Chapter 5 - Divine Apostasy Book 4

Chapter 5

Ruwen reacted immediately, no longer having to think before acting, and leaped to the right, away from the temple. As he landed, he pivoted to face Sift, sinking into a defensive stance.

This part of his route remained the darkest as the temple blocked the rising sun. Ruwen turned his head slowly back and forth, using his peripheral vision to try and see Sift, but there wasn’t enough light. Ruwen could have toggled on Detect Temperature to aid him, but he knew Sift would frown on that. Honing your senses to work without magic was a valuable skill too.

Ruwen didn’t move, knowing Sift would use any sound to mask his attack. A small thud to Ruwen’s right almost caused him to move left, but his training stopped him. There had been a slight secondary sound, like a bounce, and Ruwen guessed Sift had thrown a small stone. Which meant he’d wanted Ruwen to move left into a trap.

From the defensive stance, Ruwen sank lower, placing his left fingers on the ground. With a quick twist, he brought his right leg around in a sweep to his left, hoping to catch Sift in the middle of his attack.

Ruwen didn’t connect with anything, but he felt the air disturbance as Sift shifted his attack into a flip over Ruwen’s leg sweep. Knowing better than to stay in one spot, Ruwen used the momentum of his sweep and flipped backward and away.

The snap of a kick echoed off the temple wall as Sift attacked the spot Ruwen had just left. Ruwen didn’t let himself get distracted by emotion. Later he would smile and congratulate himself, but now, his entire focus needed to be on this fight. In his last year with Rami, they’d sometimes practiced with blindfolds. He hated it, and blind-fighting was one of his weaknesses. Relying on his sight was a crutch he eventually needed to overcome.

Ruwen closed his eyes to reinforce the need to use his other senses. Sift was probably barefoot, and Ruwen thought about the risk of removing his Feather Boots of Grasping, as it would make feeling the vibrations of Sift’s movements easier. But it would take too long and make too much noise. The boots reduced the pressure of Ruwen’s steps by twenty percent, which made him harder to detect. So they provided some benefit.

Taking a slow deep breath, Ruwen tried to smell Sift. To Ruwen’s surprise, he did. Not Sift exactly, but Lylan. When Ruwen had returned with Blapy, Hamma and Lylan had been comparing perfumes and soaps they each had in their Dimensional Bags. Far more than he’d thought any one person needed. Sift had been sitting by the women the entire time, and now faintly smelled of strawberries and lemon.

The scent didn’t help a lot as it tended to diffuse over an area, but it gave Ruwen an idea of Sift’s general location, and Ruwen attempted another leg sweep. He struck Sift’s leg, but the contact only lasted a moment, as Sift used the momentum of the kick to power a backflip away.

Ruwen followed the sound of the flip and felt the impact of Sift’s landing as a small vibration. Instead of striking at the area with a punch, Ruwen used a side kick, a less aggressive move that allowed him to keep his distance from Sift.

The kick struck what felt like Sift’s lower ribs, but the blow lacked any power as Sift was already moving away. Sift gripped Ruwen’s leg and twisted his body, pulling Ruwen off balance. Ruwen used his planted foot to jump into the air. Rotating his body, he aimed a kick at Sift’s head.

Sift, still holding Ruwen’s leg from the first kick, crouched lower as he pulled downward. In midair, Ruwen had nothing to use as leverage and was helpless to change his trajectory. Sift released Ruwen’s leg and stepped to the side, causing Ruwen to land awkwardly.

Ruwen regained his balance and then felt Sift’s fingertips against his temple. The soft-touch might just as easily been a strike, which would have knocked Ruwen unconscious.

The sun had crept close enough to the horizon that the sky had turned grey, providing enough light to see Sift’s faint form. Ruwen bowed.

“You had the advantage,” Sift said in his serious Sisen voice. “Where did you surrender it?”

Ruwen thought through the short fight. “I should have used a punch instead of a kick after the second sweep.”

“Perhaps,” Sift said. “Your kick took too long and gave me time to reset. Why that choice?”

Ruwen told the truth. “I don’t trust my skills while blind, so I used a less aggressive but distant attack.”

After a moment, Sift replied, “A good reason. We’ve never fought in the dark before. Bamboo teaches caution and patience when confronted with an unknown opponent. What drove you from these Steps?”

Ruwen thought through the choices he’d made. His jumping kick had been far too aggressive and allowed Sift to win the fight immediately. He should have stayed with his Bamboo approach. “When I held the advantage after the sweep, the Viper should have led. After you reset, I should have followed the Bamboo. In both cases, fear caused me to choose the wrong Steps.”

Distant sunlight colored the sky and filtered down to them. Sift only wore the loose pants they used to spar in. He was barefoot and shirtless, and the snake tattoo seemed even more alive in the dim light. 

Sift nodded. “Most Clans have a single set of Steps. This simplifies their path but also reveals their destination. Our Clan has two choices, two Steps, two paths. It makes us hard to predict, but having to choose can also lead to disaster.”

Ruwen bowed in understanding. He had worked hard on his decisiveness, trying to overcome his tendency to overthink. But not thinking at all made him susceptible to his fear or any other emotion. He would need to find a balance until he consistently made the right choices automatically.

Sift smiled. “How did you find me so quickly?”

“You stink.”

Sift smelled his armpit.

Ruwen laughed. “Lylan’s perfume.”

Sift scowled. “Curse that woman and her oils. Every time she’s somewhere safe, she gets them out. She’s obsessed with them.”

“Well, she can’t use them normally. A Shade you can smell won't live long.”

“That true,” Sift said. “And explains the spell she casts whenever she’s finished.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Ruwen asked.

Sift looked worried. “Since I made my Core, I haven’t been very tired or hungry. Is that what happened to you?”

Ruwen nodded.

Sift shook his head. “Great. After all that work to get the pastries.”

Ruwen shook his head at Sift’s priorities. Sift had become one of Blapy’s Favorites, a designation that came with many benefits, but the only ones Sift cared about were related to food.

“Do you have time to spar?” Sift asked.

“I’m still on watch.”

“Lylan took over. I came to tell you.”

“In that case, sure.”

Ruwen didn’t know how many people were looking for him, but his cloak protected him from location magic as long he stayed within fifty feet of it. He stripped down to his shorts, retrieved a pair of sparring pants from his Void Band, and put them on. He made a pile of his clothes near the base of the temple and faced Sift.

Just like with Rami, the Steps consumed Ruwen’s entire focus, and time became meaningless. While Ruwen had the advantage in Strength, Sift moved faster, and his moves were a bit more refined. In the end, Sift always beat Ruwen, building on each small advantage minute after minute until he overwhelmed Ruwen.

Do you have time for a question? Lir asked.

Ruwen barely dodged a strike to the head as Lir’s telepathic question distracted him. Taking three steps backward, Ruwen bowed and raised his hand to Sift. “Just a moment, the temple is talking to me.”

“What?” Sift asked as he looked up at the massive spire next to them. “This thing talks?”

Ruwen nodded and then responded. Hi, Lir. What’s up?

That is a difficult question as geospatial orientation is not fixed or in a plane perpendicular to the –

No, no. I meant what do you need?

We are critically low on terium and carbon.

Ruwen rubbed his head and tried again. What is the question you wanted to ask me?

A Guardian has detected two men approaching the city. Both are bound to Uru.

Ruwen’s thoughts spun. Who even knew they were here? Lir, are you in contact with the other temples?

Of course. The moment I finished complete restoration, I initiated contact.

Which meant at the minimum, the High Priest in Stone Harbor and High Priest Fusil in Deepwell knew the temple here had come back alive. The thought of Fusil made Ruwen’s stomach clench. Even if Uru had manipulated the Hight Priest into making Ruwen a Worker, how it happened still bothered him. He couldn’t wait to get his parent’s story, so he could begin clearing their name.

Ruwen almost scolded Lir about the communication when he realized there was a much easier way to see something had happened here. When Ruwen had restored the temple, Uru’s Blessing, the area where you constantly synched your state with the goddess, had increased for hundreds of miles north and south. That meant anyone who looked at their map would have noticed. So he shouldn’t be surprised that people were curious and headed this way. 

But the lands south of Stone Harbor were filled with Cultivators, not Uru’s subjects. So the approaching duo couldn’t be curious farmers. A Dimensional Mage could have gotten here in the twelve hours New Eiru had been restored, or maybe an Elemental Mage using an air sled. But the southern plains were filling with an invading army, and travel like that would be foolish and dangerous.

Ruwen didn’t know how to handle this. How far away are they?

At their current pace, forty-three minutes and sixteen seconds.

Can you tell what Classes they are?

Until they bind to our temple, I can’t be sure. However, I can see the larger one has a Dimensional Bracer like yours.

Wait, you can see them? Ruwen asked.

Of course. The Guardian is feeding me information in real-time.

Rami? Ruwen asked.

You are so needy. Rami said.

I know.

Pictures appeared in Ruwen’s mind as Rami passed him the images from Lir. Ruwen’s stomach twisted as he realized the Guardian floated over a thousand feet in the air. The pictures zoomed in on the figures, and Ruwen’s heart thudded loudly as a dozen emotions swirled through his chest.

Tremine and Bliz were less than an hour away.