Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Ruwen projected the information from Identify above the bike.
Name: Ducati Superleggera V4 - Divine Series
Quality: Legendary
Type: Growth
Durability: 22,500/22,500
Weight: 348 lbs.
Speed:
Chapter 62
Ruwen, Sift, Echo, and Ash sat facing each other, the ground still warm from their earlier battle.
"What’s balance?" Ruwen asked Ash.
Ash answered immediately. "The only truth, and the key to everything.”
“That’s what your Sisen told you, but what do you think?”
“I've meditated on it, but to be honest, if I don’t see something right away it’s really hard for me to grasp.”
“You and me both, Brother,” Sift mumbled.
Ruwen...
2025-07-05 07:01:06 +0000 UTC View PostDivine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 61
Chapter 61
“Like a proper fight?” Sift asked. He smiled and cracked his knuckles, before turning to Ruwen. “You aren’t ready for god-tier Sift. Prepare yourself for a beating. A beating worse than those chickens gave you.”
“Chickens?” Ash asked.
Ruwen waved Sift’s comment away as he answered Ash. “Ancient history that nobody cares about or remembers.”
“You should see their T-shirts,” Sift said to Ash. 2025-07-05 06:59:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
I’m conflicted about the chapters tonight (56-60) because I’m trying to thread the needle between a behavior/shtick I love and a desire to show character growth. Specifically, this relates to Sift. After reading these chapters (56-60), if you have a feelings about them, good or bad, please leave a comment or send me an email/IM. Even if you can’t explain why you feel that way, I’m very interested in your impressions. If anything else bothers you or if something made you laug...
2025-06-28 07:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 60
Sift whistled. “Wow, he really pegged you.”
“Why?” Ruwen asked. “Because of this?”
Ruwen summoned the Scarecrow Aspect and Ash leaped backward in shock and fright.
“Hell’s bells,” Ash cursed. “Not even a warning.”
Sift raised a hand. “Two questions. First, what warning did you expect, and two, what is ‘Hell’s bells?’”
Ruwen answered the first question. “He expected his Third Eye to warn him, but from his bo...
2025-06-28 06:59:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 59
Sift produced a tray of cookies.
Ash gasped. “Besos!”
“Shhh,” Ruwen and Sift said at the same time. Both glanced over at the meditating Echo.
Sift put the tray in Ash’s lap. “Your grandpa mentioned they were your favorite. He’s doing great by the way. A wonderful man, although a little touchy about his kitchen.”
Ruwen felt the surge from Ash’s Heart chakra.
“I was afraid to ask,” Ash admitted, his eyes glistening. “Thank y...
2025-06-28 06:58:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 58
Ruwen, Sift, and Echo sat facing each other in a tight circle while Ash practiced his Step forms twenty feet away.
"What do you see?" Ruwen asked Echo.
Echo studied Ash as he moved through a basic transition sequence. "His technique is nearly flawless for a Master. The movements are precise. But..." She hesitated.
Ruwen waited quietly while Echo gathered her thoughts.
"He’s disconnected,” Echo continued. “Like he's performing two different forms ...
2025-06-28 06:56:53 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 57
They arrived amidst the ruins of a city. Ruwen dismissed the portal and followed Echo down a rubble filled street. Massive stone structures loomed around them, ancient buildings that had partially collapsed centuries or millennia ago. The architecture didn’t look consistent, but maybe the differences represented various periods where this city had prospered.
Now that they were deep inside a powerful dungeon it didn’t surprise Ruwen that his Spirit based magic was su...
2025-06-28 06:55:28 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 56
[Author’s Note: I’m conflicted about the following chapters (through 60) because I’m trying to thread the needle between a behavior/shtick I love and my desire to show character growth. Specifically, this relates to Sift. After reading these chapters (56-60), if you have a feeling about them, good or bad, please leave a comment or send me an email/IM. Even if you can’t explain why you feel that way, I’m very interested in your impressions. If anything else bothers y...
2025-06-28 06:54:12 +0000 UTC View PostHi!
It’s really late here, so I’ll keep this brief. I’m not going to finish book 12 by the narration deadline. I’ve spoken to Travis and there is a possibility that book 12 could be done in September. If that doesn’t work out, then the July narration slot will be Cevin’s Sword and the redo of The Grey Warden and book 12 would likely be January. I’ll release the two middle grade books together since each alone is under 10 hours.
The good news is that I can go at my ow...
2025-06-21 08:17:41 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 55
The darkness didn’t inhibit Ruwen’s vision, but he needed Pine’s help and the old man couldn’t see in the dark. Thousands of glowing snowflakes appeared in the shed but these Ruwen had made from tiny bundles of Soul power. They drifted haphazardly, slowly spinning from currents only they detected.
Pine forgot about the door and strode into the shed to study the Soul orbs. Ruwen Blinked to the metal vehicle that gleamed in the light. He’d seen th...
2025-06-21 08:16:26 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 54
Ruwen shocked Pine again when he’d perfectly replicated Pine’s cleansing form after seeing it one time. The chants and humming from Pine’s daughter also came naturally to him. Only the visualization portion gave him problems. He’d used Harmonic Sight and Knowledge when watching Pine demonstrate his techniques and Harmony had revealed the misalignment of Pine’s Heart chakra. The man’s Solar Plexus had also been affected but not as severely.
...
2025-06-21 08:15:24 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 53
"Aura manipulation becomes easier as more chakras are Awakened," Pine began. "The aura is the external expression of your internal chakra energy. Think of it as your chakras' influence extending beyond your physical body. Without an aura, one can still project power outward, but the distance and effect are limited.
Pine continued. "With training you can extend, shape, and direct your aura while increasing its potency in the process. Auras can heal, protect, create, and ...
2025-06-21 08:14:20 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 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 kno...
2025-06-21 08:13:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 51
The house's screen door clicked shut behind them as Ruwen and Grandpa Pine stepped onto the well-worn path that led toward the avocado grove. The late afternoon sun touched the treetops, painting everything in warm golds that softened the surroundings. As they entered the grove a light breeze rustled the leaves, shifting their shadows on the packed earth.
Pine moved with the grace of a Bamboo Viper Master and seemed in better health than a few days ago. Ruwen guessed al...
2025-06-21 08:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostHi!
I hoped to get a third chapter finished for tonight, but life got in the way. Any sane person would just admit that they couldn’t finish the book by the narration deadline, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. Mostly because family is arriving Sunday and they can help with the kids, which should allow me far more time to write. If next week goes well and I make significant progress, I’ll take the next week off of work to finish the book.
One of my favorite people...
2025-06-14 06:38:26 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 50
Someone had already cast a cleaning spell on Ruwen, likely before placing him in Ash’s bed, but he cast Scrub anyway, feeling the familiar tingle across his skin as the spell cleansed his body.
Hamma pulled a bundle of clothes from her dimensional bag. "I had a chance to do a little shopping. They’ll help you blend in."
Ruwen accepted the clothes and stood. Hamma did as well and her happy expression triggered a memory.
“What?” Hamma asked. 2025-06-14 06:37:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter 49
Ruwen had awoken in Master Pine's house. Ash’s bedroom if the posters were any indication.
"The others will want to know you're all right,” Rami said heading for the bedroom door. “And I can’t leave poor Echo alone in the kitchen with Sift. It takes two of us to keep him from burning the house down.”
Rami disappeared into the hallway and Hamma turned to Ruwen. "What happened?”
Ruwen sat up, sliding his legs off the bed. He looked down at his atti...
2025-06-14 06:35:54 +0000 UTC View PostHi!
I finally made it to the next section of the book. I’m hoping my enthusiasm for this next arc is enough to increase my productivity. If not, then book 12 will miss my July deadline for narration. If I feel like I’m close to finishing the book, I plan on taking vacation to get it over the finish line.
I feel bad for not responding to comments in forever. They get emailed to me so I read them all. Thank you.
I opened chapters 42 and 43 for Root.
I opened chapters...
2025-06-07 06:26:23 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 48
Consciousness drifted back to Ruwen gradually like a tide washing over a beach, each wave bringing fragments of awareness that slowly coalesced. A warm weight rested against his body, and something soft supported his back and legs. Familiar voices tugged at the edges of memory like half-remembered songs.
“—told you not to use so much oil!” A woman said, her voice sharp with exasperation. “Bakers should stick to the oven and leave the stove to real cooks!”
<... 2025-06-07 06:25:27 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 47
The Guardian sensed Ruwen and it turned but Vex raced through the clouds keeping them out of sight. In moments they hovered at the golem’s lower back and Ruwen used Harmony to confirm the creature’s skin would take far too long to penetrate.
Ruwen took a few seconds and studied the skin’s structure with Harmonic Knowledge. If he could replicate these braided harmonies it would provide a powerful shied. Vex neighed and Ruwen focused on their real reason fo...
2025-06-07 06:24:27 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 46
Ruwen created a fifty-foot soul portal above them, with the entrance facing up. As he’d guessed, the gems didn’t go quietly.
The stone not protected by the soul portal vaporized and the chaotic energy surrounding them forced everyone back inside Ruwen’s mind. Half the Aspect Clones and Sentry Minions disappeared and the small display below his map turned a harsh white.
That had worked far better than Ruwen expected, and it gave him an idea.
Ru...
2025-06-07 06:23:16 +0000 UTC View PostHi!
A few years ago we planned on moving to another state and bought a house there. Things didn’t work out, and we ended up not moving. We rented out that house for a couple of years and finally sold it this week. That made the last two weeks a bit chaotic and definitely interfered with my writing.
You’d think the holiday this week would’ve helped, but we have two little ones running around, so writing was impossible. That put me down another day. I was hoping to get a third...
2025-05-31 06:49:31 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 45
Chunks of stone fell from the ceiling as something enormous moved outside.
Overlord, Ruwen said as he created a soul portal to the outside.
Overlord materialized in his Fallen Lord Minion, prepared for battle. Without a word he pulled on Ruwen’s Spirit core and a combination of Scarecrow Aspect clones, Sentry Minions and their Launch Minions appeared and immediately disappeared through the soul portal.
Ruwen extended his Mental D...
2025-05-31 06:48:35 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 44
The Throat vault required a longer journey. Ruwen's map showed it resting beneath the Caribbean Sea, somewhere off the coast of Jamaica. The Infernal Realm had used this planet for thousands of years and he had a journal containing gate runes for many of their sites. It had come from Echo’s mom, and he wondered how Echo was doing with her Sijun Ash.
Without Rami here, Ruwen couldn’t check the journal easily. He had a mechanism to search for the book in his memory bu...
2025-05-31 06:47:19 +0000 UTC View PostHi!
I spent most of this week outlining the rest of book 12, which is why I only released two chapters this week. The outline will help me stay focused and improve the pacing. Next week will be decisive on gauging my ability to finish book 12 by mid-July.
If I can’t finish it by the time my narration slot arrives, I plan on having Travis narrate Cevin’s Sword and re-narrate The Grey Warden. I’ll then release both audiobooks together in one package.
This will sound coun...
2025-05-24 07:14:17 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 43
The leprechaun death counter had updated: Desiccated Leprechaun Scouts (20/25)
The next Notifications gave Ruwen the bad news regarding the Guardian.
Leprechaun Scout deaths have accelerated the Guardian awakening by 150 minutes.
Disappearance of the Solar Plexus Vault has accelerated the Guardian awakening by 60 minutes.
The timer now showed forty hours remaining. That left plenty of time to collect the remaining crystals be...
2025-05-24 07:13:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 42
Ruwen kept his skeletal palm extended, but the fight hadn’t left the gem. It contained pure Will, manifested in a gemstone, and submitting went against its nature. If it didn’t adapt it would die. Growth required change, even if that change felt like drowning. The Citrine of Will was obviously incredibly powerful, but if it couldn’t grow with him, it was useless in the long run, and he would destroy it here.
The Citrine of Will shuddered, and Ruwen shifted additio...
2025-05-24 07:11:44 +0000 UTC View PostHi!
Over the last month I’ve burned through my buffer of chapters and I’m now only one ahead. There is still time to get book 12 finished for Travis in mid-July, but only barely. I’ve started thinking about what I’d give Travis for my slot if book 12 isn’t finished.
On the one hand not having the pressure of that deadline would be fantastic. On the other, because I only release two books a year, the financial impact of only releasing one is significant. On the other othe...
2025-05-17 07:23:26 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 41
Ruwen exited the portal and found himself hovering over a massive crater. The sudden glacial temperature and lack of air didn’t bother him—he’d spent a significant amount of time in space and if anything, it made him nostalgic. He immediately Blinked to the moon’s surface to escape the mass of flash frozen lava clumping together in clouds of pumice.
The Brazilian volcano rested in the crater, surrounded by a sea of rock that glowed from the heat of the ...
2025-05-17 07:22:39 +0000 UTC View Post