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

by A F Kay

  This portion of the wall sat on a cliff, making the drop to the ground outside one hundred fifty feet. Ruwen’s stomach clenched, and he backed away from the edge. But he couldn’t move that far because the battlement itself was only ten feet across.

  Yana glanced at Ruwen and smiled. “There’s an Air Mage at the bottom watching for fallers, so make sure you scream nice and loud to get his attention. He’ll slow you enough to make the impact survivable, especially if you land in the pine trees. There’s a Surgeon with him to heal the damage, assuming you survive.”

  Ruwen couldn’t tell if Yana was joking or not. “Fallers?”

  “We’re on a deadline, so we need to take risks. Word of advice, though. Don’t let the Air Mage bring you back up. Just run around to the gate and ride a rope back up. The Mages like to see how sick they can make you when returning you up here. By the time the Nausea debuff fades, you could have just walked.”

  That reminded Ruwen of the sled pilots in the terium mine near Deepwell. What was it with Air Mages, speed, and making people sick? He controlled his breathing and cursed himself for offering to help. He still couldn’t tell if Yana was having fun with him about the falling.

  Yana pointed at a group of three Workers heading toward them. “Here comes your team now. A good group. They lost their Band, and I’m glad I don’t have to reassign them now.”

  “What happened to their Band?”

  “After the third fall, I took mercy and reassigned him to carry timber. Some people just aren’t made for heights.”

  Ruwen swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

  Yana put her arm out. “Everyone’s eyes are on you, Overlord. Leaders are symbols, and like all symbols they’re most effective when seen.”

  Ruwen grabbed her arm. “I can’t decide if you’re helping me or trying to kill me.”

  Yana laughed, winked, and then left to talk to the approaching team.

  Ruwen refreshed his buffs, making sure his Warlord Banner ones mostly centered on giving him the best chance of surviving a fall. He picked enhanced healing, improved Armor Class, Regen rate boost, attribute increase, and extra experience.

  As Yana spoke to Ruwen’s new team, he glanced across the battlements to see what his future held. Fifty feet away, another team worked. One watched the knot and anchor that held the Band from plunging to his death. The second watched the rope and kept others from tripping on it or accidentally damaging it. The last leaned out over the edge and presumably rose and lowered the insane Void Band user that dangled above, if not certain death, at least an incredibly painful fall.

  Ruwen put his Overseer Cowl back on, using the hood to conceal the fear he couldn’t hide. He worried his cloak would get in the way, but couldn’t risk storing it up on the battlements because its protection from location magic only reached fifty feet, and he had the Dark Portal in his Inventory. Since he didn’t know if the cloak still worked in his Inventory, he had no choice but to wear it.

  Blood red armor with a long cloak, hanging from the tallest portion of the city wall, made Ruwen unmistakable to anyone who saw him. He was now fairly sure Yana had done this on purpose.

  Rami, your wings manipulate your gravity field, right.

  Yes, I don’t need air or to flap my wings to fly.

  How much weight can you lift?

  That’s a good question. Should I crawl out and see if I can lift you?

  Everyone is staring at me right now, and while I’m not trying to hide you, I don’t want to advertise you either.

  Are you worried about plummeting over a hundred feet and impaling yourself on an ancient pine tree?

  Thanks for the over specific visual.

  Rami laughed. If you were naked, there is a small chance this fall might kill you. Like if you landed on your head and snapped your neck or some other type of critical damage. But with your armor on, you won’t die. Your Armor Class is just too high with all your buffs. Your impact will cause suffering and intense pain, but you’ll survive.

  Just suffering and intense pain, that is good to know. Thanks.

  But testing my limits is a good idea. I’ll put it on my list.

  Your list?

  Yeah, I’ve started a list for you. Some of my queries have returned and I have some ideas for Essence recipes. I want to see if I figured out some spell patterns.

  Well that actually sounds fun.

  Hopefully you survive the next few days.

  Your confidence is overwhelming.

  What can I say, I’m a student of history. And I know enough of yours to guess this will all go sideways.

  Okay, no more pep talks.

  Rami laughed again.

  Ruwen thought about adding points into the level six Worker spell Steady. With one point he could walk safely on anything twelve inches wide. With five points in the spell, he could walk on a tightrope. The other option was the level eight Worker spell Tumble. For every point in that spell, it protected him from an additional twenty feet. So if he maxed it out, even a hundred foot fall wouldn’t harm him.

  But Ruwen’s current problem had him dangling over a hundred feet in the air, so Tumble wouldn’t help, and Steady wouldn’t help him on the wall either. For now, he decided to just trust that his team wouldn’t drop him, and that if he did fall, Rami’s calculations were correct.

  Yana finished speaking with the three Workers and sprinted down the battlements. Evidently, she had invested points in Steady. The Workers approached Ruwen and bowed.

  “None of that,” Ruwen said, putting his arm out. “My name’s Ruwen. Well met.”

  The three Workers smiled and looked relieved. Five minutes later Ruwen sat on the edge of the battlements, a complicated rope harness attaching him to an anchor. His feet swung over empty air and he dropped into a level three meditative state to stop the fear from engulfing his mind.

  With the fear held at bay, Ruwen thought logically about his situation. Falling, while terrifying, wouldn’t be fatal. So the fear he felt was irrational. The time for avoiding this work was long past. If he didn’t go through with it, word would spread that fear had overcome the Overlord.

  While Ruwen didn’t care that much what people thought of him personally, as a leader, the importance of courage and bravery had immense value. Right now he wasn’t Ruwen, but the Overlord of New Eiru. Thousands would fight tomorrow to protect this city, and doubts about their leader would only harm morale.

  Ruwen relaxed as an astonishing realization occurred to him. He could be terrified and irrational, while the Overlord displayed courage.

  Leaving the level three meditation, Ruwen looked down at the distant ground, and his stomach clenched again in panic.

  The Overlord feels no fear, Ruwen thought, and pushed himself off the ledge.

  Chapter 66

  Ruwen, or more precisely, the Overlord, free of the crippling fear of heights, quickly became an expert at fortifying the city wall. He had never used the level three Worker ability Third Hand before, but used it now to hold himself against the wall while using his two hands to remove and then replace stone blocks.

  Two hours later, Ruwen paused to give his team a break. He remained hanging from the wall, assuring them he could take his break here. He left the Overlord in place and opened the notifications that had piled up.

  The first nineteen were all the same.

  Shing!

  You have advanced a skill!

  Skill: Stonemason

  Level: 19

  Effect: Increase construction and repair speed by 38%. Increase durability by 19%.

  In hindsight, he should have worn his Falcon Gloves of Training. They would have doubled his skill advancement. But the more he thought about it, he decided the loss of Armor Class by removing his Overseer gloves probably didn’t justify the skill levels. He could still fall after all, and the AC is what would save him.

  The next notification Ruwen had expected. Elder Vachyl had said they had revived over ten thousand combatants, but the quest must have counte
d them differently. Only now, with their shift to completely reviving people who could fight, had the quest completed.

  Ting!

  You have completed the quest “The Southern Front (Part 2)”

  You have received 90,000 experience (75,000*(1.2 Tutor Modifier))!

  Ruwen had created the structure of the War Council and revived ten thousand warriors. He smiled behind his Overseer’s Cowl, happy to have completed this quest before the enemy arrived.

  The smile turned into a grin at the next notification.

  Ting!

  You have completed the quest “Foundations (Part 2)”

  You have received 90,000 experience (75,000*(1.2 Tutor Modifier))!

  Ruwen had avoided checking the city’s Fortification Effectiveness, but now he opened his map and then the New Eiru tab.

  The Fortification Effectiveness had increased from fifteen percent three days ago, to seventy-two percent currently. The quest had wanted him to organize the City Council and get the Fortification Effectiveness to seventy percent.

  Ruwen’s skin flushed at the next notification.

  Ding!

  Uru’s Blessings, Worker! You have reached level 24.

  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 24.

  You have 2 unassigned points.

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

  Once again, he marveled at his rapid advancement, and looked at his experience total.

  Experience:60,524/300,000

  Ruwen’s other points had increased as well, and he now had four attribute points, fifteen spell points, and twelve ability points available for assignment.

  When he’d first gotten these quests, he’d thought they were trivial. Now, after spending days getting people to put aside their biases and agree on what benefited New Eiru the most, his perspective had changed completely. He found managing people exhausting and didn’t know how Hamma’s mom or Big D did it every day.

  The quests themselves though were a terium mine of experience. And thankfully, he’d gotten two more.

  Ting!

  You have received the quest…

  Foundations (Part 3)

  Defend the city and the precious temple it guards from the invading army. Increase Fortification Effectiveness to 95% and create a settling plan for the remaining population.

  Reward: 100,000 experience

  Accept or Decline

  Ruwen chose Accept and moved to the next one.

  Ting!

  You have received the quest…

  The Southern Front (Part 3)

  Drive back the invading armies and destroy 75% of their revival baths or 50% of their revival resources.

  Reward: 100,000 experience

  Accept or Decline

  Ruwen chose Accept again as the team returned above him.

  How are you doing? Ruwen asked Hamma in Chat.

  Better. Dad wants to know everything he missed these past years.

  Do you need anything?

  No, I’m doing fine. Thanks for asking. What are you doing?

  Just hanging out and helping where I can. I’ll probably stay out here a bit. Let me know if you need me, okay.

  I will.

  Ruwen continued to work through the night, the crew above him changing twice. Ever since he’d Cultivated for the first time, his need for food, water, and sleep had disappeared. As his Stonemason skill increased, he didn’t need to focus as intently, which gave him time to think.

  Do you think this Overlord thing I’m doing is weird? Ruwen asked Rami.

  It’s no different from the Scarecrow Aspect or why I suggested this Overseer armor.

  That surprised Ruwen. You lost me.

  Why do you like hoods?

  The same reason I like masks. I think they look cool.

  I’m sure there is some of that. But it goes deeper. The hood or mask allows you to be something you’re not. Or at least you don’t believe you are. They’re like cocoons that allow you to mature and gain confidence. Someday, you may still wear them, but you won't need them.

  That is not the answer I expected.

  Rami’s quick analysis of Ruwen’s behavior made him uncomfortable. He felt predictable and a little vulnerable. But he did become someone else when wearing a hood or taking on this Overlord persona.

  Overlord has a nice ring to it, Rami said. And you’ve done the title proud today.

  It’s almost like there are two of me.

  The universe isn’t ready for that. And there aren’t two of you. Just you and a future version of yourself.

  Thanks.

  The conversation with Rami made Ruwen feel better about this newest coping mechanism. One, by Rami’s analysis, he’d been using for a while. He shifted his thoughts to his unspent points. With fighting tomorrow, he didn’t want to leave so many unassigned.

  Starting with the fifteen spell points, Ruwen went over all his choices. The problem with the spells was their variety. The vast majority were situational. But some had already shown value, and he made a few adjustments.

  Ruwen added three points to the level fourteen Commander spell Quartermaster’s Yell, bringing it to level five. For an hour, it now decreased the cost of his spells by fifty percent and increased the effectiveness of potions by fifty percent.

  The level sixteen Commander spell Fallen Heroes created an apparition that duplicated Ruwen’s non-magical abilities. The spell also acted as a distraction since the apparitions looked identical to Ruwen. He brought the spell up to level three, which meant he gained three helpers whenever he channeled the spell.

  Bodyguard, the level fourteen Commander spell, allowed Ruwen to absorb twenty percent of the damage taken by whoever he linked to. Helping keep Sift or Hamma alive in the fighting made sense for the group, and for him personally. He added two points to the spell, bringing it to level three, allowing him to take sixty percent of the damage.

  Finally, Ruwen added one spell point to the level three Fighter spell Sucker Punch. He missed his Observer weapon buffs like Backstab and this would be devastating on his Heavy Walking Stick. Now, the level two spell would cause his staff to inflict double damage.

  That left Ruwen with seven spell points and the flexibility to get new spells or level up existing ones to counter any unknown challenges. Staying alive through the battle was a high priority, so he used two of his four attribute points on Stamina, and then added one to Intelligence and one to Wisdom.

  That just left Ruwen’s twelve ability points. He’d left abilities for last because spending these points made him sad. The coming battle, and the coordination it required, meant he needed to spend points on unexciting abilities. With a sigh, he began.

  Currently, Ruwen’s level two Ringleader let him form two groups. He added three more points to the level ten Commander ability, allowing him to form five groups.

  Next, the level eighteen Commander spell Battlefield Promotion gave one person in each of Ruwen’s five groups the ability to make their own group. Every time he increased the level of Battlefield Promotion, an additional layer of groups could be created. With his current level of one, he had given Hamma in his primary group the ability, and she had added the City Council with it. Ruwen’s other group, the War Council, he had given the ability to Elder Yana.

  Now, when he added four more points, someone in Hamma’s and Yana’s groups could create their own group and so on until Ruwen had five layers below him. If he had chosen the Emissary Specialization, he could have spoken to anyone in that entire chain. As a Warlord, though, he needed to rely on the communication to funnel up to him one layer at a time.

  That left Ruwen with a measly five ability points, and at least ten abilities he wanted to max out. The choices were painful: increased damage, increased Armor Class, stuns, slows, debuffs, increased attributes, added health to his followers, fl
exibility on group size, and all these were just his Fighter abilities. He had just as many Worker abilities that needed to be leveled.

  It made Ruwen want to abandon his Ringleader and Battlefield Promotion choices. Once the war finished, they’d lose most of their value. Especially since with only one point in Chat, he wouldn’t even be able to communicate with other groups once he traveled too far away. Was it worth seven valuable ability points for a single battle?

  But if Ruwen meant to lead, he needed a mechanism to communicate to his teams. Many of those abilities he desperately wanted made him better and stronger as an individual. But he couldn’t win this war on his own, so Ringleader and Battlefield Promotion needed to stay. Eventually maybe he would max out Chat, and these additional groups would become valuable again.

  After agonizing over all the choices, Ruwen finally decided on the level five Fighter ability Buff. It added a ten percent reservoir of Health and Energy for every point. He had already benefited from the ten percent he had now, and added four more points, giving him an additional forty percent.

  Ruwen accepted all his changes and lamented his single remaining ability point. Recasting all his buffs so it reflected what he’d look like going into battle, he opened his Profile and studied the stats that had changed the most.

  Pools

  Health: 2,027/2,027

  Mana: 653/653

  Energy: 3,226/3,226

  Attributes

  Strength: 73

  Stamina: 110

  Dexterity: 65

  Intelligence: 59

  Wisdom: 57

  Charisma: 33

  Ratings

  Armor Class: 3,280

  Regeneration

  Health Regeneration per second: 5.59

  Mana Regeneration per second: 5.01

  Energy Regeneration per second: 136.53

  The extra forty percent to Ruwen’s Health and Energy had made a huge impact. Now, even if his massive Armor Class didn’t mitigate all the damage, his Health pool could handle a substantial amount of injury.