The Fourth Secret: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 4)

by A F Kay

  Sift nodded, pointed to his head, and circled his finger.

  “For Uru’s sake it was an assassin, and it saved our lives,” Ruwen said.

  “He put Lylan in there too,” Sift said.

  Xavier shifted further away from Ruwen.

  Ruwen tried to slap Sift with the arm, but Sift jerked to the side, causing the wagon to bounce against the ground. The motion caused Hamma to turn around.

  Why are you holding a bloody arm? Hamma asked in Chat.

  Told. You. Lylan signaled in Shade speak.

  Ruwen replied to everyone in Chat. I fought a Stone Carver down there. She had two Void Bands. I cut off her arm to protect myself.

  Sift leaned toward Xavier and whispered loudly. “And then took it as a trophy.”

  Ruwen ignored Sift and continued in Chat. I didn’t want to risk a Healer reattaching it. Her dual Void Bands hurt me, and I wanted to make it out alive.

  Ruwen left out his intense curiosity about the Naktos Void Band.

  Can you see what was in her Inventory? Hamma asked.

  Sift shook his head and spoke out loud. “You two are perfect for each other.”

  Lylan laughed and jabbed Sift in the ribs with her elbow. “Be nice.”

  Ruwen glared at Sift and spoke in Chat. I was just looking.

  “You are both hoarders,” Sift said out loud.

  That wasn’t fair to Hamma, as she gave everything to her altar in the Black Pyramid. Ruwen however had learned how valuable even mundane things could be in the right situation and Sift’s words rang true.

  Ruwen sat the arm across his lap and studied the Stone Carver’s hand. A black rectangle half an inch wide covered the entire palm. The Void Band didn’t look any different from his, except for its location.

  With a finger, Ruwen touched it, and a notification appeared.

  Tring!

  You have discovered a boon from Naktos…

  Name: Dark Portal

  Quality: Rare

  Durability: Indestructible

  Weight: 0.12 lbs.

  Effect: 100% weight reduction.

  Effect: Flexible opening.

  Effect: Enhanced storage.

  Effect: No type limitations.

  Restriction: Energy-dependent. Insufficient Energy to power the Dark Portal triggers a dimensional inversion and instant death.

  Description: Small dimensional rift. A gift from Naktos to his chosen.

  The quality, durability, weight, and effects were all identical to Ruwen’s Void Band. The only duplicated restriction was the Energy dependance, but even that had more information, detailing the ultimate danger of the item. The name and description were completely different, and it appeared as if the band was some sort of reward.

  Ruwen’s Void Band had many more restrictions than this Dark Portal: Worker Class, a natural fifteen Intelligence, and most critically it was soulbound. His heart thudded against his ribs and he forced his breathing to remain even.

  The Dark Portal didn’t have a soulbound requirement.

  Pushing on the cold dead hand of the Stone Carver, Ruwen ran his finger along the edge of the Dark Portal. After a moment, the top popped loose, and he peeled the Dark Portal from the Mage’s hand.

  Chapter 61

  Ruwen placed the Dark Portal on his glove.

  Rami, do you think this is safe to put on? Ruwen asked.

  Probably, Rami said, her voice a little funny.

  Is something wrong?

  Kind of.

  Ruwen focused his complete attention on Rami. What is it?

  I might have done something irresponsible. You must be wearing off on me.

  I’ll ignore that last sentence since you’re obviously so distraught you aren’t thinking straight.

  The cool mist of Rami’s laughter filled Ruwen’s mind.

  Even if it was ill advised, I know you would’ve thought it through, Ruwen said. Why don’t you tell me about it.

  I used my Mind’s Eye ability on that Stone Carver, Rami said in a rush.

  Rami had received Mind’s Eye as part of her Codex of Perception evolution. It allowed her to see the memories of a target if they were within one hundred feet. Ruwen remembered the pain of the debuff Mental Whiplash he’d experienced when Rami had used Mind’s Eye on Blapy. It had taken both him and Rami thirty seconds to even function again. If that had happened again down in the cavern, they might not have survived.

  I understand, Ruwen said. You must have calculated the risk.

  I did, I did. She was two levels lower than us, but I still didn’t use it. Being a Mage, her Mental Resistance was probably high, and I didn’t want to chance it. Then when you cut off her arm she went into shock, and I calculated a near one hundred percent probability of success. So, I did it. I never even asked. I’m sorry.

  Ruwen reached up and rubbed Rami’s head. You have nothing to be sorry for. I trust your judgement completely. Even if it had failed, it still would’ve been the right thing to do.

  Rami hugged Ruwen, his chest turning so warm he thought he might take damage.

  Did you see anything interesting? Ruwen asked.

  It was the first time I’ve used it, so I mostly got her immediate thoughts. I need to practice.

  Can you tell me what you saw?

  I think I can show you. One second.

  Ruwen’s stomach twisted, the wagon disappeared, and he entered the Stone Carver’s memory…

  She kneeled on a stone floor, carved so smoothly, she longed to run her hand over it. She would have this kind of control one day, her power funneled into objects of beauty instead of tunnels of death. The Dust Ministers said Naktos had carved this temple himself, and she almost believed it.

  The plain blue robe itched her skin, and she resisted the urge to scratch. She hated wearing the Priest clothing and wished for the comfort of her Mage robes, but they had insisted on humble Priest attire for the ceremony.

  Nine other Chosen kneeled with her, although she was the youngest. Something her friends had told her to be proud of. A reward for her obsession and sacrifice. But she knew the clergy didn’t care about her art, only her control and power. They were sending her to the surface because of it. Sending her to war.

  The Dust Ministers had nearly reached her on their journey down the line of Chosen. She studied the cavern’s ceiling through the temple’s diamond sheet roof, the distant lava tubes above their city so fine the entire ceiling glowed with red heat. Soon she would view a blue sky and clouds. She really wanted to see clouds.

  Then three priests were in front of her.

  The first began with a blessing, tapping her chest, mouth, and forehead with his fist. “Blessed be you, child of stone, who are unworthy of his grace.”

  She responded, using a fist to touch her chest, mouth, and forehead. “Blessed am I, a child of stone, unworthy of his grace.”

  The first priest stepped away, and an older one took his place. He frowned at the tattoos on her neck pouches but continued with the ceremony. “Of all his children, he has chosen you. Picked by the hand of god himself. Twice blessed are you child of stone to receive such honor. Naktos, exalt his name, all seeing, all knowing, has trusted you with his words. Will you, Valora, carry his message?”

  “I will,” she responded, touching her chest, mouth, and forehead with her fist.

  The old priest stepped away and the last Dust Minister appeared in front of her, a black box in his hands. “What do you offer?”

  “My service,” she responded.

  “What do you take?” the priest asked.

  “His message.”

  The priest nodded and opened the black box. With a jeweled tweezer, he removed a black strip.

  She held out her left hand, palm upward.

  The three Dust Ministers chanted quietly as the black strip was placed across her left palm, mirroring the one on her right. Already one of the blessed, she had been blessed again, an unbelievable honor.

  The second Dark Portal sank into her s
kin and she clenched her hand, touching her fist to her chest, mouth, and forehead. “Blessed am I, a child of stone, unworthy of his grace.”

  She would carry her god’s message to the surface. And then she would watch the clouds…

  The Stone Carver’s memory faded and Ruwen came back to himself slowly. He felt nauseous and stared at the small black strip on his glove.

  I almost feel guilty for taking this, Ruwen said to Rami.

  I feel it too. I think it’s because our brains can’t tell the difference between our memories and the ones I take. So her emotions become your emotions. You taking her Dark Portal triggered this memory, the day she received it.

  Ugh. It feels awful. Couldn’t you have seen the memory of the battle plan?

  Maybe eventually. For now, we get what we get.

  Did you find anything else? And no, I don’t want to see it.

  I got a glimpse of what she was doing before coming to face you. Water surrounded her, but those Haffa Mages kept the water from touching her. She fired those exploding tubes into the stone, and then cut the weakened stone into uniform sizes, which she stored in the bands. It looked efficient. They are definitely tunneling.

  Why the water?

  Maybe to move Haffa’s troops?

  Ruwen stared at the Dark Portal. Before it had just been loot, now he felt all of Valora’s emotions: pride, fierce determination, and thankfulness. She probably felt another one now: rage. The fact was, she had tried to kill him. This only happened because they’d taken Lylan prisoner to begin with.

  I’m going to see if it works on my wrist. Do you think it’s safe?

  I’ve been thinking about that. My guess is Naktos can track that item, since it belongs to him. But your Hooded Pacifist’s Cloak of Wandering makes you immune to location magic. So if you’re within fifty feet of your cloak, he can’t locate that item or you.

  What if the cloak is in my Inventory?

  I’m not sure. We’d have to test that. For now, you better just wear it.

  Ruwen removed his Bracer of Freedom and carefully laid the Dark Portal across his wrist, unsure what might happen.

  The black strip sank into Ruwen’s skin and stretched, wrapping around his wrist until it connected with itself. The back of his neck grew cold, but not with the intensity he’d experienced when soulbinding the Void Band. It now looked identical to his Void Band. He focused on the Dark Portal, channeled one Energy per second, and willed it to open.

  The Dark Portal opened, but so did the Void Band, his Energy draining by two per second. Frowning, Ruwen focused on his Void Band and closed it. But the Dark Portal did as well. Why were they synchronized? The Stone Carver had opened and closed them separately.

  Ruwen opened his Void Band, causing both to open again. He wondered if the synchronization affected retrieving items from Inventory. Placing his Void Band over his lap, he prepared to drop out something small like the wax ear plugs he’d used when facing the Exploding Burrowers.

  Instead, Ruwen closed both bands.

  “What are you doing?” Sift asked.

  “Using Wisdom for once,” Ruwen said.

  Sift nodded. “Probably something I taught you.”

  “No,” Ruwen said.

  Sift turned to Xavier. “Did I tell you about the Plague Siren? ‘Use her strength against her,’ I told him.”

  “The hot demon you mean?” Lylan asked.

  Sift’s eyes grew large as he realized his mistake. “I’ll tell you about that later, Xav.” Sift faced Lylan. “You know I meant fire hot.”

  Ruwen laughed at Sift’s self-inflicted pain, and then turned, hanging his arms off the wagon. If the bands really were synched right now, accessing one slot might access the same location on the other. And then another potential danger occurred to him.

  If Ruwen opened a slot with a lot of larger items, it might expand the Dark Portal past his ability to sustain it, killing him. He needed to compare the contents of both first and he opened his Inventory.

  Instead of the single grid, Ruwen now had two tabs. The first was marked Void Band, and the second Dark Portal. He selected the Dark Portal tab and looked at what Stone Carver Valora had collected.

  Almost the entire Inventory contained rocks and mud, more evidence of Valora’s tunnel digging. The Dark Portal’s tenth slot contained something small, thirty-nine hand sized rocks. He checked the tenth slot on his Void Band and found an empty coin sack. The bag had contained the fifty copper he’d received after completing his first ever quest, Work is its Own Reward. That had been the first time he’d met Bliz.

  Concentrating on just the Dark Portal, Ruwen opened it with one Energy per second. His Void Band opened as well, and he frowned. Hopefully, the synchronization didn’t extend to retrieving contents. Focusing intently on the Dark Portal, he emptied grid location ten.

  The thirty-nine rocks dropped out of the Dark Portal in a rush, briefly expanding the opening to five Energy per second. His Void Band mirrored the expansion, even though the empty coin bag was the only thing that dropped out. The brown bag struck the ground and was buried by the rocks falling from the Dark Portal. He felt a little sad at the loss of the coin purse. Maybe he did have a hoarding problem.

  Ruwen closed the bands, sat back down in the wagon, and carefully looked at the entire contents of the Dark Portal. Two items weren’t tunneling leftovers, and Ruwen compared the slot numbers with his own grid, confirming his Void Band locations were empty.

  Rami, any ideas why I can’t access just one of these? Ruwen asked.

  No, but I’ll look through my indexes for help.

  Thanks.

  If Ruwen couldn’t figure out how to manage the dimensional bands separately, the Dark Portal was useless to him.

  Chapter 62

  Ruwen opened the Dark Portal and held his now open Void Band under it. He accessed the first item of value in the Dark Portal, emptying the slot.

  Hundreds of silver rods fell out of the Dark Portal and into Ruwen’s Void Band. In seconds, the transfer had completed. The Dark Portal had contained three hundred forty-eight silver rods that looked identical to the one that had exploded inside his chest.

  Tring!

  You have discovered…

  Name: Hardened Instability Rod

  Quality: Uncommon

  Weight: 14.7 lbs.

  Effect: Penetrate quartz rock and softer.

  Effect: Delayed detonation of Instability Sigil.

  Description: A one foot silver rod with a terium alloy tip. After impact and penetration, Instability Sigil detonates weakening the surrounding structures and creating an ideal environment for tunneling.

  Ruwen guessed that living underground meant you needed things like this to make tunneling easier.

  Holding the Dark Portal out, Ruwen dropped the last item of interest into the middle of the wagon. A sculpture that turned out to be bigger than he’d expected.

  The wagon struck the ground and Ruwen winced. Hamma turned around again.

  Is everything okay? Hamma asked in Chat.

  Ruwen looked over at Hamma. Yes, just going through her Inventory. It’s mostly rock and mud. She had some tunneling explosives and this sculpture. I’ll check her rings and bracelet in a second.

  “It’s beautiful,” Lylan whispered, gently touching the sculpture.

  Xavier and Sift had leaned forward as well, and Ruwen looked down at what had dropped out of Valora’s Dark Portal.

  Three mountain peaks pierced through a bank of clouds. The sun, half hidden by the mountains, painted the clouds in yellow and orange. The details were flawless, and even the windswept snow was captured with unbelievable precision. Ruwen felt like a giant, looking down at the planet from above.

  A new buff appeared.

  Serenity: +5 Wisdom, 10% Resist All

  “Somebody carved this?” Sift asked, his voice serious.

  “I’ve never gotten a buff from just looking at something,” Lylan whispered.

  Valora’s memories
came to mind: her eye for beauty and love of art. Ruwen had no doubt who had carved this.

  Xavier, his concerns about Ruwen forgotten, moved up next to them. “The angles are perfect. I believe they even captured some of the sun’s essence. I feel its energy. What a thing of beauty.”

  Ruwen touched the stone.

  Tring!

  You have discovered…

  Name: Clouds Embracing the Sun

  Quality: Legendary

  Weight: 891.3 lbs.

  Effect: Serenity

  Description: Marble sculpture.

  Ruwen had never read a more understated description in his life.

  Xavier pointed at the arm in Ruwen’s lap. “Did that come from the artist?”

  Ruwen sighed. “Yes.” Sift and Lylan leaned back and Xavier hissed. Ruwen defended himself. “She was trying to kill me.”

  No one spoke, and Ruwen tried again. “A Healer has probably already grown her a new one.”

  Still, no one responded and coupled with Valora’s memories, it compounded Ruwen’s guilt. “Listen, I’m not happy it turned out like this either. What do you want me to do? Give it back?”

  A notification appeared and Ruwen groaned. He opened it.

  Ting!

  You have received the quest…

  Armed and Dangerous

  You have stolen Stone Carver Valora’s greatest work, a sculpture so sublime even the gods have taken notice. This priceless item, created by Naktos’ most treasured artist, will put you in danger until returned to its creator.

  Restriction: Return sculpture undamaged.

  Reward: 25,000 experience

  Accept or Decline

  Ruwen shook his head. How much danger could one person be in? And how in Uru’s name was he supposed to accomplish this? But he felt a little guilty, and it wouldn’t hurt to try. He chose Accept and opened his Void Band.

  “Help me get it in here,” Ruwen said. “I’ll find a way to give it back.”