Chapter 4 - Divine Apostasy Book 2

Chapter 4

Bliz walked to the other side of the large central pillar, and Ruwen followed. Bliz pulled a key from his Void Band and unlocked the door. This was the same door Bliz had retrieved all Ruwen’s things from yesterday. Bliz opened the door, entered, and Ruwen followed.

The walls were covered in shelves. Neatly organized on them were clothes, tools, jewelry, and even some weapons. A small table with four chairs was placed in the middle of the circular room. Bliz locked the door and then walked to the table.

“Have a seat,” Bliz said as he settled into a seat.

Ruwen sat as Bliz opened his Void Band and removed his drink, which he must have stashed before walking over here. He reached in and removed another cup and sat the steaming drink in front of Ruwen.

“It stays hot in there?” Ruwen asked.

“Or cold. Things keep their temperature, which is super useful. I won’t tell you how much snow I have in here. Nobody expects a snowball to the head in the middle of summer.”

Ruwen smiled and leaned down to smell the drink. The scent of apples and cinnamon made his mouth water. He took a sip and tasted honey as well. It was delicious.

“It’s wonderful,” Ruwen said as he took another sip.

“A recipe from a small mountain village. The benefits of travel.”

A buff appeared at the top of his vision, and he focused on it.

Alert: +1 Energy per second

“The buff is from a plant grown down south. It’s good for about thirty minutes. Everyone calls its Void Cider,” Bliz said.

Ruwen took another sip of the delicious drink.

“Big D spent all night trying to locate you. She wanted to provide an escort to keep you safe. But you’re settings are all private, and she couldn’t find you.”

“Why didn’t she tell me that?”

“Same reason you didn’t tell us you were ambushed. Excuses don’t change facts.”

Ruwen’s respect for Big D increased. “Thanks for telling me.”

“I was hoping to see you at the Dizzy Judge yesterday, but that attack kept everyone at home.”

“Right, the attack.”

Ruwen’s mouth had gone dry, and he took another sip of the cider.

“I’ve never seen all four Guardians active. I’m not sure its ever happened,” Bliz said.

Ruwen nodded and took another drink of cider. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about the attack. He could still feel the harsh energy of the Guardians’ weapons scorching his face.

Bliz leaned back in his chair. “Anyway, I bring all that up because it’s a dangerous world, and even more dangerous for some. So I wanted to talk to you about your Void Band.”

Ruwen looked down at the black band around his left wrist. “There’s more than you showed me?”

Bliz laughed. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you yesterday morning. You looked a bit shocked, and I felt I’d already given you too much information. But you’re leaving the city, and I won’t get another chance to talk to you for a bit. And you’ll need to know some of this to load up for the trip.”

Ruwen rubbed his forehead.

“Don’t worry. I’m tagging along for the loading, and we’re loaning you some lodge jewelry to make sure your Energy levels stay safe for the trip. This might actually be fun.”

Ruwen forced a smile. “I hope you’re right.”

“There are three things I want to show you before we leave.”

Bliz pulled his Void Band open about the length of a hand, which Ruwen recognized as taking about one Energy per second.

Bliz pointed to the oblong blackness. “This is what you’ve been doing. But what if you need to make the opening a different shape? Or tilt the opening to make it easier to add something?”

Bliz tilted his wrist forward, and the black portal rotated towards Ruwen. When Bliz moved his wrist the opposite direction, the portal switched its rotation as well.

“Wow, that’s nice,” Ruwen said.

“Now the second thing to show you.”

Bliz spread his fingers wide, and the portal immediately grew in all directions. He half-bent his fingers, and the expansion stopped. Bliz raised his index finger, and part of the portal stretched, giving the blackness a teardrop shape. He raised his pinky, and a section of the portal roughly opposite of the initial expansion started to grow.

Bliz folded his pink back into his hand but kept his index finger raised. The Void Band continued to stretch until it was nearly three feet long. It looked like Bliz was holding a black baton. He made a fist, and in a blink, the Void Band disappeared. Without touching it, he expanded his fingers, and the Void Band expanded off his wrist.

“You didn’t touch it,” Ruwen stated the obvious.

Bliz nodded, and the Void Band disappeared. “You can control your band with your mind, but it costs energy. You already know how dangerous that can be to manage, so you shouldn’t get in the habit of doing it this way. But sometimes, your hands are full, and it is the only way. With the items we are loaning you for this trip you will have an excess of energy, and it is a safe time to practice.”

“So my wrist controls the orientation of the portal and my fingers control the shape?”

“You got it. Your fingers and thumb each control 20% of the circumference. And you can control the width of the growth by how far you extend the digit. A simple explanation for something incredibly difficult to master.”

Ruwen raised his wrist, but Bliz grabbed it before Ruwen did anything.

“Let’s wait until you have the jewelry on. This is advanced, and Big D would kill me if you died from Energy loss. She already thinks we’re reckless.”

“I don’t want to die,” Ruwen said, barely stopping himself from saying again.

Bliz nodded. “The second thing is attachment. Bliz touched his band to the table and lifted his arm. The Void Band stretched between them.”

“And you did that with a thought?”

“Yes. It’s the same as the portal shaping. Movement isn’t enough. You need to mentally intend for the action to occur, and it costs Energy.”

“How much Energy?”

The portal disconnected and snapped back to Bliz’s wrist. “Depends on the surface. Normal surfaces like wood and stone only cost one Energy per second. If you attached to something like a pool of magma, you better be quick, because that will be expensive. Hypothetically.”

Ruwen tilted his head. “Are you telling me you have magma in your Void Band?”

Bliz held up his hands. “I didn’t say that. It was just a handy example.”

Ruwen stared at Bliz, and the crew chief smiled.

“Wow,” Ruwen said.

“If I had to guess, attaching to something that energetic and unstable would probably cost around fifty Energy per second. Like I said, you’d want to hurry.”

“What have you got in there?” Ruwen asked.

Bliz smiled. “Well, that’s a discussion for the Dizzy Judge. And speaking of the bar…”

Bliz manually opened his Void Band to the size of a plate and disconnected his hand, leaving the portal open. A small ball fell out of the bottom of the portal and into his waiting hand. He leaned over and handed it to Ruwen.

The leather ball felt like it had been stuffed with beans. It sat comfortably in the palm of his hand, and while firm, still gave a little when squeezed. It had a nice weight to it. He hadn’t gotten a notification, so he looked at his log.

Tring!

You have discovered a blessing from Uru…

Name: Band Ball, Official

Quality: Common

Durability: 20 of 20

Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Description: It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.

“That’s yours. You’ll need to practice,” Bliz said.

“Practice what?”

“Band Ball.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“That doesn’t surprise me since you need a Void Band to play.”

Ruwen shook his head. “Sorry I don’t understand.”

“This is the third thing I wanted to show you.”

A ball popped out of Bliz’s open portal, arced through the air, and landed in his waiting right hand. “Open your band to a one.”

Ruwen opened his Void Band until it was about the length of his hand and then disconnected his right hand, leaving the portal open. Bliz tossed the Band Ball in his hand back into his portal. A moment later it shot out of his portal and arced toward Ruwen. He froze, not sure what to do. The ball disappeared as it landed directly in the middle of Ruwen’s portal.

“What just happened?” Ruwen asked.

“That was a sinker and worth one point,” Bliz said. “Now, you try.”

“Try what?”

“When you think about the Band Ball, instead of reaching in to grab it, attach some Energy to it and visualize the trajectory you want it to leave your portal.”

Ruwen still held his Band Ball. He focused on the Band Ball Bliz had just shot into his portal and then, like he did with Mana and spells, attached some Energy to the ball.

A blur left his portal, and a fifty appeared over his Energy bar. A moment later, an explosion echoed above them. He cringed, and a heartbeat later beans fell around them. Bliz laughed, and after Ruwen realized they were safe, he laughed as well.

“Open your log. How much Energy did you use to chuck that?” Bliz asked.

Ruwen opened his log.

Void Band Active!

Void Band has consumed 1 Energy

Void Band has consumed 1 Energy

Void Band has consumed 1 Energy

Void Band has consumed 1 Energy

Void Band has empowered a Band Ball!

Void Band has consumed 50 Energy 

Band Ball Trajectory 90 degrees

Band Ball Topspin 0 Energy

Band Ball Backspin 0 Energy

Band Ball Leftspin 0 Energy

Band Ball Rightspin 0 Energy

Void Band has consumed 1 Energy

Void Band has consumed 1 Energy

Void Band has consumed 1 Energy

Ruwen closed his log. “Fifty.”

“Well, if you’d been trying to toss a metal ball the size of your head, that might be appropriate. But something as small as a Band Ball doesn’t need that kind of power. Try again with your ball.”

Ruwen dropped the ball into his open portal and then concentrated on giving the Band Ball only a trickle of Energy. After a second, the Band Ball emerged from the blackness, barely clearing the lip of the portal, and plopped onto the floor.

Ruwen hadn’t even seen a value appear on his Energy bar.

Bliz chuckled and placed five more Band Balls on the table. “Well, I think you found the two boundaries. Practice like this while your away.”

Band Balls popped out of Bliz’s Void Band. He had six in the air before the first one fell back into the open portal.

“That is awesome,” Ruwen said.

“The result of a wasted youth,” Bliz said with a smile. “When you get back, I’ll explain all the rules, and we’ll play a game at the bar.”

Ting!

You have received the quest…

A Wasted Youth

Eighty-eight time Band Ball World Champion Bliz has challenged you to a game of Band Ball at the Dizzy Judge.

Reward: Shot of Spiked Void Cider

Penalty: Two shots of Spiked Void Cider

Accept or Decline

Ruwen chose Accept as all six balls dropped into Bliz’s portal and it closed. Bliz’s smile disappeared.

“It’s more than just a game,” Bliz said, holding up his wrist with the Void Band. “People who recognize this will sometimes want whatever you’re keeping. They might even want to get rough. You should start thinking of this Void Band as more than just storage. It is far more useful than that. Band Ball is a tradition passed down for thousands of years. But its purpose is the same. It’s to keep your skills sharp, so you can keep yourself safe. Understand?”

Ruwen nodded.

Bliz smiled and held his wrist over the table. Five Band Balls dropped out. “Here are a few more, just in case there are any more accidents.”

Ruwen’s cheeks grew warm as he picked up the five from the table and the one that dropped to the floor. He put the six balls in his Void Band.

“I understand what you’re saying, and I’ll practice. I need all the advantages I can get.”

“Good. Now sit tight while I get your gear and then I’ll transfer the valuables Big D wanted me to give you.”

Ruwen took another sip of the cider and thought about the Void Band. It amazed him how sophisticated something as simple as storage could be. Bliz hadn’t said it, but the implication was clear. Ruwen could use the Void Band as a weapon. He needed to spend some time thinking about that. One thing was clear, he had a lot to learn.