Divine Apostasy Book 5 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Niall had left to change clothes, while Ruwen and Hamma looted the Dust Reverend’s body. The two of them stood next to the revival bath in the High Priest’s chapel, the corpse of the level one hundred Naktos Priest laying on top of the lid. Ruwen had killed the Priest when Hamma had made Ruwen a god for sixty seconds during the battle of New Eiru.

Hamma removed the last ring and her shoulders slumped. “It’s the same. Level eighty this time.”

Ruwen had kept the dead body of the Dust Reverend in his Void Band hoping some of the gear would help Hamma. He should have realized the vast discrepancy in levels would make all the loot unusable. Hamma had even taken the Priest’s clothes and the Dust Reverend lay in just his underwear.

“What are you going to do with all the gear?” Ruwen asked. “Wait to use it or donate it to your chapel for Prayer Points?”

Hamma bit her lip. “I’m not sure. Are you sure you don’t want to take some of it? This gear is spectacular.”

“I can’t use it either,” Ruwen said as he studied the tattoos on the Dust Reverend’s body. “But I think I’m going to give this body to Fractal instead of the temple. Fractal might be capable of reverse-engineering these tattoos.”

“That is a great idea.”

Hamma placed all the gear into her dimensional bag and Ruwen slid the body back into his Void Band.

“You ready to go?” Ruwen asked.

Hamma looked up at Ruwen and gave a small shrug, her face uncertain.

Ruwen pulled her close. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of what? Lir assured me the area around Deepwell is safe.”

“Not that. I’m scared of how Mom will react.”

“Yeah, seeing your dad again will definitely come as a shock.”

Hamma leaned away from Ruwen. “It’s not only that. It’s me. I just dinged twenty and I know she’ll flip out that I chose Warden for my Specialization. What if she won’t let me leave?”

“You’re an adult. She can’t stop you.”

“I don’t mean preventing my physically. What if all this overwhelms her and she goes crazy? I couldn’t leave her like that. I’m worried seeing Dad again after all this time, and me showing up after disappearing for two months will create a situation where I’ll feel too guilty to leave.”

Ruwen hadn’t considered that.

Hamma continued. “And for sure I’ll have to lie about what I’m doing. If she knows the type of danger I’m in, that I died, she will never let me leave her sight.”

Guilt filled Ruwen’s chest, and he looked down.

Hamma lifted his chin. “Stop that. It isn’t your fault. I choose to be with you. I want to be here.” She paused and then gave a small laugh. “Honestly, these last two months have been the best of my life.”

The pressure in Ruwen’s chest drained away, and he hugged Hamma again. “When the time comes to head for Malth, if you’re not back, we’ll come get you.”

They stood that way for a minute, enjoying their last private moments together. Ruwen marveled at Hamma’s ability to navigate all these complex emotional issues. Unlike Ruwen, who had literally been created for his current path, Hamma had needed to fight for what she wanted. She had struggled in ways Ruwen had never had to worry about.

“I’m proud of you,” Ruwen whispered.

Hamma squeezed Ruwen extra hard and then released him. “Thank you.”

Ruwen’s map showed Niall already across the bridge and on the lakeshore waiting for them. Ten minutes later they joined him, and the three of them headed for Fractal. Niall and Hamma discussed how they should handle the reunion, and they decided Hamma would go first, and then ease her mom into the revelation that Niall had returned.

As Hamma and Niall talked about the details of their plan, Ruwen looked at the notifications he’d received during the Elder Council.

Ting!

You have completed the quest “The Southern Front (Part 3)”

You have received 100,000 (+20,000 Tutor Buff) experience.

Rami had made Ruwen promise to always keep his buffs active. So many people wanted him dead he needed to take advantage of everything at his disposal. He kept the Warlord Banner buff Tutor active as well, since he never knew when experience might happen. The twenty thousand extra experience he’d gained here made him smile.

Ting!

You have completed the quest “Foundations (Part 3)”

You have received 100,000 (+20,000 Tutor Buff) experience.

Once again, the Tutor buff proved useful, and Ruwen’s heart thudded as he read the next notification.

Ding!

Uru’s Blessings, Worker! You have reached level 25.

You have gained +1 to Strength!

You have gained +1 to Stamina!

You have 2 unassigned points.

Uru’s Blessings, Root! You have reached level 25.

You have 2 unassigned points.

New Spells and Abilities are available to you. Choose wisely.

Level twenty-five seemed unreal. He glanced at Hamma, and realized they needed to hit a dungeon soon to get the rest of the team some levels. It would only hurt the group if Ruwen advanced too far past them.

Ruwen had thought the battle at New Eiru would power level everyone. He’d dreamed of millions of experience points from the tens of thousands of enemy dead. The Crazors had decimated the invaders which kept Ruwen’s people safe. But that actually worked against them as the experience points were divided among everyone in the war zone, and he’d successfully kept almost everyone alive.

In the end, Ruwen had gained just over thirty-four thousand experience from the entire battle. His expectations made this number terribly disappointing. At least he had the benefit of Uru’s quests. One thing was for sure, wars were not great for experience. Especially when you added in the high likelihood of death. Thankfully, it had been enough for Hamma to ding level twenty.

Ruwen glanced over his Profile, marveling at what he’d accomplished in the last two months.

General

Name: Ruwen Starfield

Race: Human

Age: 16

Role: Architect

Class: Worker

Sub Class: Collector

Specialization: Gatherer

Hidden Class:Fighter

Hidden Sub Class: Commander

Hidden Specialization: Warlord

Level: 25

Class Rank: Apprentice

Cultivation Stage:41

Cultivation Rank:Acolyte

Deaths: 3

Deity: Goddess Uru

Experience: 34,736/325,000

Inventory: 87/1,000

Realm Count: 2

Wealth: 1 terium 1 gold 10 silver 50 copper

Marks

Black Pyramid

Bamboo Viper Clan

Shattered Sun (Dungeon Master)

Marks’ Details

Bamboo Level:84

Bamboo Rank:Adept

Viper Level:84

Viper Rank:Adept

Black Pyramid Level:1

Black Pyramid Rank:Novice

Black Pyramid Cipher Level:1

Black Pyramid Dungeon Level (Completed): 6

Black Pyramid Librarian Rank:Ink Disciple

Black Pyramid Tokens:26

Shattered Sun Dungeon Tier: 31

Shattered Sun Dungeon State: Very Good

Shattered Sun Keeper Fractal State: Excellent

Available Points

Unassigned Ability: 2

Unassigned Spell: 9

Unassigned Attribute: 4

Pools

Health: 1,907/1,907

Mana: 610/610

Energy: 3,114/3,114

Spirit: 30,193,119,347

Attributes

Strength: 70

Stamina: 103

Dexterity: 65

Intelligence: 55

Wisdom: 49

Charisma: 33

Ratings

Knowledge: 69

Armor Class:3,280

Max Encumbrance:1,568 lbs.

Critical Chance:92%

Power Strike:14%

Haste: 132%

Dodge: 172%

Persuasion: 18%

Resilience: 51%

Endurance: 17%

Cleverness: 75%

Perception: 146%

Parry: 25%

Resistances

Elemental Resistance:83%

Poison Resistance:83%

Acid Resistance:83%

Mind Resistance:172%

Order Resistance:83%

Chaos Resistance:79%

Disease Resistance:83%

Light Resistance:83%

Dark Resistance:79%

Regeneration

Health Regeneration per second:5.26

Mana Regeneration per second:4.86

Energy Regeneration per second:134.60

The stats gave Ruwen great satisfaction. He’d worked hard and the results were impressive. With all his buffs, punches would do over thirty damage now, and in reality, his Critical Strike percentage meant that damage would likely land closer to fifty.

Ruwen’s Armor Class defied belief. His Fighter buffs multiplied the natural toughness of his Gold Fortified body and made him nearly impossible to kill with normal means while armored. Even naked, he still had the mitigation of plate armor. In his Overseer’s armor, he had almost tripled that. Spells could still hurt him, but even those had to overcome his natural durability.

The biggest surprise though, might be the dungeon. In less than a week, the Shattered Sun had gone from a Dungeon State of “Fair” to “Very Good,” and Fractal’s state had increased from “Very Good” to “Excellent.” The dungeon had also increased seven tier levels to thirty-one. It made Ruwen happy that the Dungeon Keeper had made such progress under Blapy’s mentorship.

Ruwen, Hamma, and Niall had entered the pine forest not long after leaving the lakeshore, and soon after, Blapy’s guards had shadowed them. Ruwen assumed those who didn’t have the Shattered Sun mark would be asked to leave by these hidden forest guardians. He knew they were close to the portal when crystals appeared on the ground and the standing gemstones quickly grew to the size of trees.

“We’re almost there,” Ruwen said.

Hamma and Niall ended their discussion. A minute later the portal came into view, and they both stopped, their expressions a mixture of disbelief and awe. Ruwen knew he’d looked like that the first time he’d seen the dungeon entrance, too.

A twenty-foot yellow-orange sphere, the bottom portion buried underground, rotated slowly. Cracks appeared on the surface, causing blasts of heat to radiate outward. The surface flowed like magma and the cracks disappeared, only to reappear elsewhere on the giant ball.

A rope of light arced outward from the portal like a whip. It flattened and condensed into something like a large plate. Placing a gift to the dungeon on it would set your loot level.

Ruwen moved forward, touched his Void Band to the glowing plate, and dropped the Dust Reverend’s corpse. The plate immediately expanded, and the dead body slowly sank out of sight.

The sphere spun rapidly turning into a tiny sun and ripped the now empty plate away. Flares of light arced outward, striking the surrounding clumps of giant quartz, and the crystals blazed with light.

They all looked away and Ruwen remembered the first time he’d seen this. “It’s okay. This is normal.”

Niall relaxed and Hamma sighed in relief.

The surrounding crystals vibrated with energy and then, like a meteor shower, beams of light exploded from the gems, coalescing five feet in front of Ruwen. In moments, a ten-foot oval made of yellow-orange light formed.

Ruwen moved away from the portal. “Don’t panic when you see the centipede,” he said, remembering the ten-foot Toxic Silver Centipede that had exited the portal last time. Fractal had ridden the guardian centipede like a horse.

A shadow appeared in the portal, and then a centipede emerged, just like Ruwen had expected. But this centipede scared him far more than a Toxic Silver Centipede.

A loud gong from behind Ruwen made him flinch, and the blond seven-year-old girl that had exited the portal pulled one of her pigtails and pointed her stuffed centipede at Ruwen like a sword.

Blapy glared are Ruwen. “Don’t you have anything better to do than bother me all day?”