Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

 Deryssa shifted with nervous energy. Ruin imagined she teetered on a cliff, unsure if he was her savior, capable of pulling her to safety, or the one who would push her into the abyss of despair.

Deryssa floated back to the table and sat. She pointed at the silver circlet on his bicep. “The original eight houses possess the Bands of Authority. The Heritage for that Array is predetermined, so it makes it easier to discuss. It did open an Array, correct?”

Ruin nodded, but didn’t speak.

“A Heritage acts like a theme for the Array’s nodes. Most times this Heritage is determined by a legacy shard, fragment, or gem placed into the open node.” She pointed at the light pink gem Ruin had placed on the table earlier. “What are the details of this gem?”

Ruin projected the details between them.

Name: Echo of Haste

Compatible Heritages: Time, Memory, Knowledge, Patience, Tempo

Tier: Gem

Quality: Flawless

Description: This gem holds the ancient whispers of time itself, allowing the bearer to glimpse into the past and future.

Effect (Passive): Increase reaction time by 1% per level.

Effect (Triggered): Temporal Rewind – Once per week, rewind time by three seconds, reversing damage or unfavorable events.

Deryssa continued and referenced the gem. “The compatible Heritages listed will bring out the gem’s full potential, and many related Heritages, say something like a Heritage of Avoidance, would still benefit from the gem. If that gem was placed instead into a Heritage of Art, it would be useless since art has little to no use for Haste. Assuming the Array even allowed the gem to be inserted into the node—it might deem the gem incompatible.”

That last comment about incompatibility had happened to Ruin.

“I know from experience the Band of Authority you wear has the Heritage of Remembrance and only allows gems created from the spires to be inserted. This is considered a very rigid Heritage because acceptable gems are predetermined.”

Ruin expressed his earlier thoughts. “This Heritage of Remembrance seems very impractical. I’m assuming the other families won’t let anyone near their spires, so how do you ever fill the Array’s nodes. They’re wasted and only make opening new nodes harder.”

Deryssa leaned back in surprise. “Yes, that’s true. It’s even worse than that. The other spires have Heritages that are more straightforward, like Survival, Conflict, and Elements. Their spires provide unique and specialized gems for the Band of Authority wearer, making them even more powerful. Only our band’s Heritage is different, and it’s one reason the Val’dors have suffered since the beginning.”

Ruin’s interest increased despite his misgivings.

Deryssa nodded at the circlet around Ruin’s bicep. “If you touch another spire, it will create a gem containing all the different abilities that spire contains. All of them. Understandably, the other families are resistant to another family gaining access to all their spire’s abilities?”

“Can you use these abilities from the other spires?” Ruin asked leaning forward.

“That depends on what gem you choose from our spire. You have options.”

Ruin considered the new information. The other seven spires produced powerful unique gems for their Band of Authority wearers. While it was likely impossible to reach one of these, if a person could, it would be like taking all their best items.

Deryssa continued. “Instead of seeing the Spire of Remembrance as a necessary failsafe, the other families considered us thieves, stealing their precious gem choices. The fact that we could sometime use those gems for ourselves sealed our fate. We are hated and distrusted by the other families. It has been eons since a Val’dor has had more than their own gem in that Array.”

Ruin wondered how large the Destruction Realm was in the Outerverse and what it would take to visit and touch each of the other seven spires. He started to understand why Deryssa had come here to hide.

“Thankfully the Val’dor Inheritance shields us and has kept us alive, if barely, until now. If you have our Inheritance, then you know we receive an open Array. Eight nodes with a blank Heritage that allows us to carefully pick the precise Heritage needed. This is important; there is another variable I haven’t mentioned. It’s called a Matrix. It arises from the interaction between the filled nodes, but we can talk about that some other time.”

The amount of change to Ruin’s body, coupled with the flood of new information threatened to overwhelm him. Everything Deryssa said helped flesh out what the Outerverse was like, and he welcomed that, but he’d almost reached his limit.

“You look like a Val’dor other than those blue eyes,” Deryssa said. “If you gained our Inheritance than you have an open Array. The band you wear gave you another open Array but it’s useless right now. If you want any chance at surviving, you’ll need to take the Lord Sovereign Class. It will open another one to three nodes on your third Array. Spire help us, let’s pray for three.”

Probably because of Ruin’s reaction to the mention of a Class, Deryssa tilted her head in confusion and worry. She guessed the problem immediately.

“You already picked a Class?” Deryssa asked, her eyes widened as another possibility occurred to her. “Did the System fail? Aeonrial said he’d modified the Material Realm’s System but assured me he’d successfully combined it with the Destruction Realm’s System. He promised I wouldn’t notice any difference. Maybe due to the strange way you came into existence, the System doesn’t recognize you need a Class.”

Ruin recalled the Class Deryssa had wanted him to take.

Class: Lord Sovereign 

Rank: Mythical-Epic 

Cardinality: 8 

Restriction: 1 per Royal Family 

Description: Each of the eight royal families is managed by a Lord Sovereign.

“Tradition requires the proposed new leader of the Val’dor family travel to meet the Destruction Emperor and get their permission before assigning the Class of Lord Sovereign. So it’s probably better that you didn’t choose anything. The Emperor is quick to anger and the perception will be we disregarded his authority. Not to mention we’d be forced to explain the strange circumstances of your birth. Under no circumstances can the Emperor learn of this splinter Destruction Realm.”

“The Emperor is powerful then?”

“No one can compare. He has an Inheritance and a Band of Authority giving him sixteen open nodes. His Class gives him another eight for a total of twenty-four open nodes. Every Emperor throughout history has had twenty-four nodes, and everyone else’s power pales in comparison. Not even an entire family with all their resources can stand against the strength of the Emperor.”

“Nobody has more than twenty-four open Nodes?”

Deryssa shook her head. “Like I said earlier, most have a few. The ancient bloodlines, with a band of authority, and the Lord Sovereign Class can reach nineteen. The Emperor can snuff them out easily, because every additional open Node increases the power of the Matrix between the Array’s and Nodes.”

“So each Node acts like an amplifier?” Ruin asked.

“Yes, exponentially.”

Ruin scanned his current Class.

Class: Destruction Emperor 

Rank: Mythical-Mythical 

Cardinality: Unique 

Restriction: Race, House, Heritage, Ordination plus numerous hidden.

Description: The ultimate authority in the Destruction Realm.

The Emperor sounded incredibly powerful and likely had twenty-four Nodes with a gem in each. Ruin had twenty-five open Nodes, evidently something that Deryssa considered impossible, but he only had two gems: Fate’s Balance and Voidwaker.

Ruin tried to keep his voice neutral. “Is it easy to switch your Class?”

“Of course, you only need to choose another, but each addition drastically slows your ability to level and you can only have one Class per tier. Meaning once you have the Lord Sovereign Class you can’t get another Mythical one.”

“Can you get rid of a Class?”

“No.” Deryssa said her expression odd.

Not wanting to discuss it further, Ruin hurriedly asked another question. “Is leveling important?”

“Yes, because you can’t improve your spiritual network past your level. Getting to one hundred is important. Once you get your spiritual network over ninety-five percent, you should increase Attributes to fill any weaknesses, then you spend future levels trying to open another Node.”

“The tutorial told me Attributes were useless for Divine bodies.”

“Just the ones you place before you’re Divine. Using a level token on Attributes when you’re level ten might net you five points. Points that are meaningless once you reach Divine. Once you’re Divine though, using that level token might give you one hundred Attribute points that you never lose.”

Ruin thought his head might explode. “Why the level requirements on gear then?”

Deryssa gave Ruin another confused look. “We begin leveling as soon as we can hold a weapon. One can’t create a core until they’re older, but most of the old families ensure their children have over a hundred levels before they start working on their Spiritual Network. Level requirements are added by the System to ensure fairness. Otherwise, a five-year-old could swing a weapon capable of destroying an entire tower.”

That made sense. Systems and Dungeons both hated power-leveling.

Into the brief silence, Deryssa once again asked the question all her hopes rested on. “Did you receive the Inheritance?”

Ruin had already promised to tell Deryssa, but now he debated if he should reveal more. He would need to go back over this conversation a few more times to absorb all the new information. The Destruction Realm had a complicated system that differed from the Material Realm, and he could easily make mistakes that had no fix.

The fact that Ruin’s Inheritance had already gained its Heritage also complicated things. Deryssa would know the best gems to compliment what already existed. Especially since he didn’t yet know how this Matrix effect worked.

Ruin sighed. “I gained the Val’dor Inheritance.”

Deryssa slumped in relief.

“There are a couple of small hiccups you should know about.”

Deryssa focused on Ruin, and he could see renewed hope on her face.

“First, I had some effects active when I lost my body and gained this one. One of these took an open Node in the Inheritance Array and locked in a Heritage.”

Deryssa’s smile faltered. “How bad is it? What Heritage?”

“Heritage of Fate.”

Deryssa gasped.

“Is that bad?” Ruin asked.

Ten seconds passed as Deryssa tried to form a response. Her joy and hope faltered. “The Heritage is powerful, but only the foolish take it. The System does not like having its plans or rules altered. The last thing the Val’dor need is another enemy, and this Heritage will inevitably make the System one. Despite its name, this Heritage will only bring you bad luck. What gem caused this?”

Instead of responding, Ruin displayed the gem into the space between them.

Name: Fate’s Balance

Compatible Heritages: Destiny, Luck, Balance, Fortune, Fate, Manipulation

Tier: Gem

Quality: Flawless

Description: This ultra-rare ability allows one to manipulate the strands of fate, altering the trajectory of events both great and small. Skewing the balance of luck too long will produce disastrous consequences.

Effect (Triggered): Fate Weaver - Collect and distribute the accumulated fate of your enemies.

Effect (Triggered): Lucky Streak - Borrow a percentage of the pooled luck for personal use based on level.

Deryssa studied the information for a minute before Ruin dropped the projection. “Well?”

“I don’t have all my memories, and I’m still trying to sort through the ones I do possess. I don’t recognize that gem. I think it might be unique. It’s exceptionally overpowered, not something typically seen in an Array. Perhaps the modifications to the System Aeonrial made allowed something like this to happen. Regardless, those abilities should be avoided unless required. I fear the System will destroy you. I’m not sure how we make the Array beneficial without increasing the System’s displeasure. This is a terrible revelation. Especially the addition of a new enemy. Our only hope now relies on gaining the Lord Sovereign Class.”

Ruin rubbed his eyes and sighed loudly. “About that. Maybe it’s better to just show you.”

Ruin projected his third Array with its eight open Nodes, along with the Array’s description.

Destruction Emperor

The Destruction Emperor is a unique and unparalleled Class bestowed exclusively upon the ultimate authority of the Destruction Realm. It grants complete dominion over the forces of ruin, decay, and entropy that define the realm itself.

Deryssa’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened. She tried to speak but choked, her whole body slumping.

Ruin watched as Deryssa’s face transitioned from shock to horror—and then to despair.