, and he realized some had manifested outside his body. There might be a way to convert Spirit into Mana internally, but for now, he couldn’t figure it out. That left the external route.

Ruwen summoned another twelve essence rods, dipped them in different Meridians, and used his experience from the Spirit Realm to combine the rods over his hand.

A blue sphere the size of Ruwen’s thumbnail appeared in his outstretched palm. Its steady light filled the shed. Not knowing what to do next, he squeezed it, hoping to force it into his body.

Ruwen’s Mana bar remained at six hundred twenty-nine out of seven hundred twenty, and when he opened his hand, the orb remained unchanged.

Not having any better ideas, Ruwen pulled off his Overseer’s Cowl of Revelation and popped the orb into his mouth.

The Mana bar instantly filled.

Ruwen smiled. Now that he’d figured out a way to convert his Spirit into Mana, he could start experimenting with his Architect Role.