The Fourth Secret: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 4) Read online

  Fractal stopped moving. “Shattered Sun. Resonates with Fractal.”

  Blapy tilted her head. “Not bad. Exploding stars seed the Universe with the precious metals Collectors will come here to mine. Sunshine feeds the many plants here, and as you already know, Fractal loves prismatic light. I like the name.”

  Ruwen’s right wrist burned, and he looked down. The simple hexagonal prism faded away, and a new mark appeared: a deep yellow-orange sphere covered in dark rifts shone brightly as hundreds of light rays escaped the star’s destruction. It even felt hot on his wrist.

  “That’s beautiful,” Ruwen said.

  “Thank you,” Blapy replied.

  Ruwen’s map pulsed yellow, and he opened it. The Dungeon tab located here had previously been labeled a generic: Dungeon. Now it read: Shattered Sun.

  Ruwen opened the tab and looked at the summary:

  Shattered Sun Tier: 38

  Shattered Sun State: Fair

  Dungeon Keeper Fractal State: Very Good

  Blapy had only been with Fractal for a few days, but the Dungeon’s State had moved from “Abysmal” to “Fair,” and Fractal’s State had gone from “Fragile” to “Very Good.” Most shockingly, Fractal had advanced two tiers to thirty-eight.

  “You’ve already leveled twice?” Ruwen asked. “I’m so proud of you!”

  Fractal bobbed back and forth again, and his whole body vibrated in excitement.

  Blapy jumped off her chair and pushed Ruwen away. “Yes, we’re making good progress, and Fractal needs to stay focused. We’re done with you for now.”

  Ruwen closed his Dungeon view so he could see better. Fractal glowed brightly and ran in a little circle. It looked like Ruwen’s praise had really spun the crystal up.

  “Talk to you soon,” Ruwen said as Blapy forced him toward the nearest crystal.

  “Soon,” Fractal repeated.

  And then Ruwen and Blapy entered the crystal portal.

  Chapter 3

  Instead of emerging from the portal into the crystal forest, Blapy had brought Ruwen to the temple entrance. Hamma, Sift, and Lylan still sat at the entrance, and Blapy said her goodbyes.

  Sift’s Black Pyramid mark had turned from black to dark blue, marking him as one of Blapy’s favorites, and he spent the next five minutes talking about his favorite foods, which were mostly different kinds of pastries. Ruwen wondered if Sift would eat as much now that he’d created a Core.

  Sift removed a travel book from his Dimensional Belt to show Lylan a beach he wanted to visit. Hamma opened her small prayer book and slowly turned the pages. Ruwen loved books and couldn’t resist asking about it.

  “Anything interesting in there?” Ruwen asked.

  Hamma closed the book and looked up. “A lot, actually.”

  “I bet,” Ruwen said. “You’ve used it for a wedding, last rites, and to save our butts.”

  Hamma nodded. “I know. Those prayers are powerful.”

  When fighting the Mist Wraith, Talker, the four of them had almost died. Hamma had used a spell from her chapel Priestess book, called “Prayer Three,” to reverse all of Talker’s debuffs.

  “How many prayers are there?” Ruwen asked.

  “Ten,” Hamma said. “But the costs get harsher the higher you go. It’s hard to imagine paying the price to use some of them.”

  “I’m exhausted,” Lylan said. “Is there somewhere to rest in this place?”

  No one wanted to sleep deep inside the temple, so Hamma showed them some small rooms off the large main room they’d first entered. Ruwen felt restless and convinced everyone he would take the first watch. He slowly walked around the temple as the temple Guardians lapped him, the sound of their passing both comforting and unpleasant.

  Ruwen had Whiskers scouting further outside the city, and Lir, the temple’s sentient caretaker, had also sent some of the temple Guardians out as well. In reality, he was pretty redundant as a guard, but it made them all feel better. Plus, he needed to figure out what Class to pick, since dying had reset his Observer Root Class, and he thought better when he moved.

  The death in the temple earlier that day had been necessary to get the Architect Role, but it had come at the cost of losing twelve attribute points. The eighteen levels he’d advanced his Root Class had given him thirty-six extra attribute points, and it appeared he could move those points into other attributes if he wanted.

  A new value had appeared on his Profile to keep track of them: Redistribution Points. In addition, all the ability and spell points he’d placed in the Observer branch had been refunded to him.

  Ruwen studied his Profile as he wondered what to do.

  General

  Name: Ruwen Starfield

  Race: Human

  Age: 16

  Role: Architect

  Class: Worker

  Sub Class: Not Yet Chosen

  Hidden Class: Not Yet Chosen

  Hidden Sub Class: Not Yet Chosen

  Level: 19

  Class Rank: Initiate

  Cultivation Stage: 40

  Cultivation Rank: Acolyte

  Deaths: 3

  Deity: Goddess Uru

  Experience: 189,165/190,000

  Inventory: 82/1,000

  Realm Count: 2

  Wealth: 1g 10s 50c

  Marks

  Black Pyramid

  Bamboo Viper Clan

  Dungeon Master (Shattered Sun)

  Marks’ Details

  Bamboo Level: 84

  Bamboo Rank: Adept

  Viper Level: 84

  Viper Rank: Adept

  Black Pyramid Level: 1

  Black Pyramid Rank: Novice

  Black Pyramid Cipher Level: 1

  Black Pyramid Dungeon Level (Completed): 6

  Black Pyramid Librarian Rank: Ink Warden

  Black Pyramid Tokens: 26

  Shattered Sun Dungeon Tier: 38

  Shattered Sun Dungeon State: Fair

  Shattered Sun Keeper Fractal State: Very Good

  Available Points

  Unassigned Ability: 16

  Unassigned Spell: 38

  Refunded Ability: 6

  Refunded Spell: 5

  Attribute Redistribution: 36

  Pools

  Health: 548/548

  Mana: 375/375

  Energy: 928/928

  Spirit: 31,296,528,470

  Attributes

  Strength: 33

  Stamina: 47

  Dexterity: 46

  Intelligence: 34

  Wisdom: 22

  Charisma: 20

  Ratings

  Knowledge: 48

  Armor Class: 404

  Max Encumbrance: 743 lbs.

  Critical Chance: 90%

  Power Strike: 7%

  Haste: 93%

  Dodge: 143%

  Persuasion: 15%

  Resilience: 34%

  Endurance: 8%

  Cleverness: 52%

  Perception: 58%

  Resistances

  Elemental Resistance: 36%

  Poison Resistance: 36%

  Acid Resistance: 36%

  Mind Resistance: 75%

  Order Resistance: 36%

  Chaos Resistance: 32%

  Disease Resistance: 36%

  Light Resistance: 36%

  Dark Resistance: 32%

  Regeneration

  Health Regeneration per second: 2.22

  Mana Regeneration per second: 2.05

  Energy Regeneration per second: 37.39

  Everything had taken a small decrease from the twelve lost attribute points, but Ruwen’s Dodge and Persuasion had both dropped twenty percent, the result of losing his Observer abilities Evade and Persuade. Hopefully, whatever Class he assigned to Root would have ways to recover some of his lost stats.

  Ruwen felt sad at the lost Observer abilities and skills, but reminded himself he could get them back if he figured out the essence recipe to recreate the effect. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday, he would benefit from th
ose abilities again.

  But that didn’t help Ruwen now. He needed to fight a war, and while Rami had taught him strategy and tactics when not teaching him Bamboo and Viper Steps in the Spirit Realm, it wouldn’t be enough.

  And if you were going to fight a war, one Class made sense to check out first. One Ruwen had never even contemplated before his Ascendancy, even though both his parents had chosen it.

  Rami? Do you have any books on the Fighter Class?

  I just got some. Lir transferred the entire library to me. And crack my shell, his collection is incredible.

  Ruwen smiled at the obvious happiness in Rami’s voice, and something occurred to him he’d never considered. When you say library, do you mean the city’s library?

  Yes, Lir kept a copy of every book so they could reproduce it in case of, well, whatever happened here.

  This shocked Ruwen, but he realized it was no different from what Rami did. Rami had vast amounts of books in her memory, too. Does Lir have abilities like you?

  Nobody’s like me, Rami teased.

  Ruwen laughed. That’s true.

  No, Lir just thinks ahead. Librarians bring every new book to the temple and Lir store’s an image of every page. It’s much slower than my method, but it preserves the knowledge.

  Can I see these books too?

  You mean without entering one of my mental constructs?

  Yes. Like could you put them all in my memory?

  I could, but you’d never be able to find anything, and it might destroy your brain.

  Ruwen forced down his disappointment and thought of something else. Could you add something to my interface that would let me ask questions even when you’re busy? Maybe it could use your indexes and then let me see the books?

  Hmmm, that’s an interesting idea, like a personal librarian. Rami remained quiet for a few minutes, and Ruwen continued his march around the temple.

  The person cutout that allowed Ruwen to access his Inventory in the bottom right of his vision pulsed yellow. A book had appeared in the cutout’s hand, and Ruwen focused on it.

  Two empty bookshelves appeared. The first one had ten shelves and looked like one from the library in Blapy. The second bookshelf was much shorter and only had three shelves. It looked like the bookshelf he stored his favorite books on, in his room at the library in Deepwell.

  Rami finally spoke. Because this needs to work without my attention, it is very basic. So, when you ask for something, only use the most relevant words. Use language like “and” and “or” to help reduce the number of books that match your search.

  What are the two bookshelves for?

  The tall one keeps your last ten searches, a shelf for each one. You can remove books you like and place them on your personal bookshelf. Those will stay there until you put them back on the big bookshelf.

  Wow, this is… Ruwen had run out of words to describe Rami.

  I know. Rami said. Sometimes I even surprise myself.

  Ruwen focused on the top shelf of the tall bookcase and made his first request. Fighter Class.

  The shelf immediately filled, and a number hovered on the right side: 59,258.

  What does the number mean? Ruwen asked Rami.

  That’s how many books matched your request.

  Ruwen grabbed a book from the shelf and read the title, Interior Design for the Clueless Crafter. He focused on Rami again. This doesn’t even have my keywords.

  Sorry, that’s my fault. You can specify the title, description, author, or text. If you don’t, it looks in all of them. So your words must be in the text somewhere.

  That is really powerful. But I see how you can get lost in all this. How do I clear this request?

  Just move your hand from right to left across the shelf, and they’ll disappear. You can also focus on a filled shelf and give it more keywords to narrow your request.

  Ruwen cleared the shelf and focused on it again. Description. Fighter Class. Over a thousand books came back. Ruwen stared at the filled shelf and gave it another keyword. Description. Uru. This narrowed it down to under three hundred books. Description. Spells or abilities. The count dropped to ninety-eight. Description. Build or Path. Seventeen books remained, and Ruwen smiled.

  Pulling out a book, Ruwen read the title, Preparing for Glory, a Point-by-Point Path for Greatness. That seemed more promising than interior design.

  Thank you again, Rami. Maybe with this, I won’t need to bug you all the time.

  That never crossed my mind. Rami said and laughed.

  Ruwen smiled. It was hard not to bother Rami, as the Bookwyrm always had answers to his questions. He looked through each of the books and transferred five to his personal bookshelf.

  Opening the first book with mental hands, he lowered it until the pages only covered the bottom half of his vision. Then he continued to pace around the temple while reading, hoping that the Fighter Class had a build that would help him.

  Chapter 4

  Both Ruwen’s parents were Fighters, so he knew the basics. His dad used various one-handed weapons and a shield, while his mom used a light one-handed sword without a shield. Now that he studied the Sub Classes, he wondered exactly what Sub Class his mom had chosen.

  Even though Ruwen had disliked physical violence growing up, he’d been curious about his parents’ Specializations. Looking back, whenever he’d brought up the subject, he realized his mom had turned the conversation to another topic. He’d never been that interested in the Fighter Class, so he’d never pried.

  Now, as he looked through all the choices, nothing seemed appropriate for her. In just over a day, he could ask her again.

  The Fighter Class gained two points in Stamina per level and didn’t have as many Sub Classes as the Merchant Class, but it still had a lot. They were all flavors of the same idea, damaging others or protecting your party. You could hit your opponent with one weapon or two, wielding a shield or not, all while debuffing and interrupting your foe. You could focus your expertise on an entire type of weapon like blunt or piercing, or specialize in a particular weapon.

  While valuable, Ruwen needed help to win a war, and none of the common Fighter Sub Classes would help with that. He’d wondered if what he needed didn’t exist when he found a promising entry.

  The Sub Class was called Commander. Fighters could form small groups at level ten, but the Commander Sub Class expanded on that ability. Commanders could form more groups with more members than a plain Fighter. But the Commander’s real strength appeared to be the capacity to pass this ability to other group members, forming something like a chain of groups.

  The Commander Class had three Specializations: Warlord, Quartermaster, and Emissary. Ruwen, thankful to have found a promising build path, eagerly continued to read.

  The Quartermaster dealt with logistics and planning, and while Ruwen knew that was a critical piece of war, it didn’t fit well with his interests.

  The Emissary Specialization looked more interesting. It seemed like a cross between a Spy and a Diplomat. It dealt with propaganda, discovering the enemy's secrets, and negotiating treaties. Probably because Ruwen still felt the loss of all the Observer abilities and spells, the spy-like nature of the Emissary appealed to him.

  The Emissary received bonuses to Charisma and Persuasion to help with negotiations. Ruwen stopped walking as he read the next capability. Emissaries could form telepathic links to any member down the entire group chain. This powerful capability made receiving timely data possible and might provide intelligence that could turn the tide of a battle.

  Ruwen flipped forward to the next Specialization, Warlord. It had telepathy as well, but with a significant difference. The Warlord could only speak with the first layer of groups, not the entire chain. Being able to communicate with your party members was a huge advantage, even if it didn’t have the scope of the Emissary.

  The Warlord could also give bonuses to things like experience or skills to everyone linked in his groups. In addition, he had something
called a Battle Cry that would briefly increase the stats of everyone as well.

  The last major capability revolved around something called Banners, which turned out not to be flags, but something Ruwen had never heard of, named groups. It appeared that Warlords could form named groups, and it gave the members added bonuses.

  Ruwen thought back to the Savage Seven he’d seen earlier that night and their designation as an elite squad. Blapy must have made them one of these Banners. He wondered what special abilities the Booming Hens had gained.

  While the Commander Sub Class and its Specializations were powerful, you gave up access to a build path that would make you a deadly opponent. As a Commander, you’d likely lose a duel against any other Fighter.

  Ruwen walked again, thinking through the implications of the two Specialization paths.

  An Emissary would definitely help him with his task of defending the southern border. But communicating with so many people might swamp him with details, causing a loss of focus on the big picture. A higher Charisma appealed to his vanity, and the Persuasion increase would result in fewer arguments.

  As a Warlord, he didn’t have the visibility of the Emissary but could buff his troops, and the Banner ability let him distribute even more buffs. The thought of being able to talk to his immediate group telepathically really appealed to him, and both Specializations offered that. It would allow for quick and precise coordination.

  Ruwen decided he would Sub Class in Commander and then Specialize in Warlord once he reached level twenty, but he had no idea how to do that. He’d ask the women, and if they didn’t know, his parents would finish reviving sometime tomorrow, and they’d know.

  Putting the book away, Ruwen ran another query, this time for the Worker Class. He already knew his Sub Class was Collector, but there were many different types of Gatherer Specializations. Plus, he hoped to find some books that described a few of the higher level Worker spells and abilities.