Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Ruwen continued to channel Harmony through his Sacral chakra, focusing on the emotions that radiated from the leprechauns like heat from fire: greed and possession. As he approached the volcano fifteen green figures materialized in his awareness, their forms outlined by their own emotions.

They’d strung invisible threads between trees, creating webs of Creation Realm magic. The strands emitted a sickly green light and formed what Ruwen guessed was an intricate alert system, a trap, or both.

Ruwen paused and studied a dense clump of webbing on the forest floor. The leprechauns had created multiple pressure plates connected to the surrounding strands. The moment he stepped on one, those threads would collapse inward, trapping him. He contemplated disabling or destroying the traps but worried he’d either create another catastrophic explosion or accidentally get himself stuck. The risk wasn’t worth it, as he could easily avoid them using his Divine Domain.

Ruwen considered his options. Direct confrontation with the leprechauns wasn't ideal as they just split instead of dying. The Mark of the Thief meant he couldn’t hide from them, so sneaking around didn’t serve much of a purpose. Shrugging, he handled it the way he usually did.

Creation Realm magic used concepts as the containers for power. Ruwen had little experience with this type of magic but his Activated Sacral chakra had pushed him forward significantly in understanding its foundations. Not knowing how to harness Creation energy, he did the best he could.

Ruwen concentrated on the concept of a hammer. He imagined the joy they felt when smashing into nails, pegs, or stone. Then, relying on his ninety-five skill points in Multitasking, he created two hundred twenty-two of them, one over each pressure plate.

Lacking Creation Realm magic, Ruwen powered the hammers with his Willpower, and swung them all downward at the same time.

The ground shook violently but Ruwen didn’t know if that was from his hammers or the traps all springing at once. Webbing fragments whiplashed through the jungle, cutting through vegetation and trees and occasionally striking the scouts themselves. Several of them were flung screeching into the air, their tiny arms windmilling as they streaked through the sky before crashing back to the ground with hollow thudding sounds.

A deep rumble drowned out the shouting leprechauns and Ruwen glanced at the volcano.

“Oh no.”

Acrid smoke, carried by superheated steam, billowed into the clouds and raced down the sides of the volcano like a rabid animal.

The leprechauns screeched in panic as the churning death approached. A pillar of lava shot through the smoke, ash, and steam. Like an orange fist it punched the clouds, climbing hundreds of feet into the air. Scorching gases crashed into the jungle. The deafening sound of hissing and popping made hearing impossible as trees burned and exploded from the heat.

“That can’t be good,” Ruwen mumbled.

This was the second time Ruwen had accidentally caused a volcano to erupt. The first time had been with Bliz when they’d been looking for alchemy ingredients. Ruwen had wanted to prove a point to some hill giants and scare the local mountain trolls. He’d misjudged his demonstration a bit which had placed the nearby cities in danger of being destroyed by lava. The unshakable Bliz had stared at the disaster with wide-eyed shock. Ruwen treasured that memory.

That had turned out fine, and as the scorching and blistering gas struck Ruwen he expanded his map to verify no cities were located nearby. He extended his Divine senses to their limits, and even though hearing was impossible he confirmed no humans were in the area. The animals had already left the area, probably because so many leprechauns had arrived.

Even though the searing gases didn’t harm Ruwen, he didn’t care for the overwhelming stench of sulfur and created a bubble around himself.

“Not again” Ruwen growled.

The volcano’s burning gases had vaporized his clothes and once again he stood naked. Almost naked. His new boots remained, which only made it worse. To top it off, his skin remained a deep shade of pumpkin orange.

The pillar of lava crashed back to earth as more bubbled out of the once cold caldera. The surrounding leprechauns were splitting every second, and Ruwen wondered how small they could get. Could they turn into a mist? He clamped his mouth shut.

Ruwen summoned his Scarecrow Aspect. He had a bad feeling he was headed right into that volcano, and he didn’t want to ruin yet another set of clothes.

Hey Lir, this volcano reminded me I need a fancy looking hammer large enough for a hill giant to swing. Oh, it also needs to do extra damage against mountain trolls. Do we have any blacksmiths that can do that?

We do.

Can you commission that and put it on my tab, please. Deliver it to Bliz when it’s done along with this message from me: “See, I told you. As good as real.”

Of course.

That’s one of the things I love about you, Lir. You never ask a bunch of dumb questions about the stuff I need.

Thank you.

The trees lay toppled by the superheated gases which didn’t contain enough oxygen to allow anything to burn yet. Instead, everything organic crumbled or evaporated from the overwhelming heat.

Ruwen strode toward the oncoming wall of lava Survey displayed would reach him in ten seconds. He focused on Lir again. Overlord already told you the story didn’t he.

Yes.

We made it into a play, actually, Overlord added.

 Ruwen stopped walking. What? Why would you do that?

Because it was hilarious. Bliz warning you. You not listening. The eruptions, trolls, giants, the lava…you had to move an entire city.

How could I know that entire area sat over a caldera?

Bliz warned—

Stop, Ruwen interrupted. I’m busy out here. We can argue about this later.

You’re the one that brought it up, Overlord said.

The lava slammed into Ruwen, completely covering him as the twenty foot wave of molten rock spilled into the surroundings.

Ruwen changed the subject while he waited for the volcano to lose some of its violence.

Uruziel did you notice how orange my skin is? I thought the effect said ten minutes, but it has been way longer than that.

Ruwen recalled the details for the treasure finding carrot.

Name: Cursed Carrot of Clear Sight

Effect: Color intensity increases with proximity and value of item(s).

Effect (Curse): Color seeps into the holder’s skin. Color fades one shade per minute (max ten minutes).

Ruwen spoke to Uruziel again. It says “Color fades one shade per minute (max ten minutes)” so my skin should look normal by now.

That’s how I understood it, too, Uruziel replied. The fact your skin is still orange means we misunderstood though.

Ruwen’s heart thumped rapidly. He’d already come to the same conclusion. It’s a max of ten minutes per shade. And who knows how many shades my skin contains. For all I know, I might be orange for a thousand years.

Yes. I think that’s right, unfortunately.

Ruwen screamed but he only succeeded in filling his mouth with lava. He punched and kicked the lava in frustration for ten seconds before calming down.

Okay. I’ll figure this out after I’m done with this quest. Curse you Blapy. I will not let that little demon see me this color. If I need to rip a hole into the void to get rid of this color, so help me, I’ll do it.

Ruwen took a deep breath, the lava filling his throat and lungs. He forced it out along with the last of his frustration. He needed to focus on this chakra quest and the leprechauns that wanted to kill him.

How is she doing it? Overlord asked.

The question surprised Ruwen. What? Driving me crazy? She’s an expert at it.

True, but I meant the color fading. What kind of magic does that?

Good question. I have no idea.

How often does Blapy do things on purpose? Uruziel asked.

Almost always, Ruwen said thoughtfully. Wait, do you think she gave me that carrot for a reason?

Maybe, Uruziel responded. Blapy is a gardener. She plants seeds knowing not all of them will grow…

Uruziel trailed off, but Ruwen understood. Some will, though. In fact, some might have bloomed but I didn’t have the skills or understanding to notice.

Ruwen screamed, his frustration returning, and the lava parted from the sonic wave. The erupting volcano became visible, and he blasted the path in front of him with frigid wind. The two walls of lava solidified immediately into pumice, and he stood in a canyon of his own making. Blapy did this on purpose. She’d guess I’d waste time going back over everything she ever gave us as loot, looking for hidden meaning. She’d think that was hilarious. I hate her mind games so much.

We’ll investigate the magic carrot, Overlord said. Focus on your quest.

Thanks.

Ruwen rose into the air and flew toward the angry volcano.