Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Ruwen read the Notification.

Alliance Partner: Lyra Glasach Alor'Lyphe
Known Titles: The Red Librarian, Desert Majesty, Sea Shadow, Eye of the Sun

Status: Abdicated Sovereign of the Southern Desert Kingdoms
Current Roles: Leab'Ayl Ribnor (Red Librarian), Library of Fragments Ink Lord

Alliance Type: Temporary Strategic Partnership
Duration: Until completion of Conclave objectives or at the request of either party.

Shared Objectives: Cooperation during all Conclave Library challenges, Exchange of knowledge, Mutual protection

Penalties: Punishment severity is proportional to alliance violation.

Do you wish to form an Alliance with the Library of Fragments?

Ruwen didn’t like the vagueness of the penalties but accepted the alliance anyway. The information Lyra had was critical for his plans and he didn’t feel like he had a real choice. His skin prickled and then flushed as the System bound him to the agreement.

“We should get moving first,” Ruwen said. “I assume a bunch of Ink Lords have been working their way toward me this entire time.”

“Agreed, I’m ready.”

Ruwen tried to hide his frown as he nodded toward the three chests that had replaced the bodies. “Aren’t you going to take your loot?”

“Loot?”

“Rewards. For killing the Ink Lords.”

Lyra glanced at the three chests for a moment before turning back to Ruwen. “I’m here for knowledge not trinkets and souvenirs. It’s better to travel light.”

Ruwen paused, trying to find the words that didn’t make him sound greedy or appear like a hoarder. He was starting to fear he was both. No, he couldn’t be greedy because he truly didn’t care about the money. Maybe he was a collector or enthusiast. Yes, enthusiast—a loot enthusiast.

“I know someone you’re really going to like,” Ruwen said, thinking of Sift and his appalling desire to leave his loot. “Do you have any dimensional storage?”

“I’m not familiar with that. My cloak has a few hidden pockets.”

“Okay, we’ll fix that later. At least take the bookmarks, this contest is based on them. Their Ink Lord emblems should be there as well.”

“As you wish…” Lyra paused and for the first time looked uncomfortable. “How should I address you? There are so many. It’s overwhelming.”

“So many what?”

“Titles, aliases, authorities, professional designations—”

Ruwen raised a hand, interrupting Lyra. “Just call me Ruwen.” After a second, curiosity got the best of him. “Is there a way for you to share that Notification?”

Similar to Grandpa Pine, Lyra closed her eyes while she navigated her display. It was another confirmation her planet had little or no magic and the System’s influence remained light. Five seconds later a new Notification appeared. It was the one Lyra had gotten for Ruwen.

Alliance Partner: Ruwen Starfield
Primary Titles:

Champion of Uru

Divine Apostasy

Maker

Holy Father

Avatar of Cycles

Notable Aliases:

Pumpkin Spice

Soaring Sage Apprentice

Uru’s Shadow

Scarecrow

Famine

Demon Slayer

Prophetic Titles:

The Tenth Muse

Keeper of the Scales

Fate Weaver

Builder of Builders

Conductor of the Eighth Harmony

Herald of the Val'dor

Last Emperor

Professional Designations:

Dungeon Master (Shattered Sun)

Black Pyramid Ink Lord

Bamboo Viper Step Grandmaster - Rank 10

Grandmaster Alchemist of Fortune

Realm Authority:

Material Realm – Divine Demigod

Destruction Realm – Emperor Ruin Val'dor

Creation Realm – Royal Prince Io’amar Thal’ara

              Outer Realm Designations:

                             Voidwalker

                             Child of the Void

Warning: Alliance partner has triggered multiple inter-realm incidents and possesses capabilities that defy standard magical classification. Extreme caution is warranted.

The first thought Ruwen had was alliance notification contained a lot of information followed closely by outrage that people somewhere thought of him as the Soaring Sage’s Apprentice. Obviously, it must be the people who watched the Step Championship tournament. He needed to fix that one for sure.

“Okay, that is a lot,” Ruwen admitted. "Most of those are accidental or misinterpreted. How about we just go with Ruwen and not mention any of those other names.”

“As you wish,” Lyra responded. She studied Ruwen. “Forgive me for saying, but you sound the same age as my son, and too young for so many titles. Navi says gods never look or sound their age and you could be thousands of years old.”

Technically with all the time compression he was probably close to two hundred. Much of that happened while he was unconscious, so technically, from a mental age, he was still a teenager. Something Lyra would probably figure out quickly anyway.

“A lot happened in the past few years,” Ruwen said, which was probably the greatest understatement of all time. “Let’s loot and talk on the run.”

Lyra turned and squatted near the first chest. It looked like a reinforced oak chest the length of his arm. As soon as she touched it, three clicks filled the silence, as the locks disengaged. The lid opened and a moment later the chest disappeared, leaving three piles of loot.

A collection of various bookmarks disappeared when Lyra touched them and Ruwen offered her his best guess.

“Those are likely stored by the library and your bookmark count incremented by the amount you looted. See how the bookmarks disappeared in the other two piles at the same time. The loot from one encounter is all linked and available to anyone who participated in the combat. So you need to pay attention when you loot to make sure someone can’t snatch something before you reach that area.”

Lyra studied Ruwen as if trying to determine if he was joking. “Why would I care?”

Ruwen tried to keep his voice neutral. What was wrong with her and Sift? Didn’t she understand how each loot drop was like a chance to find treasure. That interesting and valuable items not available anywhere else might appear. Plus, it was incredibly fun. Hamma understood, bless her heart.

Ruwen’s enhanced hearing heard steps rapidly approaching.

“We’re out of time,” Ruwen said. “I’ll carry this for you and explain later why you should care.”

Ruwen’s Void Band remained full, so he willed all the loot into his Soul vault. He turned toward the passage the approaching Ink Lords would take. There were so many people coming though that another possibility occurred to him. This Ink Lord must have summoned his group, which meant he’d found a reservation desk.

“I have an idea,” Ruwen said, and when he didn’t hear the normal groans, he smiled behind the Ink Lord Wraps. He decided that newcomers weren’t all bad.

Ruwen triggered the Angelic Field Guardian of his Scarecrow Aspect Hood of Guarding, and an exact copy appeared next to him. Lyra held in her gasp of surprise and looked between Ruwen and the clone, trying to tell the difference.

The clone sprinted down the passage toward the oncoming party. Two hundred people had entered Ruwen’s Mental Domain, which meant this Ink Lord had read the new instructions and prepared accordingly. Ruwen wondered why Lyra hadn’t brought a group for protection. Without powerful magic, she needed more support than most.

Overlord, you know how we used Minions to extend the reach of Harmony to make that huge portal.

Our short-term coma aside, that was like an hour ago.

Way more than an hour, but point taken. I have a lot going on out here, you know.

What do you need?

In general, I want to extend the reach of my map and get better details, and I don’t want to fight the library so soon into the contest. Better to work around the suppression for now.

Fist sized Minions appeared all over the floor, and quickly rolled away down the numerous passages. This time Lyra gasped.

Anything else? Overlord asked.

Yeah, this Ink Lord approaching us has their group, which means there’s likely a reservation desk nearby. Let’s find it and fetch our friends.

“Flying is faster and quieter, is that okay with you?” Ruwen asked Lyra.

Lyra nodded and Ruwen wrapped her in his Divine Domain.

“Are you the real Ruwen or the copy?” Lyra asked.

“I’m real. The copy will keep them busy. It has twenty-five percent of my durability and health and most of my Step skills. Unless the library suppresses those capabilities, it will likely destroy that whole party by itself.”

One of the round Minions near Ruwen’s feet suddenly popped open revealing eight legs. It took all his training to avoid jumping in surprise. He hated spiders. The Spider Minion jumped to the wall, quickly climbed it and disappeared into a small shaft he hadn’t noticed.

We hate spiders, Ruwen told Overlord.

I know, but in the design sessions for this Minion Uruziel said it was “cute” that spiders scared me and Sivart gave me that slow head shake that screams disappointment. I held the line on Centipede Minions, though, despite the phobia bullying, so you’re welcome.

That’s not nice of them to bully and thank you for holding the line. If a Centipede Minion ever appeared, I’d scorch that spell from my memory.

Agreed, and bullying is probably a little overdramatic, but in their defense, we do have a lot of weird behaviors. It’s probably frustrating for them sometimes. Overlord paused a moment. And now I’m wondering if that emotional stuff from your chakras is infecting me. That’s the first time I’ve ever considered their point of view.

Since you called it “emotional stuff” it can’t have affected you that much. And what’s weird about us? We don’t do anything odd.

Well, Overlord said, if you count hating things with too many legs, heights, overthinking, bugs regardless of the number of legs, overtraining, perfectionism, hoarding, social isolation, loot obsession—

Hold on, Ruwen said. It’s collecting not hoarding, and I’m shy, not—

“Is everything okay?” Lyra asked.

That interrupted Ruwen’s thoughts, and he realized with his Ink Lord Wraps covering him, he probably looked a little freaky standing there silent and still.

“Sorry,” Ruwen said, “everything’s fine. Just working out some final details. Let’s go.”

Ruwen moved them down the nearest passage to the one the Ink Lord had entered.

We’ll finish this conversation later, Ruwen told Overlord. That kind of talk is going to give us a complex. Probably more than one. Let’s ask Hamma how weird we are when we see her. On a scale of normal, we’re like right in the center.

Totally agree. Uruziel just said she doesn’t think we’re weird and that I’m blowing this out of proportion. Does that sound like me?

Ruwen steadily increased their speed, giving Lyra time to adjust.

Tell her too late, Ruwen said. Now we’re going to prove how normal we are.

Ruwen considered if needing to prove you were normal, was normal or not. He hadn’t reached a conclusion yet when he ran out of time.

Found it, Overlord said. The reservation desk was nearby, just like you thought. The Ink Lord left a few guards behind to protect it. Should I use a clone on them?

Normally Ruwen would wait to subdue the guards in case they had a way to communicate with the others. The longer it took the enemy Ink Lord to determine Ruwen’s true location the better. But the Conclave had punished him for skipping a few steps in the summoning process and now everyone could see his location for free. The Ink Lord could track him in real time, so tipping them off early didn’t matter.

Send a clone and update the map, Ruwen said. A moment later he continued. Just knock them out. I have a place to store them, and they might prove useful.

Your hoarding is getting worse.

It’s not like that, Ruwen said defensively. Ask Sivart if taking enemy guards hostage is smart if it doesn’t cost you resources to hold them.

Fine, but I doubt anyone else will see it that way. Well, Hamma would.

Survey displayed an arrow guiding Ruwen to the reservation desk and he accelerated forward.

It was time to get the gang back together.