Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 52

Chapter 52

They arrived at the clearing and Pine sat cross-legged, his back straight, and hands resting on his knees. Ruwen mirrored the position and centered himself, drawing on the breathing techniques Pine had taught him earlier.

"Tell me what happened," Pine said, his voice calm and confident.

"It was a quest," Ruwen explained. "I didn’t occur to me that the System would offer harmful magic.”

“I’m still coming to grips with this concept of a System, but knowledge is rarely good or bad. For instance, the leprechaun magic profits those creatures and harms you. Perhaps the System intended you to benefit from that quest in a way that didn’t involve absorbing the magic into your chakras.”

Ruwen kept his breathing steady, but the simple statement hit him hard. He glanced at the Eight Vaults of Enlightenment reward:

Reward: Ceardai clan chakra manipulation knowledge

The reward didn’t say anything about absorbing magic. Since that’s what happened Ruwen had assumed that represented the quest’s intent. He already had a bad habit of overthinking things, and he didn’t want to make that worse, but jumping to conclusions rarely benefited him.

Ruwen gave a curt bow from his sitting position. “Thank you for that wisdom.”

Pine smiled but Ruwen sensed the sadness. “The Universe blessed me with a daughter and a grandson. Neither listened well. They trusted their intuition more than an old man’s experience, and I carried that frustration for many years. The role of victim steals empowerment, and I only found my path again when I took my own advice. I’d assumed the Universe had it out for me, just like you considered the System had it out for you. A simple shift in perspective provides clarity and returns the control you sacrificed. While most ask themselves why events happen to them, an enlightened soul might ask instead why something is happening for them.”

Ruwen’s chakras vibrated together, all of them resonating with Pine’s words. Ever since Ruwen had learned the Fourth Secret and that his life had consisted of events specifically designed to help him fulfill that purpose, he’d struggled with the idea of free will, fate, and destiny. This had only gotten worse when the Misfortune Golem Tarot had revealed there was an actual entity in control of fate.

This struggle had gotten worse when Ruwen had learned about the Outerverse God Aeonrial and the possibility that Ruwen’s universe existed as an experiment in some grand laboratory. The purpose of this experiment remained unclear, but Tarot believed it involved Ruwen. Just like a tool, he’d been created for a purpose.

Then, beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend, it appeared an Outerverse prophecy directly pointed at him as a savior for the Destruction Realm.

It had become harder and harder for Ruwen to feel empowered or that his choices mattered. Ancient beings had determined his fate eons ago. How long could he carry the weight of such destiny.

Pine remained silent as Ruwen’s thoughts raced. Why was all this happening for him?

“A powerful concept,” Ruwen said.

As soon as Ruwen spoke the words his Throat, Third Eye, and Divine chakras flared, like a triumvirate of beacons. He closed his eyes as a truth revealed itself to him.

“The only secret in the universe is balance,” Ruwen whispered.

Balance had become the focus of his life. The Bamboo Viper Steps had guided him down this path which had led to the discovery of Harmony. Perhaps he found balance everywhere because that is what he wished to see. Or, perhaps, balance really was the true secret.

Ruwen opened his eyes and focused on Pine. “Your wisdom reflects balance. ‘Why is this happening to me’ is the counter of ‘why is this happening for me.’ If we accept this, then what stands in the center between ‘victimhood’ and ‘opportunity?’ What concept does this balance reveal.”

The remaining chakras flooded Ruwen with feelings and impressions. His contaminated Root and Sacral distracted him but didn’t derail his burst of enlightenment.

Ruwen didn’t weigh his insight down with thought and instead trusted his intuition to guide him to the hidden truth. He unfocused his eyes and whispered his stream of consciousness.

 “What resides between ‘to’ and ‘for?’” Ruwen repeated and then immediately continued. “Mindful neutrality—acknowledging events without rashly attaching victimhood or optimism. Accepting that life unfolds alongside you—neither for nor against—it happens with you.”

Ruwen’s vision cleared, and he focused on Pine. “Detached—impartial—apart. Mindful neutrality. This is how one retains clarity despite the events surrounding them.” He paused and then repeated the new truth. “This is happening with me.”

Pine bowed from his sitting position. “With the return of my health, Grandmaster Sift has encouraged me to improve my Steps. He confided the path to perfection comes from the relentless pursuit of balance. I didn’t understand this, and Grandmaster Sift recommended I study you. He said Fate has blessed and cursed us. Blessed because we can glimpse perfection and cursed because great things would be expected from all of us. Only now do I understand. Thank you for this insight, Grandmaster Ruwen.”

Ruwen didn’t know how to respond so he acknowledged Pine’s comments with a nod. Sift always spoke so highly of Ruwen when he wasn’t around, while remaining a pain when they were together. He also felt worn out, as if the insight had pulled energy from him.

As darkness arrived, Pine took Ruwen’s silence as an invitation to transition into chakra cleansing.

“I’m not familiar with this leprechaun magic, but I can sense its characteristics. It’s poisonous and relies on external manipulation rather than internal harmony."

After a short pause, Pine continued. “Chakra work centers on understanding yourself and the universe. Power is a byproduct of that enlightenment. I sense your guilt at facilitating this contamination, but it only becomes a mistake if you learn nothing from it. This corruption hasn’t taken root yet, and you can purge it with dedication and proper technique."

Relief filled Ruwen.

Ruwen had no problems seeing in the dim light as Pine created circles with his thumbs and forefingers while his other fingers extended straight.

"The technique combines visualization, breathing, and sound to create resonance that disrupts the foreign energy. Think of it as tuning a musical instrument. We need to find the correct frequency to restore harmony."

Ruwen had taken the Bard Class back on Grave because he lacked understanding of musical theory. He also had the voice of an injured vulture. That had all changed with his new Class and tuning an instrument was exactly up his alley.

Pine continued. "We'll start with your Root. Place your hands like mine."

Ruwen mimicked the hand position and concentrated completely on Pine.

"Good. Visualize your Root chakra as it should be—warm, glowing red, and brimming with life. Ignore the contamination. Now, pull earth power from the ground, filling your Root with its incorruptible energy."

Ruwen sensed the earth beneath him a thousand different ways. He tried to limit his perception to what his Root chakra provided.

"While holding that visualization," Pine said, "Cycle through the following sequence doing each for four seconds—inhale, hold, exhale, and hold again. On each inhalation pull earth energy into your body. During the hold, visualize the contamination sticking to the earth force, and discard the corrupted earth energy with an exhalation.”

Ruwen settled into the steady rhythm of the breathing pattern. The heavy scent of humid dirt mingled with the smell of avocados.

"Now the sound," Pine said, and his voice dropped to a low, resonant hum. It was barely audible, pitched somewhere near middle C, but Ruwen could feel its effects on his Root chakra.

Ruwen hummed along with Pine, matching the frequency of middle C precisely. His body felt like a tuning fork, vibrating to his flawless pitch. The leprechaun magic writhed and shifted under the combined techniques of posture, breathing, and sound.

The ground under Ruwen turned green as the poisonous energy left his body. Pine used his Root chakra like a whip containing the tendrils of foreign magic until the earth pulled it under and destroyed it.

It took six hours, but in the end Ruwen purged all the foreign magic from his two chakras.

"Good," Pine said. "Do this daily if possible. Not all corruption is so easy to see, and if you let it gain a foothold in your chakras it becomes much harder to eradicate.”

“Thank you, Master Pine.”

"Of course. Before we return, tell me what you know about chakra alignment?"

"Nothing," Ruwen admitted. "It’s an Attribute on my display."

"Chakra development is the foundation but auras rely on alignment," Pine explained. "When your chakras are properly aligned, they work together as a unified system rather than individual components. Think of it like a well-tuned engine, each part must work in harmony with the others for maximum efficiency."

"Now that you've Awakened all your chakras," Pine continued, "you should have access to new abilities. But these abilities seldom simply appear, you must discover them through meditation and experimentation. They'll manifest differently for each person based on their nature and experiences."

Ruwen glanced at the minimized Notifications. "I have a feeling those abilities might now be much easier to understand and use."

“Because of this System you activated?”

Ruwen hadn’t activated the System, only revealed a tiny part of its capabilities to the universe, but he didn’t bother arguing about the specifics.

“Yes, the System is good at quantifying and will streamline the use of magic, skills, and abilities.”

"Thank you,” Pine replied. “Knowledge shared is knowledge preserved. Now, let me explain what little I understand about aura manipulation."

Ruwen straightened, his attention sharpening. Pen’s journals hadn’t provided any real answers about auras, so any information at all would greatly help him.