Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 58 to 67 (Patreon)

Chapter 58

Ruin nodded to himself. “I wondered why you didn’t return to the Primal Realm after completing Aeonrial’s job.”

Rami studied her father intently.

Varthon stood up straight. “There are a thousand reasons why a Zealot came to this Universe and all but one doesn’t involve me.”

“Why are you still here, Varthon?” Ruin asked.

Varthon stared into the sky for ten seconds before returning his attention to Ruin. “How did this become about me?”

Rami spoke up. “One thing I’ve learned from my time with Ruin and Sift is that their conversations are erratic, confusing, and unfocused.”

“Not nice,” Ruin told Rami.

“But,” Rami held up a finger. “They never fail to reveal the truth. I’ve discussed it multiple times with Mother. Is it always an accident? Could their roundabout topics and frequent nonsense be a careful manipulation to sneak up on the truth? It must reflect immense genius to so consistently uncover critical information. All I know, Father, is that whatever secrets you thought you could keep, are forfeit. Your only chance at keeping anything hidden was to not speak with Ruin. Now it’s too late.”

Ruin turned to Rami. “Don’t ever tell Sift he’s a genius. We’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Everything I said, and that’s what you took from it?” Rami asked.

Ruin met Rami’s gaze. “You talk to your mom about me?”

Rami rolled her eyes, which almost mirrored Varthon exactly. They were definitely related.

Rami faced her father. “See what I mean? It’s unnerving.”

“Listen,” Ruin said, “I’m just as confused as everyone else. Now spill it, Varthon. Why are you still here?”

Varthon looked from Ruin to Rami and then back. “I mentioned earlier about Void Wyrms doing things they shouldn’t as a reason why no one trusts us. Well, I refused to do something like that for some very important people. Since I refused, but now knew their plans, they thought it safest to kill me.”

“Hmm, that sounds like a really good reason to send a Zealot,” Ruin said. “Didn’t you just tell us they were one of the few things a Void Wyrm needed to fear.”

“I can’t argue with that logic, but it’s just as likely they are here to destroy the last Val’dor, kill the Thal’ara royal, study and then annihilate the abomination Aeonrial created here, or a hundred other things I’m not aware of. I’m just saying this place is a special kind of messed up. It’s hard to imagine a more condensed area of dramatic fates. Everything I just mentioned would throw various portions of the Outerverse into chaos.”

Ruin’s Cleverness activated and he wavered on his feet. Rami grabbed his arm to steady him.

“Are you okay?” Rami asked.

“He did it on purpose,” Ruin said.

Rami and Varthon both started at Ruin in confusion.

“Aeonrial did this on purpose. The fates of factions and Realms are tied to the people Varthon just listed. The people that Aeonrial placed here. I bet the confluence of so much fate alters something. Like it narrows the possibilities because the outcomes are so dramatic. It’s like he’s forcing a massive number of fate-threads through a single door.”

“That outcome Aeonrial wanted was you,” Rami said. She raised a hand to stop Ruin’s protest. “We all know it. You mentioned fate and look how it bends around you. Everything you come near is altered, pushed in whatever direction is required.”

Ruin didn’t argue and began pacing as he muttered to himself. “It’s so risky though. Aeonrial added all this fuel he must expect a fire or maybe an explosion. Does he want to engulf the Outerverse in flames? Maybe he wants to burn it all down?”

“Or save it,” Varthon said, matching Ruin’s quiet muttering.

“Aeonrial would only do this if he was desperate,” Rami added.

“An all or nothing strategy,” Varthon continued. “Aeonrial is either burning the entire Outerverse to ash or what?”

Rami pointed at Ruin. “Or him.”

Rami and Varthon stared at Ruin. The words from the Prophecy of Remembrance echoed across his thoughts.

“Hey,” Ruin said, “how did this become about me.” He pointed at Varthon. “You never finished explaining about Lalquinrial and the potion.”

Thankfully, Varthon let the discussion around Ruin go. “The bridge I created here is locked, and I doubt they have the key. Even if they did, I’d notice them crossing which would result in their death. That means they have another exit.”

“The other bridge,” Ruin said. “The one you think brought a Zealot.”

“They wanted those Soul immunity potions because Lalquinrial’s Destruction Realm allies knew they might encounter the Zealot when they escaped. And the Zealot’s greatest power is Soul magic. If they wanted any hope of passing the first anchor and entering the bridge, they’d need to prepare for the Zealot.”

That logic did make sense to Ruin. “Do you think getting to the bottom of that energy ocean around the Towers was a trick?”

Varthon shrugged. “Not sure. With all the built-up pressure, causing a failure down there would create a massive distraction. Perhaps that was always part of the plan. I’m doubtful of that though, because I don’t sense anyone advancing in that direction anymore. They all disappeared.”

Ruin considered all this new information. He turned to Rami. “What is your secret?”

“He really should know,” Rami told Varthon.

“I know,” Varthon said, the resignation clear in his voice.

Rami fidgeted, as if barely stopping herself from jumping up and down. “The bridges and anchors, do you know how they’re made? Guess. It’s why I’m so powerful. Like the most valuable thing in the Outerverse. Well, that might be a tiny bit exaggerated since it came from my father, but still, I’m amazing. Guess why.”

“Because you have strange taste in boyfriends?” Ruin asked.

“Boyfriend?” Varthon askesd, his tone sharp.

Rami glared at Ruin. “You will pay for that.” She turned to her father. “We need to stay focused, so we can talk about that never.”

Rami turned back to Ruin and kicked him in the shin. “You are a terrible person.”

Ruin leaned down and rubbed his shin. It had actually hurt. He noticed a chunk of his skin quickly reforming. He looked up at Rami.

“That’s right,” Rami said. “I’ve absorbed a bunch of Void energy. I’m like a walking nullification field. I can dissolve like almost anything.”

Ruin froze, the pain in his shin forgotten. Rami’s comment reminded him of Varthon’s statement that Rami could shed her time baggage. This mixed with his own experience of losing his temporal offset after purging the void essence from his body.

“What?” Rami asked.

“I just realized void energy dissolved my temporal offset,” Ruin said. “Ninety-seven years—poof.”

Rami gave a small scream and kicked Ruin’s other shin. “Ouch! What was that for?”

“You ruined my grand reveal,” Rami said and stomped her foot. “How did you know that? You are so frustrating.”

“What? I’m sorry. I still don’t know how that relates to Lalquinrial and his crew.”

Rami pouted for a few seconds, but her enthusiasm returned like a tidal wave and she waved her hand energetically while talking. “My brain. All the stuff I know. That’s how it’s done.”

“I need a few more details,” Ruin said dryly.

“It shoots out of my brain and then it’s there. Like magic. Book magic.”

Rami did start jumping up and down.

“I feel like we’re talking different languages. Can you explain book magic a little better.”

“All the information in my head. It’s a little complicated but basically I push the stuff I’ve learned out into the void and it coalesces into something real.” She frowned. “I lose the stuff I put in the void from my memory, so I need to learn a bunch of dumb stuff that doesn’t matter.” She snapped her fingers. “And that’s what makes me so amazing. Perception Wyrms can just absorb information. So I can like constantly create massive anchors in the void and then throw up bridges connecting them. Normal Void Wyrms need to read everything, which is why it takes them longer to build stuff.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. It’s like you have the void’s biggest short cut.”

Ruin’s Cleverness attribute once again triggered. This time overlaying Rami’s description of filling the void with matter and Ruin’s own process of taking people out his mind and placing them in the real world. He knew how profound the connection he’d just made was, but it made him uncomfortable, and he didn’t want to get side tracked right now.

“How does this relate to Lalquinrial?” Ruin asked.

“It’s another clue,” Varthon said. “The Destruction Realm entities know about the temporal offset. It’s also common knowledge that the closer to the edge of a void bridge one walks, the more void energy affects you. If they can avoid killing themselves by absorbing too much void energy they could eventually nullify the time baggage they experience by moving away from this Universe. It’s more proof that this other bridge exists.”

“Can we destroy it?” Ruin asked.

“If we could narrow down its location, possibly, but it has risks.”

“I’ll see if I can get a location for us. If Lalquinrial is headed that way, I’m sure he has some plan to destroy our Universe along the way.”

Ruin had made the connection between his void energy purge and the reset of his time baggage. This would help him recreate the effect in a potion, but he still had a problem.

“Can you teach me how to repair an accidental rift. Say, hypothetically, a rip in the fabric of reality appeared and let the void seep through.”

Varthon slowly shook his head and muttered to himself. “How does he continually get worse?”

Chapter 59

“I’m not trying to complicate things,” Ruin said. “Honestly, I’m a little concerned what would happen if I tried to make a mess of things.”

“Please don’t,” Varthon replied. “Now show me this hypothetical situation.”

Ruin recalled the details of the only gem in his Void Array.

Name: Voidwalker
Compatible Heritage: None
Tier: Gem
Description: Through an unknown mechanism, the Void has seeped into your personal essence without causing fatal damage.
Effect (Passive): Tolerance of the Void proportional to level.
Effect (Triggered): Void Purge - Once per day, vent the accumulated Void energies from your body in an area of effect with a radius in feet equal to level.

The passive coupled with Ruin’s new fifty levels explained his increased tolerance of the Void energy. He confirmed his Temporal Offset still displayed five minutes and then triggered Void Purge.

Reality shuddered around Ruin and then collapsed as grey Void Energy burst from his body like a void nova. A much larger rift formed this time, possibly powered from the energy Ruin had absorbed during Rami’s and Varthon’s arrival.

The rift swallowed the three of them as the Destruction Realm dissolved in an area twenty feet across. The last time Ruin had done this had been in the Dark Tower, and the tower entity had quickly stitched the area back together.

This time the tear remained, and Ruin floated in nothing. Reality existed just a short distance away, a shore of normalcy. He couldn’t move though, and no leverage to push himself to safety. All his senses revolted, and he focused all his attention on not vomiting.

Varthon didn’t move, but his eyes narrowed and his gaze grew intense.

Rami swam or flew, Ruin couldn’t decide what fit better, around him. He only caught streaks of her passing as his eyes watered and vertigo spread in waves from his ears.

“How is he keeping the rift stable?” Rami asked.

Ruin assumed the question was for Varthon which was good since he couldn’t speak.

“I don’t know,” Varthon responded. “Do you feel the field he’s emitting?”

Rami hovered in front of Ruin as he tried to regain control of his senses.

“No,” Rami said. She came closer until she’d almost touched him. “Yes! Is he creating vibrations in the Void? How is that possible?”

Varthon drew closer. “It’s not.”

Rami spoke again, her voice full of concern. “He looks terrible. Maybe we should put him back in reality.”

“No, it’s better he learns how to deal with this now. He already had significant resistance, and he’s increased it somehow. I also think these ripples he’s generating are protecting him. Let’s give it some time.”

What felt like years passed as Ruin’s body rejected its surroundings. He was drowning, his thoughts so frantic he couldn’t enter his mind. Self-preservation and a primal panic consumed him. Nothing he’d ever experienced or imagined came close to the utter wrongness of the void. It was the opposite of life, of thought, of reality.

Ruin distantly heard Varthon reassuring Rami. He hadn’t liked Ruin from the beginning and had taken this first opportunity to speed Ruin to his death.

Those concerns dissolved as well as coherent thought left Ruin. The void couldn’t tolerate reality. It savagely destroyed everything: matter, concepts, life. Nothing real could remain. Only the void and its calm eternal silence.

But something disturbed this silence, and the Void thrashed against it in the same primal way Ruin had fought for his life. His life. Was he still alive? The void’s sacred stillness was under attack, and despite every effort, it couldn’t reclaim the peacefulness around this mote. This sliver of stubborn reality refused to quiet. Its will to remain defied the void.

Immense pressure pushed Ruin into the tranquility of nothingness, but he resisted. Resisted like the pulses that infuriated the Void so thoroughly.

Ruin embraced these waves, these disturbances the void abhorred. He clung to them and eventually they seeped into him. At some point he realized he and the waves were the same.

Steady pulses of life like the voice of a heartbeat spread into the nothingness of the Void. Ruin took control of the waves and shaped them. First he weaved a solid place to exist, then he reclaimed what the Void had tried to steal, and he laced himself back together

Silence had a voice. A sound not heard but sensed. Ruin used this sound of silence to anchor himself. His footing regained, he pushed himself out of the Void.

Ruin opened his eyes to find Rami’s face inches away, her face twisted in worry.

“Did I miss the Conclave?” Ruin asked.

“What?” Rami asked leaning back. Her worry turned to frustration and then anger. She slapped Ruin’s shoulder. “You almost die, and you’re worried about your dumb library friends?”

“He didn’t almost die,” Varthon said.

Rami glared at her father.

“I wouldn’t have let the silence take him,” Varthon said defensively.

“How many weeks?” Ruin asked as he tried to process his sudden return.

“Weeks?” Rami asked. “The Void only had you like ten minutes. Are you okay?”

Ruin rubbed his temples and while floating in this grey nothingness still made his stomach clench, he could control it. The vertigo had disappeared now that the area around him had structure. He could sense the waves rippling outward in every direction. He didn’t know how far these waves traveled but they stretched far enough to reach the edge of the rift he’d created.

The ripples acted like scaffolding or a ladder or maybe a web. Ruin could pull himself in any direction like a void spider skittering over its web. He now felt what Varthon had sensed right away, and Ruin knew its source.

Ruin experimented and found moving over the vibrations occurred like Blinking or Teleportation. He only need to Will himself somewhere to appear there.

“How are you doing that?” Rami asked.

“I paid for the experience to reach level fifty and received a Specialization to my Destruction Emperor Class. It didn’t make sense until now.”

Ruin tried to project information on his Class and its passive ability. At first nothing happened. Only after he used his void web as the backdrop for the information did it appear glowing between himself and the others.

Name: Avatar of Cycles

Description: Wields the forgotten harmonies of the past to balance the present and preserve the future.

Sound of Silence – generate a harmonic substrate in all environments. Area dependent on evolution, Will, resonance, and base hymn level.

“Voidwalker,” Varthon whispered.

“What’s a Voidwalker?” Rami asked.

Ruin didn’t know Varthon well but he looked either uncomfortable or spooked.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Varthon responded to Rami’s question. “Voidwalkers are the fabled beings that existed before.”

“Before what?” Rami asked.

Varthon’s voice held a hint of helplessness. “Everything.”

Ruin tried to remember if he’d ever shown Varthon or Rami the gem that had appeared in his Void Array. Deryssa had never heard of a Void Heritage and certainly never seen a gem like the one that had appeared in the Array.

“Why did you call me a Voidwalker?” Ruin asked.

Varthon shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. He waved a hand. “It’s nothing. I shouldn’t have spoken. Childhood stories told to naughty Void Wyrms to keep them in line.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Rami said. “Spill it.”

Varthon sighed loudly and vigorously rubbed his temples. “I honestly don’t know if I’m allowed.”

“Who would stop you?” Ruin asked.

Varthon didn’t respond.

“It’s the Silent Horizon, isn’t it,” Rami stated.

Varthon hissed. “I told you to never speak that name outside the Void.”

Rami looked around. “We are in the Void. Twenty feet of it that, despite everything you’ve taught me so far, is somehow not expanding. Not only did Ruin create it, but he’s controlling it. All without any training at all. So let’s skip the secret handshakes and discuss things that might keep us all alive.”

Ruin tried his best to hide a smile. Rami sounded so much like both versions of her mom. That was a weird thought. Blapy and Miranda were technically the same person. Or at least they’d started as the same personality. After all these millennia they’d become distinct though. An idea occurred to him but he set it aside, now wasn’t the time to get sidetracked.

“You sound like your mother,” Varthon said unable to keep the fondness from creeping into his voice.

Rami pressed her lips together, her anger flaring.

Varthon held out his hands. “Okay, don’t lose your tail. I’ll talk.” He turned to Ruin. “But not this close to any Realm. Stitch this rift back together but remain on this side.”

Ruin hesitated. It would take an entire day for his Void Purge ability to reset and that was the only way he knew how to generate a hole in reality. Would that spell even work the same way if he used it from the Void side? Wouldn’t that be like spitting into the ocean and expecting to form a puddle.

“Assuming you can even close this rift,” Rami said, “I promise to teach you how to create reality tears from this side. Navigating is a bit tricker and Varthon will need to help if we drift too far from here.”

Ruin nodded at Rami thankfully and turned his attention to the twenty-foot rift he’d created. He could see the Destruction Realm just past the smooth boundary that marked the transition from reality into nothingness.

Across the entire rift, and extending into the Destruction Realm Ruin sensed the web of vibrations he constantly generated. He wondered what this would feel and look like if he had access to Harmony. Right now it was like touching a lute string and feeling its vibration without hearing its sound.

Still, the sensation provided a faint echo of Ruin’s lost Harmony and this experience only strengthened his desire to regain it.

Unsure where to start, Ruin fell back on an experience from before his Ascendancy. Long hours at the library in Deepwell had exposed him to many things including book repair. Tremine had taught Ruin how to restitch a binding to strengthen the spine.

Ruin visualized the web of vibrations surrounding him as threads holding the rift in place. It only made sense then if he wanted to close the rift, he needed to tighten up the threads.

With a yank, Ruin pulled the surrounding web into himself.

Chapter 60

The circular boundary of the rift collapsed inward, like Ruin had cinched a bag close. The vibrations emanating from his body continued, saturating the Void around him with threads. He could sense the thinness of the area he’d just closed. It felt fragile and weak.

That only lasted another few seconds as the web of threads Ruin constantly expelled penetrated the thin membrane and strengthened it. It reminded him so much of his time in the Deepwell library the memories spilled outward as if snatched by the Void.

Ruin’s head turned as Rami slapped him.

Ruin’s thoughts scattered and the memories of his book binding days retreated back into his mind.

“Did you save them?” Rami asked.

Ruin rubbed his jaw. “You’ve gotten stronger. Save what?”

“The memories, Dummy. They felt strong which probably meant they were important. You were going to use them to fix a simple layering flaw.”

Ruin recalled Rami’s description earlier. The information placed into the Void was lost forever.

“Thank you, Rami. I would’ve been sad to lose those memories with Tremine.”

Rami looked serious. “No, you wouldn’t. That’s the scary thing. You don’t remember what you sacrificed to the Void. It’s like it never happened. It’s sad and terrifying.”

“It’s how many Void Wyrms perish,” Varthon said, his voice somber. “For whatever reason, they sacrifice too much and become husks drifting through the abyss until they die.”

“That’s horrifying,” Ruin agreed.

Rami punched Ruin in the shoulder.

“Ouch, what was that for? The Void has made you violent.”

“That’s for stitching a rift together on your first try. You’re such a showoff. I’m a prodigy and it took me three days.”

“It’s the field he’s generating,” Varthon said. “He’s creating structure around himself without any effort or memories that I can sense. That Avatar of Cycles is insanely powerful.” He turned to Rami. “You of all people shouldn’t complain. Imagine how normal Void Wyrms will feel when you absorb libraries of information with every breath. Something that would take them centuries to replicate. Can your bond do that?”

Rami glanced at Ruin and responded, a hint of remorse in her voice. “No, he can’t. Although his memory is nearly perfect, and he can absorb anything I give him almost instantly.”

“Void take me,” Varthon said. “Don’t ever tell anyone that he can absorb a Perception Wyrm’s output. That makes him almost as dangerous as you.”

Ruin didn’t mention what he’d come to suspect. The only thing more powerful than a Perception Wyrm absorbing all the knowledge around them, was an entity that created beings that produced knowledge and information on their own. Rami’s power was incredible but linear in nature. Ruin’s capabilities, however, were exponential.

“Sorry for hitting you,” Rami told Ruin.

“Don’t worry about it. You saved some memories I’m very fond of.” Ruin grinned. “Plus, now I know how to rid myself of some especially irritating memories.”

Rami narrowed her eyes at Ruin. “You’d better be talking about Sift.”

Ruin rubbed his shoulder where Rami had hit him. “Among others.”

Before Rami could respond to the teasing, Ruin turned to Varthon. “Silent Horizon.”

The three of them floated in the grey nothingness of the Void. The vibrational web Ruin created kept him anchored and provided perspective that stopped vertigo from disabling him.

Varthon took a moment to collect his thoughts and Rami turned to Ruin.

“I can feel it now,” Rami said. “I couldn’t detect it that well with all the noise from the Destruction Realm. Here though, in the isolated silence of the Void, I sense it.”

“What does it feel like to you?” Ruin asked.

“Honestly it reminds me of standing on an anchor, or maybe a bridge. Anchors feel more solid than this. The fact you can generate such structure here gives you a huge advantage. That Avatar of Cycles description and the passive Sound of Silence both mentioned harmonies. Did you regain your control of Harmony?”

“Not yet. And I think this ability might be stronger if Harmony worked. Like maybe I could do more with it than just stick to it like a fly in a web.”

“Stop it, you did more than stick to it. You closed a rift. Which really upsets me because you did it seamlessly. Literally, you melded the seams of that rupture without any wrinkles. I doubt even Varthon could have detected a rift had existed there. You always minimize your accomplishments.”

Ruin didn’t want to contemplate how much grief and punching he’d endure if he bragged about his successes. He did that once in a while with Sift to rile his friend up but Sift had caught on and spoiled it by heaping even more praise on Ruin. He was pretty sure Rami would approach such a situation with punches and scolding. She was her mother’s daughter after all.

Varthon cleared his throat to get their attention and started his explanation. “The Silent Horizon is protected by a fortress here in the Void. The fortress contains schools, libraries, and an entire city to support those who have an interest in, or a connection with, the Void. Entities from every Realm live there. The Silent Horizon are an ancient group that protects the Void’s most dangerous secrets. They control everything related to the Void and are the first and last defense against attacks that originate there.”

The comment reminded Ruin of something Deryssa had told him. She’d said “You need to know that our family name comes from before the Destruction Realm, when the tribes survived in the Void. In the old tongue, ‘dor’ means killer and ‘val’ is the term for the most powerful lords of the void.”

“Are the Silent Horizon Void Wyrms like you?” Ruin asked.

“No one knows,” Varthon responded. “They never leave the temple that sits at the center of the fortress. The temple contains artifacts retrieved from the Void and from the creatures that inhabit it. Legends and fables are preserved in art, sculptures, and drawings that fill the temple. I attended a Void Wyrm academy near the temple and spent a lot of time wandering the temple halls. It is a massive structure. Deep within the temple, a precious piece of art exists with its own shrine. This sacred place protected a painting.”

“Why did you associate that with me?” Ruin asked.

Varthon shook his head. “It was mistake. It’s just the description of your Sound of Silence ability referenced hymns, and you generate a field around yourself. Like I said, it was a dumb comparison.”

“It’s not dumb,” Rami said. “Describe the painting.”

Varthon sighed and looked miserable. “It’s a humanoid figure with eight wings. They hold a sword in one hand and a sheet of music in the other. Lines of notes radiate outward from the figure like threads, and wherever they touch, the Void retreats revealing a realm of color. The painting is called, Hymn of the Voidwalker.”

Ruin didn’t respond to the description and Rami looked thoughtful.

It seemed like every conversation Ruin had revealed an existence that defied his ability to comprehend. He had always felt like a tiny cog in the gods plans for this Universe. Now, with every interaction he found himself increasingly coupled to these distant places. How could that be? How could he be so tightly bound to things he knew nothing about?

“It’s not dumb,” Ruin said. “Does this temple have any gems?”

Varthon’s head snapped up. “Why would you ask that?”

“Does it?”

After a few seconds, Varthon nodded slowly. “Some. They are rare and no one knows how they came into existence. Since the beginning of all things, only a handful have been found in the Void.”

“Let me guess,” Ruin said. “They have seven.”

Varthon didn’t answer, but Ruin could see the confirmation in the Void Wyrm’s posture.

Ruin projected the details of the single gem that existed in his Void Heritage array.

Name: Voidwalker
Compatible Heritage: None
Tier: Gem
Description: Through an unknown mechanism, the Void has seeped into your personal essence without causing fatal damage.
Effect (Passive): Tolerance of the Void proportional to level.
Effect (Triggered): Void Purge - Once per day, vent the accumulated Void energies from your body in an area of effect with a radius in feet equal to level.

Ruin spoke into the silence. “When I reformed with this Saraph body, one of the arrays in my blood contained this gem. It seems your intuition was correct, Varthon. I might not have eight wings, but I am a Voidwalker.”

Chapter 61

The revelations caused the underlying resentment Ruin sensed coming from Varthon to disappear.

Ruin returned his attention to the current issues. “I was farming money to buy these things called Refinement Cocoons for all of us. Then some Fortification ones for the others. I don’t know if they’ll work on you, but we can try.”

“Not necessary,” Varthon said. “Wyrm techniques will work far faster on Rami. I am overseeing her Refinement, and there are sacred places Rami has access to that will greatly speed her Fortification when the time comes.”

Ruin didn’t feel the best about that plan, but he trusted Varthon wouldn’t harm Rami, and he probably did know the best ways to help her.

“Okay,” Ruin said, trying to hide his reservations. “Unless I find something better, the cocoons I saw had a ten-day duration. I know everyone will need multiple cycles so I might not be around for a bit. When it gets closer to the Ink Lord Conclave I plan to work on a time shedding potion back at camp. Come look for me there.”

Rami stepped up to Ruin and hugged him. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she whispered.

“You know me—Mr. Cautious.”

Rami withdrew and glared at Ruin.

“Yes, yes, I’ll be careful. No risky behavior or unsafe activities. How much trouble can I get in unconscious and stuck in a cocoon?”

“That does sound Ruin proof.”

Ruin smiled reassuringly at Rami and then focused on Varthon. “I don’t think these cocoons work outside the Destruction Realm. There are a few details left to test, but if the cocoons only work here, that poses a problem for my friends since absorbing Destruction Essence will kill them. So, hypothetically, if I submerged the cocoons in that ocean of energy surrounding Tower Island, would they be safe there?”

Rami gasped. “You just promised to be careful.”

“I am,” Ruin responded. “I’m asking around before I test it. Hypothetically test it that is.”

Rami shook her head and Varthon saved Ruin more scolding by answering.

“Safe from what?” Varthon asked. “Assuming the cocoons can survive that environment, no beings from the Destruction Realm could reach you.”

“Is there anything in there that’s dangerous?” Ruin asked.

“I don’t think so. The whole thing is artificial. The Havoc Sovereign you killed before dying yourself had multiple plans to gain power and wealth.”

“Do you know any specifics?”

Varthon pointed to Ruin’s silver band. “The first plot was getting Deryssa Val’dor assassinated and taking her Band of Authority for the Remembrance Spire. Getting that band back to the Destruction Realm would have gained him unimaginable wealth and power. He also had another plan in case the first fell through. He somehow interrupted the flow of energy and kept it from returning to the Creation Realm. That ocean of energy only exists because the Havoc Sovereign created a dam to hold it back. He planned on starving the Creation Realm out of existence or, if needed, utilizing the energy as a catalyst to destroy the Creation Realm outright.”

Varthon had given Ruin a lot of information with more details than previous conversations. Maybe the Voidwalker stuff had caused a larger impact on the Void Wyrm than Ruin initially thought.

“Do you think the Zealot was the assassin that killed Deryssa?”

Varthon didn’t respond right away and Ruin didn’t rush him. “Zealot’s represent a peak power in the Material Realm. Here at the bottom of the Destruction Realm though, I’m not sure how long they could survive. For sure, if they made it here, the safest place for them would be that ocean of power. In fact, maybe that’s where they are hiding.”

That gave Ruin pause. “Do you think the Towers would detect that?”

Varthon shook his head. “No idea. You’d need a Tower expert for that.”

Ruin shot the question to Deryssa who responded with welcome news. The Towers would definitely detect something like a Zealot if they remained so close. He asked if she thought the Zealot had assassinated her, but she had no clear memories of the event.

Taking advantage of Varthon’s talkative mood, Ruin kept asking questions. “If the Zealot came across on this second bridge, do you think the assassin did too?”

“I’ve given this second bridge hypothesis a lot of thought,” Varthon said. “Who could not only convince another Void Wyrm to create a bridge but have the knowledge, money, and power to make such an undertaking possible. This second bridge followed the connection between the Five Towers created here and the originals. Who would know that would happen? Who had the most to gain?”

“The Destruction Emperor,” Ruin answered.

 “Exactly. The most likely answer to all those questions is the Destruction Emperor. He kept his plans siloed. That’s why the assassin didn’t take anything from Deryssa Val’dor. Their only job was to kill a mark. The Havoc Sovereign’s job was to retrieve the band and they wouldn’t have known any details about the assassin. Since no one knows the whole plan, it can’t be traced back to the Emperor. Even if the other royal families suspected the Emperor of Deryssa Val’dor’s murder, there wouldn’t be enough proof to cause an uprising.”

Ruin considered Varthon’s words. “That means the assassin likely returned on this second bridge. It also means the Havoc Sovereign meant to return on it as well. That’s how Lalquinrial’s group would have learned of it. But why didn’t the Havoc Sovereign use the bridge long ago?”

No one spoke.

After ten seconds Rami answered. “The Zealot. They used this back door as well and must be guarding it. That’s why they wanted the soul immunity potions. To get past the Zealot and return home.”

Ruin wavered on his feet as his Cleverness attribute triggered over and over.

“What’s wrong?” Rami asked steadying Ruin.

Ruin tried to regain his mental balance from the multiple connections he’d just experienced. He took a few seconds to decide how much to reveal.

“I never understood Lalquinrial’s involvement in all this Destruction Realm business until right now. Here is what I think happened. The Zealot showed up and blocked the second bridge from being used as an escape path. Maybe the assassin made it back or they’re still stuck here, it doesn’t matter, because the Havoc Sovereign was trapped. He knew he couldn’t defeat the Zealot alone, so he went about creating his own Zealot as best he could.”

Ruin paused as guilt surged for lying to Rami. He could only get away with it because she hadn’t successfully linked with his Saraph body. Maybe he hadn’t completely lied since he didn’t know for sure, but he strongly suspected that the assassin didn’t escape.

Ruin continued with his explanation. “The Havoc Sovereign needed a massive pool of energy for this new counter-Zealot to wield and he activated the Darkness to pull all the magic from the Material Realm. He blocked the return of this magic to the Creation Realm by keeping it dammed up here at the bottom of the Destruction Realm. Then he built a relationship with Lalquinrial by nurturing his nihilistic search for truth and by providing him with the bodies of the murdered Tower leaders and Deryssa which Lalquinrial used to create his Aspects.”

Rami’s mouth dropped open. “Are you saying the mess in the Material Realm. The Third and Fourth Secrets. Everything. Was due to Destruction Realm politics?”

“I think so,” Ruin said. “All the pieces fit.”

Including those relating to the assassin, Ruin didn’t say.

Ruin turned to Varthon. “Who can cross your bridge?”

The question surprised Varthon. “From which side?”

Varthon’s response in turn surprised Ruin as he hadn’t considered that possibility.

“How about any side,” Ruin said.

“Technically, anyone can cross from the Outerverse side. The far anchor was only known to Aeonrial though and he brought the Destruction, Creation, and Material Realms with him in Dimensional pockets. With Aeonrial’s skills, I doubt anyone could find that anchor or get through the protections I’m sure he placed on it.”

“And this side?” Ruin asked.

“Aeonrial created a lock and the key to open it. Anyone is free to cross the bridge if they pass through the lock.”

“You’re still here because Aeonrial wanted you to protect the crossing. You’re the final guardian preventing anyone from reaching this Universe and making sure no one leaves.”

“Not exactly,” Varthon said as Rami whirled to face her father. “What I told you before was the truth. I am on the run. Regarding your assertion, Aeonrial was very clear about my role. It only extends to my bridge. This Destruction Realm mess is none of my concern and I’m not involved in it.”

“And if the Destruction Realm entities or the Zealot tries to destroy everything?” Ruin asked.

“I’m not supposed to interfere. I’ll say again, Aeonrial was very explicit. My concern is the crossing I built and the locked doorway into the Universe.”

Ruin pointed at Rami. “What about your daughter? Or Miranda? What if this Destruction Realm nonsense destroys them along with the Universe? Are you still not getting involved?”

Varthon didn’t respond.

“War is here, Varthon,” Ruin said quietly. “It’s been here a long time. I’m going to protect my home and that includes ending all this Outerverse influence. You’re either with me or against me. There is no third side.”

Varthon nodded gravely. “I understand.”

Rami opened her mouth to chime in, but Ruin quickly interrupted. “How much bad luck do you want?”

That shifted Rami’s ire to Ruin immediately. “You’d so regret that.”

“Please no more than a hundred, good or bad,” Varthon said. “I want to avoid Fate taking a direct interest in us.”

Rami turned on her father. “Good or bad? You want to see what I’m like with bad luck?”

Ruin laughed, easing the tension from the previous conversation. “Very true. Good luck it is. No one should suffer a bad-luck-Rami. Well, maybe Xavier. I’ll keep that in mind for when we’re back home.”

Rami hissed. “You’re so mean to poor Xavier.”

Varthon frowned. “I’m very interested in meeting this boyfriend.”

Rami glared at Ruin. “You do this on purpose.”

Ruin transferred a hundred good luck to both Varthon and Rami and then immediately teleported away, not wanting to risk the consequences of her massive shift in good luck.

Varthon’s added luck should help him teach Rami exactly what she needed to improve herself, and Rami’s luck would make her successful at all those tasks. The next time Ruin saw them, he hoped Rami would be a much stronger version of herself.

Chapter 62

Ruin approached the Death Tower wanting to avoid the Dark Tower for the time being. The five towers had all changed their appearance in some fashion after he’d extended them to a thousand floors. The five towers had shifted away from each other and toward the edges of the island because their massive sizes required more room.

The Death Tower was pure white without windows and only a large double door at its base. Blue glyphs glowed faintly across its surface. The temperature dropped the closer Ruin got to the tower and it soon became frigid. Black lilies with silver leaves covered the ground around the tower’s base.

Ruin carefully stepped through the flowers until he reached the tower opening. It didn’t have doors, just an archway filled with blackness. The Destruction Realm was quiet in general, but here if felt oppressive.

The Death Tower was the only tower to not attack Ruin during his fight with Lalquinrial. Ruin had gained the most Reputation with this tower and had even received the tower’s favor, doubling his Reputation rewards and causing others to lose reputation with the tower by attacking him. All of this was due to the blood oath that Echo had marked Ruin with during the Journeyman Trial where he’d saved Echo by cutting her out of a trap.

Echo wore the Aspect of Death which contained the essence of the being who had once ruled this tower. The other four towers had reclaimed the essence that had created the Aspects. Only the Aspect of Death remained.

Ruin stepped through the darkened archway and into the tower. This inside had the same pristine white as the outside and the cold air didn’t hold any scents. He didn’t venture far and sat cross-legged against the wall.

Ruin continued to ignore the Notifications he’d gained during his grinding session. He’d go through them as soon as he took care of this. If he couldn’t find someplace safe for everyone, the Notifications didn’t matter.

Closing his eyes he extended his Mental Domain and entered Purgatory.

Instead of appearing next to the bamboo forest, Ruin materialized near the boundary and sat.

Thirty seconds later a dense lump of power formed in front of Ruin. An eight-foot Saraph, pure white skin and eyes, gracefully sat in front of Ruin, mirroring his crossed-legs.

Ruin nodded to the Avatar of the Death Tower. “Well met, Death.”

“Child of the Void,” the Death Avatar responded with a nod.

“Thank you for not attacking before.”

“One does not stab oneself.”

“You know I’m not the Aspect of Death, right?”

“Yes. Another bears that burden. Yet, Death has marked you.”

“She did. A promise to heed my call.”

“A pact of blood binds you. Old and primal magic. Powerful.”

Framing it like that made Ruin uncomfortable. It had occurred so quickly he hadn’t thought to resist. Now, ever since that moment, he’d been linked to Echo.

“I need some advice,” Ruin said. “Or help. I’m not sure.”

“Are you returning to the Origin?” Death asked.

“Not yet. I’ve got some things to finish up here. In fact, that’s what I wanted to discuss.”

Death waited quietly. Ruin found the white eyes unnerving, but he pushed on.

“Will the Refinement or Fortification cocoons work outside the Destruction Realm?”

“No.”

“Is there anything related to them that will?”

“No.”

“Okay, then I guess I need help. Specifically, I require a safe place for my friends to use these cocoons. The Fortification ones will require access to the Spirit and Soul energy in the sea surrounding the island.”

“The lower crypt touches the sea. Your friends can use this pool which resides within the Death Tower’s protection.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but the Aspect of Death contains the remains of a Death Tower leader. How safe will they be?”

“Your recent modifications to the Towers have greatly increased our capabilities and resources. Your friends will be safe.”

Ruin guessed that was as good as he could hope to get. “Thanks. How do I get down there?”

“When you arrive with your friends a portal will appear.”

Ruin debated with himself about discussing the political situation that had caused so much chaos in his Universe.

“You are peculiar,” Death said. “Your lineage is known to us, but no one recalls interacting with you before yesterday. Curiously within a day of your appearance, the Wardens stir, color wraps us, and ancient places drop their veil.” Death waved a hand. “And how can such a sophisticated mental domain exist at the boundary of your mind while your external projections are so primitive. We are eager for your return. There is much to discuss.”

Ruin through caution aside and started asking every question that came to mind.

“What are you?” Ruin asked.

Death looked around. “I am like this place. Or perhaps like one of your golden angels. I am a guardian and sometimes guide of an important transition.”

Ruin frowned as he tried to understand this entity that inhabited the Death Tower. “You’re a real person? Is that what you look like? Are you a Saraph?”

Death glanced down at their body. “This is an old form, familiar, but not mine. I am one of the twelve. I am Death.”

Thoughts of Fractal flashed through Ruin’s mind. His Dungeon Keeper had evolved from inanimate crystal to sapience. How would Fractal describe himself?

Ruin’s Cleverness attribute had latched onto the words Death used and mashed them together with Hamma and the Affinity Wheel. That probably meant one thing.

Ruin tried to express himself as best he could. He wished Hamma was here as he suspected she’d have no problem understanding this being. “Are you the personification of Death? Like its essence or something?”

“That is a more accurate description. Do you possess knowledge of the higher magics?”

“No. Well, maybe a little. There’s something the Nexus faction calls psionics that I think of as Conceptual magic, and it sounds to me like you think of yourself as the concept of Death.”

“An interesting approach and accurate in its own way.”

Ruin had spent a significant amount of time thinking about how all the magics he’d encountered related to each other and how they interacted, and Death’s comment didn’t quite fit.

“You said you’re part of the twelve and I’m assuming that meant the twelve Meridians which each have a Tower.”

Death didn’t disagree so Ruin kept going. “Obviously there’s five Towers in the Destruction Realm and I know the Mind and Body are in the Material Realm while the last five are in the Creation Realm.”

Now Ruin veered into complete speculation. “The Destruction Realm utilizes blood magic. They’ve opened these Arrays in their blood where they hold magic. In the Material Realm, the beasts of the Primal Faction have harnessed a portion of this magic. Since this power is blood focused I’m thinking it’s connected to the Body Tower in the Material Realm.”

Once again Ruin paused, waiting for the Death Avatar to laugh or be dismissive, but they only stared at Ruin with white eyes.

Ruin plunged ahead. “Opposite all this is the Creation Realm. I’m thinking they are linked to the Mind Tower and instead of blood, their magic is this Conceptual stuff. It makes sense to me from a balance perspective.”

When Death didn’t respond Ruin returned to the original point of confusion. “This is the model I’ve constructed to help make sense of everything, but then you confirmed comparing you to the Concept of Death is accurate. Except you’re in my blood section down in the Destruction Realm, not in my concept area up in Creation.”

“What is your question, Child of the Void?”

“Is the model I described accurate?”

“It’s a reflection of an illusion but useful all the same.”

“You exist in the realms of body and blood but are made from the domains of mind and thought.”

“Correct,” Death said.

Ruin rubbed his temples as he tried to make sense of that seemingly incompatible relationship.

“Are the Towers in the Creation Realm that exist in mind and thought, made from body and blood?”

“Correct.”

“How can all the Towers be the same when they’re in different Realms?”

“An excellent question. Your understanding is not yet complete, but you are on the right path. It would be wise to speak with one of us before your fourth evolution. Most of the twelve will ignore you, but you resonate with me, which is why I’m here. You may find Life receptive as well. The balance is within you, and they will sense that.”

Death stood and Ruin did as well.

Ruin desperately searched through his memory to recall where he’d seen a mention of evolutions. He missed Rami so much. A moment later he found it. The reference had come when the System had determined his choices for Specialization. He recalled the log entry.

Realm: Destruction

Class: Emperor

Band of Authority: True

Spire: Remembrance

Level 50: True

Race: Saraph 

Heritage: Val’dor

Resistances: Acceptable

Will: Superb

Evolutions: Acceptable (2 of 4)

Sacred Hymns: Latent

Heaven’s Gate: Cracked (2 of 8 seals remain)

Evaluating…

Calculating…

Pruning…

Unlocking…

Unique Specialization: True

“Wait,” Ruin said, holding out a hand. “You mentioned evolutions. I received this Specialization called Avatar of Cycles which required two evolutions, but I don’t know what that means.” Ruin patted his chest. “Is my Saraph body an evolution? Or is referring to the stuff in my head?”

“You are outside my experience,” Death said. “Perhaps that is a reason for hope. Explaining too much risks destroying your progress. Patience is required, and of the twelve, none can match my patience.”

Death tilted its head as if considering. After five seconds it locked gazes with Ruin.

“You ask different questions, but the answers are all the same. You see fragments of a larger dream, shadows chasing the light in a Realm of Bones.”

With that, Death disappeared.

Once again, a phrase Death had used itched at Ruin’s brain. “Realm of bones” sounded familiar. When he figured out the reference his shoulders slumped. It had come from the prophecy in the Spire of Remembrance.

Val dor ruin, from ashes born,

the last Emperor rises, a body torn.

Wardens wake to the herald’s call,

blue runes unlock the sacred hall.

Val of fate, wielding hidden tones,

harmonies shielding this realm of bones.

Extinction’s sword through heaven’s gate,

survival depends on the Remembrance of eight.

All of this was connected in some way, and despite all the answers Ruin had found, he’d never been more confused.

Chapter 63

Ruin sat back down. Overlord and Uruziel appeared and sat across from him.

“Where’s Sivart?”

“He’s talking with Deryssa,” Overlord said.

Ruin sighed in frustration. “I’m more confused than ever. How can the Towers be partially created from their opposing Realm.”

“You’re assuming they’re part of these Realms,” Uruziel said. “Maybe they exist separate from the three Realms which allows them to take a portion from each.”

Overlord answered. “If that’s true, why did the Towers arrange themselves like they did. Five above and below with two in the middle. Feels structured to me.”

“Plus, if the Towers aren’t fixed to a Realm, couldn’t they move around? Not only that, but powerful Saraph can summon the Towers. The same five every time.”

Uruziel nodded. “All good points. That does indicate a strong association with a specific Realm.”

Ruin shifted the topic. “What did you think of the Death Tower?”

“Not what I expected,” Overlord said. “It’s weird to think concepts could become real things.”

“A fire elemental seems like a perfect manifestation of the concept of fire,” Uruziel added. “Look what’s happening to Vex and he started as an air elemental.”

“True,” Overlord responded. “But the changes in Vex likely have a lot to do with Ruin’s crazy circumstances.”

“I agree,” Uruziel said. “With the vastness of the Outerverse and the eons of its existence there were likely many people like Ruin. Assuming interacting with such a person is even required. Look at Fractal. He became Sapient before meeting Ruin.”

“Not to sidetrack us,” Ruin said, “but isn’t that odd?”

Uruziel looked questioningly at Ruin. “You need to be clearer than that.”

“Sorry, it’s just Blapy told me Fractal evolved from a crystal into what he is now from being saturated in a pool of Spirit. If that’s true, with a planet made of terium, pools of Spirit should have formed multiple times.”

“That’s logical,” Uruziel replied.

“Then where are all the other sapient plants and rocks and whatever?”

“The planet is large,” Uruziel countered.

“True, but after the gods attacked me, I spent time searching the planet and Lir set up a lot of safeguards which included tons of monitoring. Nothing like Fractal was detected. Plus, Blapy made a big deal about how Fractal is special.”

“I thought that was because he started as something inorganic,” Overlord said.

Ruin nodded. “That’s true. I don’t know why, but something feels wrong to me.”

“You think Fractal isn’t what he seems?” Uruziel asked.

Ruin waved his hands vigorously. “I didn’t mean that. Fractal is exactly what he seems. He is pure and good. I just meant I feel like I’m missing something obvious and talking about how these Towers came into existence reminded me of that. Maybe if I understood these Towers better it would shed some light on what troubles me about Fractal’s evolution.”

Uruziel sighed. “With all the mysteries and challenges you face, why do you create more for yourself?”

“I don’t know,” Ruin replied. “I don’t do it on purpose. It’s just that I’m always thinking about things, even when I’m not trying. There’s this massive puzzle in front of me, and I’m trying to place all the pieces I’ve gathered.”

“Trying to connect everything, right,” Overlord said.

“Yes, thank you. I’m trying to connect everything.”

Overlord leaned forward. “I’ve been thinking a lot myself. Shocking, I know. Specifically, about how you struggle to see the world like Hamma and Gunder.”

Ruin’s shoulders slumped. “That’s another issue. I can’t help but think if I could see things like them—not be so logical—that all these pieces would fit together easily. Like I bet Hamma would have instantly understood this Death Avatar and would’ve known the right questions to ask.”

Overlord smiled. “That’s just it. You’ve convinced yourself that because you don’t see this rich tapestry version of the world like Hamma and Gunder, that you’ve failed. Yet, you just described how you never stop looking for connections. Yes, Hamma’s connections skew strongly toward relationships and emotions, but you’ve already built the framework to incorporate them. You just described it to us. Right now, you only see your side of the puzzle, but Hamma’s view exists on the other side. Connections are connections despite how they appear to the observer. They are two sides of the same puzzle.”

Ruin went still, and the tranquil air of Purgatory stirred. First a small breeze, then a gust, and finally a cold wind that snapped their clothes.

No one spoke, and Ruin closed his eyes as Overlord’s words triggered an avalanche of possibilities.

For the first time, clouds appeared in Purgatory. They raced across the sky and the soothing sound of bamboo swishing in the strong wind reached them.

Ruin muttered his thoughts out loud. “The same puzzle…all your questions have the same answer… fragments of a larger dream…shadows chasing the light in a Realm of Bones…Realm of Bones.”

Lightning streaked above them, and a loud crack of thunder shook the ground.

“Realm of Bones,” Ruin muttered again squeezing his eyes shut even tighter. “Mind…Body…Concepts…Blood…Realm of Bone.”

Ruin rocked as the lightning intensified and thunder turned constant. “Same puzzle…questions…same answer…same Towers…Realm of Bone.”

Ruin opened his eyes as the sky turned white with lightning. The wind cradled the thunder, creating echoes that pained the ears.

Then in an instant everything disappeared. Overlord and Uruziel exchanged a concerned glance as Ruin’s eyes slowly lost their glazed look.

Ruin shook his head as if to clear it. Then he met Overlord’s gaze. “You nailed it. I think a part of you had already figured it out. Or at least suspected.”

“I won’t argue I’m a genius, but please fill me in on the details.”

“You said the Towers’ placements appeared structured. They are. They create the Realm of Bones.”

“The Realm of Bones?” Uruziel asked. “You figured out what it means?”

“The Creation, Destruction, and Material Realms are so different, I couldn’t see the truth. Just like the puzzle contains two distinct views of the world, it’s still one puzzle. Why do the Towers contain parts of the other Realms? Because in reality, they exist in a single Realm. The Realm of Bones.”

Ruin stood and paced back and forth. “Pen was close to the truth. He thought Spirit Fortification of the Meridians was a foundation to the other magics. To some extent that’s true, but it serves more than that. It’s the structure that holds everything together. It’s the scaffolding. The bones.”

Overlord and Uruziel stood as well.

Overlord looked grim. “That means the prophecy in the Spire of Remembrance isn’t just warning about the annihilation of the Destruction Realm.”

Ruin displayed the prophecy in the air.

Val dor ruin, from ashes born,

the last Emperor rises, a body torn.

Wardens wake to the herald’s call,

blue runes unlock the sacred hall.

Val of fate, wielding hidden tones,

harmonies shielding this realm of bones.

Extinction’s sword through heaven’s gate,

survival depends on the Remembrance of eight.

Ruin shook his head. “That isn’t our problem. The Outerverse can take care of itself. What matters to me is this Universe. I’m going to fix it and then protect it.”

Ruin stopped suddenly and bent over, placing his hands on his knees. “I feel funny.”

Uruziel knelt next to Ruin and steadied him with a hand. She looked at him with concern. “What’s wrong? How can I help?”

“I’m not sure,” Ruin whispered. “Something changed. A shift. It’s like I’m standing on a heaving boat.”

“I know what’s wrong,” Overlord whispered in a solemn voice.

Ruin took three steadying breaths and tilted his head to look up at Overlord.

“Think about what just happened,” Overlord said.

“You think I’m not supposed to have this knowledge?” Ruin asked. “Like I triggered the equivalent of a Literary Aneurysm in this Saraph body.”

Overlord stepped closer and knelt, bringing his head closer to Ruin’s. “No, something far more significant just happened.”

“Oh,” Uruziel said, and she wavered as well. “I feel it.”

The significance of the Realm of Bones revelation still resonated within Ruin. It made it hard to think and frustration fueled anger crept into his words. “What’s happening?”

Overlord smiled, softening his words. “What a shameful question from a Bamboo Viper Grandmaster.”

Understanding flashed in Ruin’s muddled thoughts. Hope surged and he stood up straight. Overlord and Uruziel stood as well.

“Realm of Bones,” Ruin whispered. “It’s all one Realm.”

“Go and see,” Uruziel said.

Ruin exited Purgatory and returned to his body. He still sat cross-legged just inside the Death Tower, but everything else had changed.

Harmony demanded balance. Since Ruin had arrived in the Destruction Realm, even in his human body, Harmony had been useless. He felt no obligation or responsibility for the Destruction Realm which violated this required balance. If Harmony really was the underlying language of existence, it only made sense to make sure those that wielded such power cared about their surroundings. It prevented abuse of this ultimate ability.

Ruin cared deeply about the Material Realm. He had committed to bringing it back into balance by returning the Spirit currently trapped with Miranda in Pen’s Divine Realm.

Except the Material Realm didn’t exist in isolation like Ruin thought. The twelve Towers which mirrored the twelve Meridians everyone contained linked the Realms together in a Realm of Bones.

In fact, as Ruin looked in wonder at the inside of the Death Tower, he realized his own body reflected these three realms.

Consciousness and creation mixed with blood and destruction—bound together in mind and body—supported by a framework of Meridians.

Ruin was a Realm of Bones. Everyone was. As above so below. The Material Realm and the Creation and Destruction Realms that existed above and below mirrored his own body.

Only caring about the Material Realm was like only protecting one’s skin. This Destruction Realm was just as important and necessary as Ruin’s own blood.

The Death Tower’s bone white appearance had transformed into vibrant hues and intricate waves. Streams of gold and azure rippled from a steady thrum that resonated outward from the walls like a beating drum.

Ruin stood and exited the Tower. The blue glyphs covering the Tower pulsed as one, launching red spirals outward like blood from a grievous wound. The black lilies surrounding the base dripped chords of green and purple, their leaves exhaling soft, flute-like whispers into the frigid air.

Ruin had regained his balance.

Chapter 64

Seeing so much color in the Destruction Realm dazed Ruin and he glanced at the other four Towers to find them all producing their own hues.

Ruin studied the sky and the immense dimensional warping that stretched the Destruction Realm across the underside of the Material Realm. A multi-colored mist drifted downward, and he recognized the low-density energy from the Universes’ stars. A dozen locations dripped more condensed energy into the Realm, and a few generated a consistent stream of power. Grave and the Black Pyramid would account for two and he wondered what location produced the third flow.

Standing still Ruin noticed another oddity. The area around him wavered slightly. He hadn’t noticed it at first because the effect occurred in a sphere around him and the impacts were barely noticeable.

What looked like waves of heat emanated from Ruin’s body. The more complex the vibrations the smaller the effect. Orphaned tones or small groups of chords would stabilize which he noticed now allowed them to clump into simple harmonies. The complex chords, melodies, and harmonies didn’t really react. This had to be his Avatar of Cycles passive Sound of Silence that generated what it called a harmonic substrate. Something that would occur even in the Void.

The nearby ocean of energy surrounding the island generated plenty of single tones and Ruin gathered the closest twenty, weaving them into strings of chords that he wrapped through a simple melody he created.

A bright burning sphere appeared in Ruin’s hand, shining like a miniature sun. He flicked a mental finger, and the ball returned to simple tones that streaked away in bright streaks, disrupting the harmonies they contacted.

The last words of the Avatar of Death rang clearly in Ruin’s thoughts. You see fragments of a larger dream, shadows chasing the light in a Realm of Bones.

Ruin turned and bowed to the Death Tower. “Thank you, Elder. I begin to see the dream.”

Now that Ruin had a safe place to Refine and Fortify for himself and his friends, he needed to check his Notifications from grinding to confirm he had enough currency to fund everyone’s time dilated progress. The unexpected return of Harmony scrambled these plans. At least in the short term.

Ruin suppressed the surge of hope exploding within him. He hadn’t expected to get Harmony back until he regained his human body. Harmony represented his best chance at returning to his real body.

Ruin sat among the lilies and turned Harmony inward. He studied his Saraph body and searched for any traces of familiar harmonies. The discordant and chaotic nature of the Destruction Energy that saturated his cells made this difficult. It felt like listening for a friend’s whisper in the middle of a thunderstorm.

The discordant nature of Ruin’s current body, while harsh and unpleasant, had a type of consistency that he’d hoped would reveal the remnants of his human form. Something that stood out and he could use in reconstruction.

After half an hour Ruin hadn’t detected any clues to his human body, but he’d detected something else. An island of discord in a sea of discordance. The longer he spent listening to the harsh and jarring sounds of his body and surroundings the easier it became to tolerate. He’d even come to appreciate a type of beauty in the chaos of the conflicting chords.

This island within Ruin sounded different though. His body sounded like a thousand people singing out of tune while constantly altering their pitch and melodies. This odd discordance sounded more like pain than chaos.

It took an hour for Ruin to isolate the area enough to study it in detail. He finally admitted to himself the fractured chords and withered harmonies he’d uncovered was the remains of his broken Soul.

Ruin could see things he could fix even at his current skills, but he hesitated. If he brought his Soul back to health how would his Destruction Body react? It would try and consume a functioning Soul. The only thing keeping his Soul safe was that it had broken so completely it sounded like the Destruction Energy surrounding it.

Marking the location, Ruin could return here after he’d switched to his human body. Then he could fix his Soul. Hopefully enough that he could utilize it again.

Before giving up on the search completely, Ruin focused on his Body Meridian. He believed the Creation Essence Io had used to attach his Dark and Chaos pathways long ago had fled the Destruction Essence of Ruin’s Saraph body and hidden in the Body Meridian.

The cave Ruin had seen in the moments after the Destruction Essence had consumed him, he now felt confident was the Body Meridian. He’d scooped up all the buffs, equipment, and abilities in the surroundings of his dissolved human body and shoved them in this same cave. That’s why he believed those items had become incorporated into his Saraph body.

Searching the Body Meridian Ruin couldn’t find any openings other than his two pathways. He could also sense the Seed Core forming inside the Meridian’s hollow center. After careful examination, he could barely recognize the eight sides that Deryssa had described. If the remnants of his human body remained trapped inside the Body Meridian, he couldn’t detect them.

Not finding any answers Ruin shifted his attention to the Death Meridian. He wanted to experiment a little but didn’t want to disturb his Body Meridian in case it did hold the keys to his human body.

Ruin visualized the shape Lir had given him that represented the combined hardening sigils associated with the Death Tower.

Only Ruin’s immense Willpower and the speed of his mind prevented the completed shape from slamming into the Death Meridian. A resonance formed between the Hardening shape and his Meridian that made it almost impossible to separate the two. He smashed the completed shape with a mental strike and scattered the sigils which also wanted to attach to the Meridian. The sigils didn’t contain the resonating power of the completed shape, and he easily dismissed them.

Ruin planned on attaching the completed shapes to his Meridians but he wanted to do it on his own timetable and not by accident. The interaction contained a lot of useful information though. The completed shape created by the hardening sigils had wanted to attach to a particular side of his Meridian. Deryssa had said the hardening sigils could be placed on any of the eight Meridian sides, so this result differed from that.

Despite not gaining any clues to Ruin’s lost human body, he didn’t give up hope. He had only just recovered Harmony and as he understood this body better and grew more comfortable with Harmony he had faith he could find traces of his old self. One failure wouldn’t deter him.

Still, not immediately finding a mechanism to return to his real body depressed him.

Ruin opened the Notifications he’d gained during his grinding session.

Chime!

Congratulations!

Apocalypse Destruction Core has advanced to Tier 7!

50% increased Destruction Packet generation.

Chime!

Congratulations!

All lower realm Meridian Cores have advanced to Seed!

250% increased Destruction Grain generation.

The remaining Notifications related to loot. Almost a week of constant Harvesting and Ruin had only advanced his core one tier. He’d needed to reach tier level eight for the Harbinger quest, and he glanced at its current state.

Name: Harbinger’s Call 

Description: The Harbinger speaks for their Verse. 

Step: 2 of Unknown 

Step Description: Complete two of the following: 

1) Core Density > Rank 7 

2) Pathway Efficiency > 99% 

3) Essence Seed > 6 

Origin: System 

Allocation: 2 of 3 

Difficulty: Egregious 

Risk: Deadly 

Duration: Extended 

Restriction: Foundation equal to or greater than Tier 3 Level 2. 

Reward (Step 2): Faction-Specific Advanced Foundation Manual 

Reward (Final): Title of Harbinger 

Reward (Final): Invitation to the Spire 

Reward (Final): Prime recognition of Harbinger’s Verse with corresponding protections, processes, and rights for said Verse.

Ruin really wanted to complete this quest as he hoped to receive a Harmonic faction advanced foundation manual. It should teach him how to level his Harmony ability.

Now Ruin had a decision to make. He needed to fix the state of his Spiritual system regardless. That meant spending time in a Refinement Cocoon. The second requirement for the quest could be satisfied in two ways though. Did he return to grinding and Harvest until he advanced his Core to tier eight? Or did he work on increasing two of his Meridian Cores from kernels to seeds? Which would be faster?

That decision could wait though since it made sense to do the Refinement first. Ruin could get some advice from Deryssa on which route would be faster: core to tier eight or two non-Destruction Realm Meridians cores from kernel to seed.

The desert creatures had been plentiful, but they didn’t drop high value items. The acid, skin, stingers, and teeth added up, though. Ruin sold it all and checked his Destruction Needle total.

Destruction Needle (DeN): 7,120,525,000

Ruin opened the mobile merchant. After some searching, he found improved versions of the cocoons that cost fifty times as much.

Name: Advanced Refinement Cocoon (Stage 10)

Type: Enchanted Structure (Small)

Uses: 1

Capacity: 1

Duration: 10 days

Relative Duration: 100 years

Description: An oblong structure engraved with densely packed and intricate sigils. Once activated, the cocoon renders the user unconscious, and using environmental energy, Refines their spiritual network. Efficiency and results are highly dependent on ambient energy quality, quantity, and fate.

Cost: 500,000,000 DeN

Name: Advanced Fortification Cocoon (Tier 3 Peak)

Type: Enchanted Structure (Small)

Uses: 1

Capacity: 1

Duration: 10 days

Relative Duration: 100 years

Description: An oblong structure engraved with densely packed and intricate sigils. Once activated, the cocoon renders the user unconscious, and using environmental energy, Fortifies their body up to Tier 3 Level 1. Efficiency and results are highly dependent on ambient energy quality, quantity, and fate.

Cost: 500,000,000 DeN

Even at five hundred million per cocoon he had enough currency now for a few rounds of Refinement and Fortification for himself and his friends. He might even have enough to purchase more levels. It also meant he’d need to find a solution for the Time Dilation his friends would accumulate.

It was time to do some shopping.

Chapter 65

Ruin stood in a chamber deep beneath the Death Tower. The thirty-foot space was far warmer than at the base of the tower, which was good as everyone had already stripped down to their underwear. He sighed in frustration.

“You won’t drown,” Ruin said for the third time.

Sift tapped the silver oblong cocoon that sat a few feet from a pool of dense power composed of Spirit and Soul energy. “It seems flimsy, and all these glowing designs are for what? Are you turning me into a snail? Shelly would avenge me you know.”

“Assuming this does transform you,” Hamma said, “why a snail?”

“Because he’s jealous of my speed of course.”

“Shelly would eat you if you were a snail,” Lylan said.

“No, we’ve talked about this. If I give her the secret sign, she knows its me.”

“Wait,” Ruin said. “You’re so worried about being transformed you made a plan with Shelly? Are you nuts?”

Sift pointed at Hamma. “Remember when your girlfriend threatened to revive me as a dog if I lied to her? And speaking of nuts, she threatened to revive you without all your parts. Remember?”

Hamma winced.

Ruin turned to Hamma. “This is why you shouldn’t joke with the mentally ill.”

“Does your secret sign with Shelly use your fingers?” Lylan asked Sift.

Sift narrowed his eyes. “Maybe.”

“Snails don’t have fingers,” Lylan said dryly.

Sift’s eyes grew large, and Lylan shook her head in disbelief.

Hamma whispered loudly to Ruin. “I’ll make the modifications. I’ll remove his toes, too, just in case.”

Ruin groaned as Sift’s eyes bulged. Hamma and Lylan laughed.

“It doesn’t work that way, Sift,” Ruin said. “The girls are just poking fun of your very responsible precautions against transformation magic.”

“Speaking of poking,” Sift responded. “I suffered for weeks. Those two evil women stuck me with needles hundreds of times.” He held out his arms. “See my scars?” He looked down at his unblemished arms. “Well, Hamma’s healing doesn’t leave scars.” He tapped his head. “But the mental scars don’t go away. And now you’re telling me it’s all for nothing. These death contraptions are going to do it all while I sleep. That’s unfair.”

“It wasn’t weeks,” Ruin replied. “It was at most a couple of days.” He held out his hands. “But you’re right about it not being fair. It was worth doing to make sure the process worked. Hamma and Lylan connected one of your fire pathways, and that validation was important so we don’t endure this time baggage for nothing.”

Sift tilted his head in thought. “About this time baggage. How much exactly?”

“Each cocoon turns ten days here into one hundred years of body Refinement or Fortification,” Ruin explained.

“And I’ll need more of these cocoons than you right?”

“Most likely. I’m going to load everyone up with luck so that should tilt the odds in our favor. Assuming everything works to near perfection I’m assuming you’ll need more because you have Refinement and Fortification to do.”

“So, I’ll be like a lot older than you,” Sift stated.

Ruin suppressed another sigh. He knew exactly what this was about, but if it got Sift in the cocoons Ruin didn’t care. “Yes. A lot.”

Sift subconsciously reached for Io but the dagger remained in the alchemy camp in the Material Realm far above.

“Sift told us you guys are brothers,” Hamma said.

“Kind of,” Ruin replied.

Lylan continued. “And he said he’s the prince of an entire realm not,” she used her fingers to quote, “just an ocean kingdom.”

Ruin glanced at Sift.

“Yeah, I got stabbed for that,” Sift said.

“Io explained there are some steps involved, but yes, Sift could end up ruling the Creation Realm.”

“Huh, I really thought you and Io were playing a joke on us,” Lylan told Sift. “Or had read my copy of The Lost Princess and the Secret Kings of Velvet Court.”

“More like velvet chains,” Hamma said and then blushed.

Lylan nodded and her cheeks flushed as well. “I need to reread that one now.”

“Can we not talk about your naughty books while standing in our underwear,” Sift said.

“The cocoons require us to be naked,” Ruin said. “Only keep your Voidguard ring on so the Destruction Realm doesn’t dissolve you.”

“Well, great,” Sift replied. “Naked dissolving. That’s even worse. Open mine up, I’m ready.”

Lylan stepped close to Sift and nodded at the cocoon. “I bet we could both fit in yours.”

Lylan’s teasing had her desired effect and Sift turned desperate to start. Ruin opened the cocoon and Sift crawled in. His underwear flew out in an arc and Ruin had just enough time to place a hundred points of good luck on Sift before he slammed the cocoon door closed.

“Thanks,” Ruin told Lylan. “I thought we’d be arguing for another hour.”

“No problem. That really is one of my favorites.”

Hamma laughed. “They’re all your favorite.”

“I’m a woman of literature, what can I say.”

Hamma shook her head and turned to Ruin. “Let’s go over everything once more now that Sift isn’t interrupting us.”

“I can hear you,” Sift said his voice muffled. “It’s dark in here.”

Four silver cocoons were spaced evenly along the stone beach. “After you two are inside your cocoons I’ll submerge them and start the sequence from out here. Then I’ll do the same for myself. Ten days from now we wake up.”

“What happens if the cocoon is finished fixing us after eighty years or whatever?” Lylan asked.

“You’ll stay unconscious until the end,” Ruin replied. “So its not the most efficient way was getting rid of the time dilation is incredibly expensive. My guess is these things are used to get a person eighty percent there and then they cycle through shorter duration cocoons to minimize their time baggage.”

“What happens when we finish all these cocoons and our time dilation is super high?” Hamma asked. “Blapy said something about becoming unstuck from the flow of normal time.”

“I have a plan for that,” Ruin responded. “I’ve already worked it out with the Death Avatar.”

“The what?” Sift screamed from inside his cocoon.

Ruin winced. “Ugh, I didn’t want to mention that.” He spoke loudly at Sift’s cocoon. “It’s fine. It sounds worse than it is. It’s like the tower’s spirit.”

“This is a Death Tower?” Sift asked, his voice growing higher. “Are you crazy?”

“We better get started,” Ruin said. “When the sequence is finished, I’ll retrieve everyone’s cocoon and bring them here and we’ll see how much progress we’ve made. Those that need more body Refinement will use another silver cocoon, and those ready for Fortification will get a black one.”

Lylan tapped Sift’s cocoon. “Love you, Sifty. Oh, I convinced Hamma to let you keep one of your toes. Do you care which one?”

Muttered cursing erupted from inside and Lylan dashed away. Once again Ruin had to hurriedly shift a hundred luck, and it stuck her just before she reached her cocoon. A moment later the last of her clothes landed on the stone floor and she closed the cocoon’s lid.

Ruin walked Hamma to her cocoon and after a brief kiss that required her to heal herself from the damage, she handed her clothes to Ruin and climbed into the cocoon. He shifted a hundred luck to her.

“It’s hard to believe this is happening,” Hamma said. “It’s something I never imagined for myself.”

When Ruin had been trapped across the Universe on Rainbow’s End, he’d experimented with the Foretell portion of his Architect Role. The first vision he’d seen was of Hamma drinking a dark liquid in an unfamiliar bar. Her glass had a stylized golden harp etched on it, and she radiated so much charisma it had taken his breath away. She looked like Miranda or Uru and was clearly a goddess herself.

Ruin smiled down at Hamma. “I’ve seen the goddess you become. I’ve always seen it. Soon, everyone else will too.”

Hamma blushed again. “You better close that lid before I pull you in here.”

Ruin laughed and closed the cocoon.

Ruin covered himself in a layer of protective Harmonies, and then gently pushed Hamma’s cocoon into the pool of energy until it was completely submerged. He activated Hamma’s cocoon and then repeated this process with Sift and Lylan before climbing into his own cocoon.

Placing luck on the others was a no-brainer, but Ruin didn’t know if he should risk shifting any to himself. There was a warning about borrowing luck for too long. Ten days might be okay, but what if it calculated the consequences based on a hundred years? Better to not risk it. He had fifty luck already which was probably far more than necessary to max out the fate calculation used by the cocoons.

Ruin used Harmony to shift his cocoon into the pool and then with a final warning to Overlord and company and a last glance around the area with Harmony, he activated the cocoon.

Darkness took him immediately.

Chapter 66

Ruin opened his eyes and glanced at the time above his map. Ten days had indeed passed. He opened his cocoon and as soon as he exited it the entire thing disappeared. Reclaimed by the System he guessed.

Minimized Notifications created a soft glow at the bottom of his vision, but he ignored them for the moment. Using Harmony he coated himself with a barrier to keep the Soul energy from causing him damage. His Fortification and the potion buff that reduced Soul damage probably would’ve been enough to keep him safe, but he’d missed using Harmony and wanted an excuse to utilize it.

Ruin started with Hamma who was closest and gently pushed the silver pod onto the chamber floor. He removed everyone’s clothes and set them in three piles. By the time he’d gotten Sift and Lylan onto shore, Hamma stood in a long shirt giving him a rueful smile.

“No one wants to see that, Starfield,” Sift said.

Ruin turned but Sift was already focused on counting his fingers and toes.

“Speak for yourself,” Lylan said with a wicked grin as she retrieved the clothes for herself and Sift.

It was then that Ruin realized he’d focused so much on getting his friends out of their cocoons that he hadn’t put on any clothes.

Ruin wrapped himself with his wings, giving the appearance of long black robe.

“No need to get dressed for us,” Hamma said.

Sift shook his head. “It’s getting hard to tell the Witch and the Priestess apart.”

“The Witch has a whip,” Lylan offered.

They all sat in a small circle.

“Check your Notifications and displays and then we’ll discuss next steps,” Ruin said.

“What displays?” Hamma asked.

“I didn’t get any Notifications,” Lylan added.

Sift had never Ascended so his interface with the System was minimal, but Ruin had hoped Hamma and Lylan would be different.

When Ruin had transitioned from the Gem Fortification of Peak Diamond to the Divine tier of Angel he’d also triggered some logic in the System that had upgraded the Universe and his Architect Role. One of the outcomes from those changes was many displays had become available. If one knew how to find the new displays, even though Ruin hadn’t opened them by default, a person could access the information.

“Go to your Inventory and push on the cutout that displays the items you’ve equipped,” Ruin said.

All three of his friends soon wore surprised expressions.

“They’re all there,” Sift said.

“What’s there?” Ruin asked. “You mean the displays?”

“No, everything is connected.”

Ruin leaned forward. “Seriously? I thought you’d take a few Refinement cocoons for sure.”

Hamma and Lylan both wore huge grins which was all the confirmation he needed.

“You’re all Axioms?” Ruin whispered.

All three of Ruin’s friends had watery eyes.

Ruin wrapped his body in a Harmonic protective layer, leaned to the side, and hugged Hamma. Then he pulled Sift and Lylan in as well. They stayed like that for ten seconds as they digested the enormity of what had happened.

Ruin released his three friends and all four of them wiped their cheeks dry.

“It felt like a blink,” Hamma said.

“Check your profile,” Ruin responded. “You should have a new value called Temporal Offset. All of you racked up a hundred years. It felt like a blink, but it wasn’t.”

“The Outerverse makes becoming a deity so easy,” Lylan said.

Technically they had used Destruction Realm items, but Ruin knew the Material Realm had these items as well.

“I know it feels that way,” Ruin said, “and I guess it’s true. I think my Class gave me access to these cocoons and made them affordable even though they were still expensive. The biggest downfall of this method is the time baggage. This was easy and fast, but the new problem is insanely expensive to fix. Not to mention the Karmic Offset for all of you is incomprehensibly high. I’d guess every single decision point in the process of fixing your Spiritual Network fell in your favor because of it. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this feels easy, but getting to this point was extremely difficult. Just as important this method is only viable because I’m confident I can fix the terrible side effect we’ve gained.”

“We know, we know, you’re amazing,” Sift said.

Ruin’s eyes widened. “No, I didn’t mean it like—”

Sift leaned forward and hugged Ruin again, interrupting Ruin’s response.

“Seriously,” Sift whispered. “You’re amazing. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Ruin responded, returning the hug.

Sift leaned back and frowned. “I feel weird.”

“Then stop hugging Ruin,” Lylan said. “Those muscles will make—”

Sift glared at Lylan, interrupting her. “Very funny, Witch. That’s not what I meant. Everything feels distant to me like a blanket is covering me.”

“I wondered about that,” Ruin said. “It’s your Sifting. You’ve spent your whole life subconsciously absorbing the details of your environment through the energy that passed through your center. Now that all your pathways are connected, there’s no more holes in your center. Once you Fortify to Divine, you’ll get those senses back and more.”

“I’m not Sift anymore,” Sift said woodenly.

Ruin hadn’t realized how much of Sift’s identity had formed around that ability. Lylan put an arm around Sift and pulled his head to her shoulder while Hamma gently patted his leg.

Thinking quickly, Ruin did his best to look confused. “What do you mean? I haven’t thought of you in the Sifter sense of Sift since we attached that Air pathway in the Spirit Realm and you learned to whistle.”

Sift sat up straight.

Ruin continued. “With all your baking and pastry nonsense I just assumed you were the Sift that Findley talked about. Didn’t the cook make a big deal about the importance of sifting the ingredients. He went on for like ten minutes about the critical difference between a great and an exceptional baker. That the best bakers sift through every element to ensure only the finest ingredients are part of their creations.”

“I thought he was just making fun of my name,” Sift said.

That was likely true, Ruin thought, but one never really knew. Plus, it didn’t matter how Findley meant it, only how Sift interpreted it.

“Really?” Ruin asked. “I didn’t take it that way. Look at the people around you. You’re a master sifter for sure. How else do you explain these two gems?” he asked and pointed to Hamma and Lylan. “That doesn’t happen by accident. No, I think if anything, what you sensed from Findley was jealousy. You don’t have near the training, but you’ve already mastered sifting.”

Sift sat still, his eyes glazed in thought. After five seconds his brilliant smile appeared, and Ruin relaxed.

“I am a good sifter,” Sift stated firmly and pulled Lylan close to give her a kiss.

Hamma turned Ruin’s face to her and gave him a meaningful glance. Then she kissed him.

“Okay,” Ruin said, “do any of your pathways have values for scarring, inflammation, and efficiency?”

A few seconds later Hamma responded. “All my pathways are around fifty percent give or take ten percent.”

Sift and Lylan both had similar numbers.

“Why that face?” Hamma asked.

Ruin hadn’t realized he’d frowned. “Nothing bad,” he said. “I’m just wondering what to do next.”

“Talk it through out loud so we can understand this better,” Lylan said.

“I was just thinking how to proceed,” Ruin said. “Those efficiency numbers are fine, better than some of mine actually. Part of me wants to maximize all your values before you start Fortifying. The problem is it’s not worth another hundred years of Temporal Offset. I could buy shorter duration Refinement Cocoons. There’s one that only costs you a year of time baggage, but they still consume ten actual days. I’m not sure how many Fortify cocoons you’ll need to reach Divine tier, but I’m guessing at least two. That’s twenty days, and the Ink Lord Conclave starts in eighteen days. Plus, I need to work on a time shedding potion, and I don’t know how fast those will work. All that to say, while it would be best to have your pathways at maximum efficiency, I want to minimize everyone’s Temporal Offset. Maximizing those pathways can happen later anyway along with Hardening Meridians and creating a core.”

Sift shook his head. “It’s stressful listening to all that. How’s your brain not exhausted from thinking all the time?”

Ruin had left a significant number of variables out of his explanation. He thought of Uruziel’s description about his pursuit of perfection. “Since I have the mental cycles, I use them to maximize efficiency and get as close to perfect as possible. I just want to do my best.”

“I knew before you finished the second sentence, we should move on to Fortifying. Probably because good decisions come naturally to me.”

“Good decisions come naturally to you?” Ruin repeated in disbelief.

“You said yourself I’m a Master Sifter. Hate the pastry not the baker.”

Ruin bit his lip and silently berated himself for giving Sift a new talking point to justify his babbling.

“Did your efficiency go up?” Hamma asked.

Sighing, Ruin focused back on himself. Hamma had expertly guided him away from spiraling into a stupid argument with Sift.

“Right,” Ruin said, “let me check.”

Chapter 67

Ruin opened his Harvesting view and noticed immediately that the yellow and red pathways had disappeared. Now all his pathways had a soothing green shade. Maybe the combination of luck and one hundred years had been enough to fix all his problems.

In the middle of the display sat a large circle representing Ruin’s Center. It had twelve smaller circles surrounding it which represented his Meridians. Two pathways attached his Center to each Meridian, one for the route into his Meridian and the other representing the return path. Before, each of these pathways contained details that had differed significantly. Now, the values were far more uniform.

Ruin looked at his Dark Meridian pathways, which had been an angry red before, but now had the same soothing green as the other pathways. A text box appeared when he wished for a comparison between the current values and his old ones.

Scarring: 80% to 0%

Inflammation: 92% to 0%

Width: 4% to 80%

Durability: 2% to 10%

Efficiency: < 1% to 99.1%

All the pathways had an efficiency above ninety-nine percent which was one of the criteria for the Harbinger quest.

The left side of the display contained the Divine Circle with the twelve Meridians arranged like a clock. Ruin studied them, but the Refinement cocoon hadn’t changed them or his Core.

Ruin returned his attention to his friends, and he couldn’t suppress a grin. “It fixed all my pathways.”

Ruin’s friends all showed genuine happiness for his success and it reminded him that Sift wasn’t the only one good at surrounding himself with gems.

“Thanks,” Ruin said. “That means I’m going to stay out here this time. While you all Fortify I’m going to work on my Core.” He kept it simple since explaining Meridian Cores would only confuse them because it only applied to a Destruction Core.

“What if someone explodes like you did?” Sift asked.

When Ruin had transitioned from Peak Diamond to Divine Angel the barrier Uru had placed around his Soul during Ascendancy had exploded and done considerable damage to Miranda’s Divine Realm.

“That happened for two reasons,” Ruin said. “First, I’d stretched the shell Uru had placed around my Soul because of all the stuff going on in my head. Two, I needed access to my Soul’s energy.”

Ruin pointed at the pool of energy ten feet away. “Hamma and Lylan will transition through the four stages of the Metal tier by using the Spirit in that pool. Sift you’ve already Fortified to the Gem tier and as you advance through the stages of Gem you’ll also use the Spirit in the pool. Hamma and Lylan will do the same when they reach Gem. To transition into the Divine tier, you need to upgrade the energy saturating your cells. Specifically, all the Spirit you’ve Fortified your body with will be replaced with Soul energy.”

“Boom!” Sift said.

“Stop it,” Ruin scolded. “The cocoons can pull Soul energy from the ocean of power this pool connects to. That’s what Hamma and Lylan will tap. When this is all done, the Temples back home won’t be able to back you up anymore. Hopefully that’s a short lived problem as Fractal and Blapy almost have their God Stone ready. We’ll need to meet with Uru and maybe other deities to figure out how to remove the barrier around your Soul. Hopefully the fact you’ll both be goddesses will make that much easier.”

Ruin faced Sift. “I’m less sure what will happen with you. Your Soul has reached level three and is significantly more powerful than anyone else in this universe. If the cocoon uses that instead of the normal powered Soul energy I think it might make you more powerful than a normal deity.”

“Why’s that?” Sift asked.

“Because the vibrational density of your Soul power is much greater than normal. That might translate into additional power in your cells.”

Sift considered that. “You should put our cocoons together. Maybe my Soul power will leak into the surroundings, or their cocoons will find a way to siphon off mine.”

“We can’t do that,” Lylan said. “What if that weakens you?”

Sift flexed his bicep. “I’m too strong now. Imagine the crying from Ruin if I get supercharged muscles.”

“You shouldn’t weaken yourself for us,” Hamma said.

Sift turned serious. “I’ve benefited greatly from watching Ruin almost constantly fail. The three of us and Rami are probably the only ones who know the extent of those failures. Ruin is relentless, obsessive, and—”

Ruin interrupted. “How did this turn into a punch Ruin conversation?”

Sift glanced in irritation at Ruin and continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “Impatient. One thing never changes though. He makes those around him better. And in Echo’s case, he even helped an enemy. An enemy that returned that generosity by saving our lives. The point is he shares his strength to make the tribe stronger. We all know the fastest and easiest thing Ruin could’ve done to reach his goals was to ditch us in Deepwell. Instead, he dragged us along. And soon we’ll be deities. Maybe finally, after all this time, we’ll be strong enough to not hold him back. To actually help. So, knowing all that, do you think I care if I’m fifty percent weaker if it makes each of you twenty-five percent stronger? How could I live with myself?”

Lylan squeezed Sift’s hand and Hamma gave a small bow. His confession over, he now looked terribly uncomfortable and possibly embarrassed by the heartfelt admissions.

“You really do owe me a lot, Sift,” Ruin said thoughtfully.

Sift’s embarrassment disappeared, and he pointed a finger at Ruin, preparing to start an argument.

Lylan grabbed Sift’s finger and gently pulled it down. He smiled at her and then at Ruin. “Yeah, I do.”

Ruin stared at Lylan in horror. “Are you wrecking my fun?”

 “He’s a prince now,” Lylan responded. “He needs to learn how to avoid manipulation if he’s to be a great king. Setting a good example for his little brother is important, too.”

“Not that again,” Ruin said. “You can’t just—”

Hamma patted Ruin’s leg, interrupting him. “Shade’s first rule: a hungry target springs the cheapest trap.”

Ruin understood Hamma’s warning, and he gave her a smile. “Point taken.” He turned to Lylan and gave her a nod. “Thank you for demonstrating how easy Sift is to control.”

Sift clenched his jaw but somehow kept himself from responding.

“You two are impossible,” Lylan said.

Hamma stood and everyone followed. Ruin placed three Advanced Fortification Cocoons next to each other and once again he collected his friends’ clothes and placed them in storage.

The three friends entered the cocoons in silence and Ruin sensed their nervousness.

“When you wake up your body will be different,” Ruin said, “but nothing else will change.”

The luck remained on all three so Ruin closed the lids and used Harmony to bind them together. Then he submerged the cocoons in the pool and set a timer for ten days. He couldn’t wait to see how they’d emerge. Sift would likely make it to Divine since he’d already reached Gem, but Ruin didn’t know about Hamma and Lylan.

Ruin needed to advance two Meridian kernels to seeds. The five Meridians associated with the Creation Realm would likely be extra difficult in this form. That left the Body and Mind Meridians. He’d spend at least a few days trying to reach the seed state, and if he didn’t make much progress he’d go farm beasts until he leveled his Core from seven to eight.

Ruin wondered if the Material Realm might be a better place to work on those Meridians since that is where they were anchored. His body would be weaker outside the Destruction Realm though, which might affect his progress.

Displaced air warned Ruin of a new presence, and he turned.

The white form of the Death Tower’s Avatar stood like a statue twenty feet away.

“Child of the Void I regretfully intrude. The Dark Tower has asked for help in finding you. I did not reveal your presence here but wished to inform you of this circumstance.”

“Thank you, did they say why?”

“No. The request just occurred. I sensed no urgency which hints that the Dark Tower is requesting this out of obligation not need.”

“Is it common for the Towers to have obligations?”

“No. I cannot answer for my peers, but there are only a handful of entities that I would speak with. It is difficult to imagine any situation where I would offer support.”

“And yet this is the second conversation we’ve had.”

The Death avatar gave a curt nod. “Correct. Those of us that personify these Towers have little in common other than our duty. Some involve themselves with religion or politics in support of their duty. Differing views cause tension and sometimes strife between us.”

Ruin held up his right wrist. “It’s because of her mark, isn’t it?”