A. F. Kay
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Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 4
🕑 Added 2025-03-01 06:57:39 +0000 UTCChapter 4
Echo glared at Ruwen. “This isn’t some kind of excuse to babysit me, is it?”
“Not at all. I really do want to talk to Pine and Ash.”
This didn’t seem to convince Echo. “I’m fine you know. I don’t need you.”
“Seriously, this has nothing to do with you.”
Ruwen did his best to make that sound like the truth. He didn’t plan on following Echo around, but he also wanted to be nearby just in case.
Echo didn’t look like she believed Ruwen but she let the matter drop. “Are you ready now?”
“I want to make a quick stop at my alchemy camp.”
“Are you picking up your whole gang?”
Ruwen realized Echo didn’t know his friends were currently submerged in the cavern pool behind her. Unless Lalquinrial told her, she wouldn’t know about the Refinement and Fortification cocoons either. Should Ruwen tell her? Despite how she spoke, whenever it had counted, she’d supported him.
“I have access to a Destruction Realm store,” Ruwen said. “It had these time dilated cocoons that fix your pathways and help with body Fortification. Hamma, Sift, Lylan, and Shelly are in them now. So they won’t be joining us.”
“Shelly?”
Ruwen didn’t want to explain all the things Shelly could do. Better to just keep it simple for now. “She’s Sift’s turtle.”
“You guys are so weird.”
The answer had satisfied Echo and Ruwen could have kept the details to himself, but he didn’t. “Those cocoons turn anyone into an Axiom.”
Echo frowned at Ruwen.
“It’s true. Axioms aren’t a big deal in the Outerverse. Maybe talk to the Death Tower and see how he wants you to advance. I can help you get the cocoons you need if that’s what you want to do.”
“How do you know about the Death Tower? Does he talk to you too?”
“Not in my head, but he shows up sometimes.”
Echo sighed loudly. “Thank you for telling me that. I know you didn’t need to. My Death Aspect protects me here in the Destruction Realm, but I’m not sure I could wear that in one of these cocoons.”
“Oh, no,” Ruwen said and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What?”
“Sift,” Ruwen responded as if that explained everything.
“Sift, what?”
Ruwen focused on Echo. “Your comment reminded me. There’s this bird aspect that’s stuck to Sift and we never tried getting it removed. If he transitions into Divine in that cocoon and it works anything like the Scarecrow Aspect, the bird aspect will become a permanent part of him. Uru help me, if he comes out half bird I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Echo stared at Ruwen for ten seconds.
“What?” Ruwen finally asked.
“How can Hamma and Lylan tolerate you two?”
“That’s not fair lumping me in with Sift. He has a lot of issues.”
Echo shook her head and then held out her hand. “Let’s go.”
Ruwen gripped Echo’s hand. It was soft and cool. “What are you—”
The cavern twisted and when it untwisted Echo and Ruwen stood at the boundary of the Material Realm near his alchemy camp.
“How did you do that?” Ruwen asked.
Echo shrugged. “My Death Aspect is a lot stronger now. Especially here in the Destruction Realm. I can access the power of the Death Tower, and it touches everything here. Now hurry up.”
Ruwen let his questions drop. He would try and get details from Echo later. Transitioning between Destruction and Material Realms was trivial, and he stepped through the boundary. Echo followed him.
The sun warmed Ruwen’s skin, and a slight breeze ruffled his hair. The scent of exotic chemicals still remained and he wondered if Madda and Padda were still working. He wasn’t here to see them though, and didn’t want to get stuck in a long conversation.
This was the first time Ruwen stood in the Material Realm as a human since he’d followed the Muses into the Destruction Realm seventeen days ago. Notifications flooded his vision, and he willed them all into a summary.
“Give me a second to go through these System Notifications,” Ruwen told Echo.
Staff: 288 to 325
Effect: Increase damage by 163.0%
Sword: 199 to 500
Effect: Increase sword damage by 250%
Archery: 0 to 500
Effect: Increase projectile damage by 250%
Unarmed Combat: 1,164 to 1,250
Effect: Increase unarmed damage by 625.0%
Effect: Increase chance to deflect or dodge a blow by 625.0%
Bamboo Steps: 212 to 300
Effect: Increase Armor Class by 300
Effect: Increase Dodge by 300%
Viper Steps: 216 to 300
Effect: Increase Haste by 300%
Effect: Increase Critical Strike by 300%
Mental Combat: 47 to 100
Effect: Increase Mental Speed by 50%
Mental Defense: 191 to 300
Effect: Increase Mind Resistance by 150%
Mental Projection: 0 to 50
Effect: Increase Awareness by 50%
Multitasking: 88 to 95
Effect: Increase all Skills by 47.5%
Tactics: 40 to 55
Effect: Increase Wisdom by 27.5%
Strategy: 35 to 50
Effect: Increase Intelligence by 25%
Everything had advanced nicely and a new skill had appeared as well: Mental Projection. That must have resulted from the Mental Domain he’d created. Maybe the creation of Purgatory, the buffer between his inner mind and the outside world, contributed as well.
The three remaining levels of Ruwen’s Shadow Step grand mastery had centered on interpreting shadows and moving in and out of the Shadow Realm. His experience as a Saraph had given him a deep understanding of the Destruction Realm and the shadows it commanded.
Shing!
You have advanced a skill!
Skill: Shadow Step Mastery
Level: 162 to 300
Effect: Spiritual Damage increased by 3,000%.
Ding!
Congratulations, Shadow Grandmaster!
Your rank has advanced to ten!
Like a shadow, you are silent and dark.
Ruwen took a deep breath. He’d now reached rank ten in all three Step forms: Bamboo, Viper, and Shadow. A Grandmaster in each.
Gong!
You have increased your Knowledge!
Level: 2,165 to 8,600
Knowledge - seized by intelligence, tempered by wisdom, balanced between peril and power - illuminates greatness.
Your Cleverness has increased from 4,382% to 17,252%
This massive increase in Knowledge didn’t surprise Ruwen when he considered the incredible things he’d learned about the Outerverse, how the Destruction Realm functioned, the politics and events of the past, Meridians, the linkages between the Creation, Material, and Destruction Realms, and so much more. His head hurt just thinking about everything that had happened to him these past few weeks.
Ruwen glanced through his Profile. With everything that had happened to him since his Ascendancy Day, the display had become complicated. It also didn’t know how to handle some of his details. He skipped all the items relating to his Dungeon Master responsibilities for the Shattered Sun, the Black Pyramid, his Step Clan, and his alchemy profession. That still left a lot.
General Profile - Original Form
Name: Ruwen Starfield
Race: Human
Age: 17
Class Specialization: Composer
Level: Unknown
Fortification Tier: Divine – Demigod (Peak)
Core Type: Edgeless Dimensional
Architect Role Level: 2
Soul Level: 4
Soul Vault Count: 0
Inventory: 210 of 1,000
Karmic Offset: 52
Harmonic Faction Path: Conductor
Harmonic Spell Points: 4
Temporal Offset: 100 years 5 minutes
General Profile - Second Evolution
Name: Ruin Val’dor
Race: Saraph
Age: 10 days
Class: Destruction Emperor
Specialization: Avatar of Cycles
Level: 95
Core Type: Special – Apocalypse
Shadow Core: Rank 6
Apocalypse Core Vault: 0/5
Meridian Cores: 5 Kernel, 7 Seed
Inventory: 5,160/20,000
Destruction Needle (DeN): 638,100
Level Token: 96
Blood Arrays Open: 5 of 8
Blood Nodes Open: 25 of 64
Positive Karmic Threads: 8,697
Pools
Health: 12,000
Physical Energy: 26,133
Soul Power: 100,000
Wing Resonance: 4,000
Mental Energy: > 999,999
Spirit: 450,500,000,000
Destruction: > 1,000,000,000,000
Physical Attributes
Constitution: 1,200
Strength: 1,360
Nimbleness: 1,360
Charisma: 960
Mental Attributes
Intelligence: 4,257
Wisdom: 1,390
Awareness: 27,863
Willpower: > 999,999
Ratings
Armor Class: 10,379
Critical Chance: 580%
Haste: 715%
Dodge: 1,638%
Persuasion: 994%
Resilience: 568%
Cleverness: 17,252%
Perception: 1,323%
Regeneration per Second
Health: 197
Physical Energy: 716
Soul: 4,746
Wing Resonance: 67
Mental Energy: > 10,000
Meridian
Cymatics: 5 of 96
All the Resistances showed five hundred seventy percent except for Mind, which was four thousand six hundred eighty percent, but it had a question mark next to it. In fact, anything related to his mind like Willpower or Mental Energy only showed estimates. His mental strength had grown to such an extent the System couldn’t accurately quantify it.
Ruwen knew that Soul power didn’t progress in a straight line as it leveled. Now he could confirm that it was exponential. A normal level one Soul had a pool of one hundred energy and took a while to regenerate. His was one hundred thousand and regenerated at over four thousand seven hundred a second.
A quick calculation estimated that if the Zealot had a level seven soul, then it would have a pool of one hundred million and might regenerate at over two point seven million per second. That was behind comprehension for Ruwen. It made him even more certain that the Zealot had survived the Crossing Ring explosion Lalquinrial had triggered.
Ruwen closed all his displays and then turned to Echo. “Okay, I just need to talk to someone quick and then I’m done here. I’ll be right back.”
Then Ruwen teleported away.
Comments
Paul W
Isn't 17 too young? Considering the time in the first 5 books plus the time the get back from rainbows end shouldn't he be 18 at leats. If I remember correctly when he advanced to angel he got a notification with several ages, somithg like physical, mental and timedilated or so and didn't it say there he was 20 or something thereabout.
Mark Roudabush
Blood arrays should be 4 of 5 unless there's something we don't know. If his meridian seeds are 7 then his quest should complete.
A. F. Kay
Thank you everyone for the comments!!!!
Samuel Strode
Echo is just going to leave him…Ruwen I swear if you need to do one more thing
David Riem Jr
Are friends still submerged in the cavern? I thought two went to the creation realm.
Bob of Doom
He should not have temporal offset. He spent time in the void during the last battle. Even if that doesn't count, he got rid of his 5 minutes when he purged himself to enter the void with Rami
Lena M. Lucente
It was beyond comprehension, not behind.
Theorignalkp
Love your books.
