Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The leprechauns reminded Ruwen of tiny green bugs. That association increased his anxiety level enough that he channeled level two Scrub to his hands.

Hands now glowing white with cleansing power, Ruwen placed one on top of his head and the other over his stomach. The rapid vibrations spread over his Scarecrow Aspect. The leprechauns didn’t immediately die, but the iron needles that impaled them heated rapidly from the vibrations. The leprechauns screeched as the smell of cooking meat surrounded him.

Notifications appeared.

Shing!

You have advanced a skill!

Skill: Cooking

Level: 260 to 262

Effect: Prepared food increases Stamina by 131%. Prepared drink increases all Regen by 26%.

Shing!

You have learned a new skill!

Skill: Grilling

Level: 10

Effect: Grilled food increases Strength by 5%.

Staring at the Grilling Notification Ruwen whispered in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding.”

Then it got worse.

Ping!

You have earned the following Title…

Lepre-kabab

Requirement: Skewer over one thousand leprechauns simultaneously before grilling them.

Attribute Bonus: +100 Nimbleness

Effect (Passive): Pot o’ Pain - Loot from Fae increased by 10%.

Effect (Triggered): Field of Clover – Once per week temporarily summon one thousand random leprechauns from the Creation Realm for fifteen seconds. (Note: Leprechauns will arrive angry, use caution).

Effect (Triggered): Iron Chef – 15-minute buff that disrupts Fae magic reducing damage from Fae by 10%, increasing damage against Fae by 10%, and adds 10% Cooking bonus when grilling.

The recent Titles certainly had benefits, but Ruwen couldn’t help but feel a little mocked. The cooking bonus just seemed wrong. This dungeon-planet’s sick humor might rival Blapy’s.

Still, even if the Title made Ruwen a little uncomfortable it wasn’t enough to ignore the benefit of Iron Chef and he triggered the buff.

The medium-rare leprechauns squirming and smoking across every inch of Ruwen’s Scarecrow Aspect increased the ferocity of their attacks. He pulsed Scrub to level four and the cooking leprechauns, along with the iron skewers, vaporized into a mist of green blood and iron filings.

Free of leprechauns, Ruwen immediately Blinked to the top of the crater, but not before a sweet coppery taste filled his mouth. He grimaced knowing he’d just tasted tiny flakes of iron covered in leprechaun blood. He held Scrub another moment to clean the Scarecrow Aspect and then dismissed it.

Once again Ruwen revealed his naked orange body, and he quickly knelt in the river. He scooped up some brown water with a cupped hand and brought it to his mouth. The river water tasted like mud and smelled like rotting leaves. He swished it violently for three seconds before spitting it out.

Multiple Notifications appeared warning Ruwen the water had caused a Resistance check against Poison and two Disease checks for parasites and worms.

Ruwen felt confident his Resistances could easily keep the river water from hurting him, but he filled his mouth with Soul Energy anyway causing the bottom of his face to melt away. For good measure he channeled the Soul Energy down his throat and into his stomach. He winced at the self-inflected pain as nearby organs burned, but the anxiety of a parasite or worm infestation would have been far worse.

Thank the heavens nobody was here to see that, Overlord told Ruwen.

Ruwen ignored the reference to his possible overreaction to getting leprechaun blood in his mouth. Why does it taste like sugar water?

Why did you drink it?

I didn’t drink it! Ruwen said a little too loudly. He calmed himself. I’m guessing that mist had enough Creation Essence to slip through the Aspect. I didn’t do it on purpose.

Ruwen looked nervously for any minimized Notifications. He was worried this dungeon would give him a title for it.

The leprechauns hadn’t climbed up the crater far enough to enter his Mental Domain and so far none had teleported to his position. Maybe the Iron Chef buff interfered with their magic enough to prevent translocation magic. It meant he had a moment to figure out how to kill these irritating creatures.

Ruwen noticed the dark orange hue of his skin and immediately entered Last Breath.

It’s been a couple of minutes since I used that cursed carrot, shouldn’t my skin be twenty percent lighter?

Maybe it ramps up near the end of the ten-minute duration, Overlord offered.

That relieved Ruwen. Yeah, I bet that’s it. Any ideas on how to kill these guys? I’ve tried Harmony, Soul, and Spirit magic without luck. They just keep dividing. I’m assuming Destruction Essence will work but probably destroy this entire area. The Voidwalker gem will let me Void Purge once per day, but that seems like overkill, and I can only do it once.

Uruziel spoke up. The leprechauns originated in the Creation Realm so maybe we should focus on how to counter Creation magic.

Very good idea, Ruwen said. Most of my experience with the Creation Realm centers on Io, but that dagger doesn’t reveal things in a straightforward manner. I doubt he’d be much help even if we took a detour back to the alchemy camp. That leaves what I’ve learned from Hamma, which is that Creation magic is abstract and conceptual with ties into emotions and connections.

So fighting leprechauns might be related to the concept of one, Overlord repeated.

Hearing Overlord say it triggered the memory of Lir’s explanation earlier.

Lir? Ruwen asked. If you had to boil a leprechaun—

Lir interrupted Ruwen. Is grilling them not sufficient?

The interruption and response shocked Ruwen. Was that a joke?

Yes, I calculated the recent cooking event coupled with your unfinished statement of “boil a leprechaun” would be funny. It required me to interrupt you, however. Was my remark not funny?

Actually, Ruwen said, it was hilarious. It just shocked me. Well done. From now on, I’ll be more prepared for your humor. Also, no more explaining jokes. It ruins them.

Understood.

Ruwen liked the direction Lir had decided to travel. People without a sense of humor worried him.

Anyway, Ruwen said, if you had to boil a leprechaun down to its core concept, what would that be?

Greed, desire, and selfishness, Lir responded.

Ruwen asked everyone. How would those concepts manifest here?

As I explained earlier, Lir said, the folklore mentions burying a coin to summon one. They are also commonly depicted with pots of gold which are hidden under or near rainbows.

Aren’t rainbows illusions caused by light’s refraction in water vapor? Overlord asked.

That is correct, Lir replied. Leprechauns like rainbows for the exact reason they can never be reached by a Material Realm being.

What are you thinking? Uruziel asked Ruwen.

Since I can’t kill the leprechauns directly, I wondered if something else protected or maybe anchored them here in the Material Realm. Since they originate from the Creation Realm I thought it might be conceptual somehow.

Treasure, Overlord said.

That’s what I’m thinking too, Ruwen replied. If I can find some buried treasure around here that would confirm it.

Everyone agreed and Ruwen let Last Breath go.

Ruwen scanned the dense jungle that grew right up to the riverbank. Where would these leprechaun scouts hide their treasure? He guessed they’d want to keep it close. Once again he clothed himself in Black Pyramid Shade gear and used his Destruction Essence cloak as a wrapping for his head and face.

Survey, Stone Echo, and Sixth Sense remained active, and they didn’t reveal any stashes nearby. Those spells hadn’t worked in the leprechaun vault either, which meant he’d need to use that cursed carrot.

Before getting the magic item, Ruwen pushed Harmony into the surroundings, but he couldn’t see or feel anything that didn’t belong. His Mental and Divine Domain also didn’t detect anything.

The leprechauns had made it halfway up the crater, so Ruwen sighed and pulled the Cursed Carrot of Clear Sight from Inventory.

Ruwen quickly turned in a circle and to his immense satisfaction the carrot detected something. He raced in that direction, as he entered the trees he glanced back. The leprechuans flowed over the rim of the crater like green quicksilver. They continued to merge, flowing together like droplets of water and they’d already reached two feet in height.

The leprechaun with the twisted staff hissed in Ruwen direction. The language sounded like crushing leaves and snapping twigs. Hey You couldn’t translate it, but the hatred and malice made the intent clear.

The tracking magic meant Ruwen couldn’t hide from the leprechauns, so he didn’t bother trying to stealth. He Blinked in small bursts through the trees, paying attention to the sensations the cursed carrot provided.

The leprechauns had reformed into just five bodies, and they spread out around Ruwen. At first he thought they’d surrounded him for an attack but from their movements it became apparent Iron Chef interfered with the tracking magic in some fashion.

The carrot had taken Ruwen to a massive kapok tree whose roots spread across the jungle floor like thick veins. The treasure hunting carrot had led him here but no matter what he tried he couldn’t find anything. The humid air held the heavy scent of rotting vegetation laced with traces of sweet flowers. His Mental Domain stretched around him, tracking the five leprechauns as they silently navigated the jungle.

Ruwen didn’t have long to figure this out and if the leprechaun that had stashed their treasure here figured out what Ruwen was doing, they’d be here in seconds.

It frustrated Ruwen that even with the improvements his Sacral chakra had provided, Harmony couldn’t sense this Creation Realm magic.

The kapok tree loomed over Ruwen, its trunk wider than ten men standing shoulder to shoulder. He circled it, searching with Divine Perception and Harmony. High-pitched laughter echoed through the jungle along with more unintelligible words in that unpleasant language. He assumed they were taunting or mocking him.

The leprechauns had circled Ruwen now and would likely attack in moments. He didn’t get angry with himself, but he was frustrated. Why was this Conceptual magic so hard for him? He knew the treasure was there, but he couldn’t detect it.

Not sure what else to try, Ruwen examined his newly Activated Sacral chakra. There was no magical essence or power that he could spread around the area like some magic revealing mist. He wondered if once he Awakened the chakra if it would act like a well holding some strange chakra power.

With nothing to remove from the Sacral chakra, Ruwen tried connecting it to Harmony with a mental bridge. Harmony didn’t change but he didn’t know if that was because this magic didn’t work like that or if he just wasn’t doing it right.

The treasure in this latest vault had turned out to be something you looked through and it allowed you to see into the Creation Realm. He tried mentally looking through his Sacral chakra but nothing changed.

Another idea occurred to Ruwen, the incredible complexity of the theory shaking him.

What if Harmony itself needed to conform to whatever concept powered the Creation Realm magic. Lir had said leprechauns used rainbows to hide the fruits of their greed and selfishness. And rainbows resulted from light refracting through water vapor.

Instead of looking through the Sacral chakra, Ruwen funneled Harmony through it, his hopes rising.

Ruwen’s shoulders slumped as nothing about Harmony changed. The idea had felt so right though. Maybe he needed to do more than channel Harmony through his chakra. Maybe he needed to tune it to the right frequency.

With Harmony still flowing through the Sacral chakra, Ruwen immersed himself in his own feelings of greed and selfishness. These weren’t powerful motivators for him, but they existed within him. His Sacral chakra resonated with the emotions, amplifying them.

For the first time, Ruwen felt something from the surroundings: smugness. He latched onto this emotion as well, and tuned his Sacral chakra like it was a lute.

Harmony shifted, as yellow and green saturated his sight.

Four feet away, at the junction where two massive roots twisted together, a small rainbow appeared. Under it sat a black pot filled with gold coins.