The Second Betrayal: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 2)

by A F Kay

  “Are there lower vaults?”

  Fluffly laughed like Ruwen had made a joke. But before Ruwen could ask what had amused Fluffy, the quartermaster had already moved toward the back of the vault.

  “I can count on one hand how many people have been through that door,” Fluffy said over his shoulder.

  Ruwen followed, his eyes wide. Many of the items he passed glowed or sparkled, and his curiosity felt like a volcano erupting in his mind. Fluffy moved all the way to one side of the aisle.

  “Don’t get too close to those cufflinks, they’ll make you have to pee,” Fluffy said.

  Ruwen stepped to the side, his back to the other shelf, and scooted past.

  “Why would you wear those?” Ruwen asked.

  “Sometimes you need your mark to head to the bathroom. Those let you chose when that happens.”

  “Wouldn’t you constantly have to use the bathroom too?”

  “You drink a special potion before using them.”

  Fluffy led Ruwen to glass cases against the back wall. Each had a set of armor or clothes inside them. Fluffy stopped, and Ruwen looked at what the glass case contained.

  Inside stood a mannequin covered in five items: gloves, pants, a long-sleeved shirt, shoes, and a full-length cloak. The inside portions of the clothes looked almost entirely black, while the outsides were about thirty percent stained. It looked like whatever had been wearing these clothes had exploded. The clean portions were mostly white, with a gold shimmer to the cloth.

  Fluffy opened the glass door and pulled the entire mannequin out. He walked to the corner of the room where a small table and chairs were located. Fluffy carefully removed the five pieces and laid them on the table.

  “Do you think you could remove all the black stains without damaging the rune work?” Fluffy asked.

  Ruwen leaned over the table and activated Magnify. The gold shimmer on the cloth turned out to be intricate gold patterns. They were simpler than the ones on his birthmark, but still mind-numbingly complicated, and his head spun. Deactivating Magnify, he turned to Fluffy.

  “To be honest, I have no idea if I’ll damage it,” Ruwen said.

  Fluffy bit his lip and stared at the clothes.

  “What is that black stain? It looks like whatever wore these clothes died horribly,” Ruwen said.

  Fluffy ran his finger over the collar of the shirt and mumbled to himself. “What choice do I have? It’s unusable this way.”

  “Quartermaster?”

  “Hundreds of years just sitting here useless,” Fluffy muttered.

  “Fluffy?”

  Fluffy looked at Ruwen, and his eyes refocused. “Right. Well, I think you should try it. Opportunities like this are rare.”

  Fluffy stepped back, pulled a chair away from the table, and sat.

  Ruwen glanced at the quartermaster and then focused back on the clothes. It made sense that Fluffy wouldn’t leave him alone in here. Ruwen didn’t like having an audience, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

  He reached out, touched the cloak, and immediately opened the notification.

  Tring!

  You have discovered…

  Name: Ink Lord’s Cloak of Binding

  Set: 1 of 5

  AC: Unknown to Observer

  Quality: Epic

  Durability: Unknown to Observer

  Weight: 4.7 lbs.

  Effect: Unknown to Observer.

  Set Bonus: Unknown to Observer.

  Restriction: Unknown to Observer.

  Description: Unknown to Observer.

  Ruwen quickly pulled his hand away and faced Fluffy.

  “That cloak’s quality is Epic!” Ruwen said.

  “I know.”

  “What if I ruin it?”

  “Try not to. But it’s useless in its current state. I feel like the risk is worth it.”

  Ruwen winced and gently touched the other four pieces.

  Name: Ink Lord’s Shirt of Comprehension

  Name: Ink Lord’s Pants of Sorting

  Name: Ink Lord’s Shoes of Shelving

  Name: Ink Lord’s Gloves of Silence

  All the pieces were Epic, and Ruwen’s level was too low to even see the descriptions. Not only that, but the five pieces made a set, which would provide additional bonuses to the wearer. If he screwed up even one piece, it would be a disaster.

  “I’m not the most comfortable doing this. Do you have like a magical Towel of Dusting or something I could try first?” Ruwen asked.

  Fluffy shook his head. “Everything in this room in precious.”

  “Great. No pressure.”

  “Let me know if you need anything,” Fluffy responded.

  Ruwen swallowed hard and picked up the bottom edge of the cloak. He found an area with black stains that didn’t contain the gold thread. He had used Scrub to kill the Giant Centipede and the Clasper on level one and to clean blood stains from Sift’s pants. So he had only used the spell as intended once.

  Setting the cloak back down, he removed the Worker textbook from his Inventory and opened it to the section that detailed the Scrub spell.

  Spell: Scrub

  Level: 1

  Class: Worker

  Effect: Use Energy to break down and remove stains and odor.

  Cost: 1-20 Energy per second

  Type: Self

  Casting Time: 1 second

  Duration: Channeled

  He reread the warnings about not using Scrub on skin until the spell had been raised to level three. He flipped the page and smiled as he found the matrix he’d been looking for. It detailed different combinations of stains and surfaces and recommended Energy usage.

  “Do you know what those black stains are?” Ruwen asked.

  Fluffy grimaced. “Blood?”

  “Are you asking me or telling me?” Ruwen asked.

  Fluffy rubbed his forehead. “Yes.”

  Ruwen frowned. It was his own fault for asking two questions. “If this is blood, why is it black?”

  “I don’t really want to say too much –”

  “No kidding.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know all the details. Piecing together what I heard, I would guess an Ink Lord exploded.”

  Ruwen had no idea what an Ink Lord was. “And they have black blood?”

  Fluffy nodded. “Evidently, some do. It’s just a title. I think this Ink Lord was a magical creature.”

  “Anything else I should know?”

  “It’s permanent.”

  “Well, let’s hope not.”

  Ruwen returned his focus to the matrix and looked for the blood entry. To his surprise, he found many subtypes of blood listed: human, aquatic, reptile, beast, hybrid, Mana-infused, Spirit-infused, divine, other.

  Who would have thought there were so many types of blood? Ruwen looked up at Fluffy again.

  “Any idea what this cloth is?” Ruwen asked.

  “That one I know. Leaf Dragon silk.”

  Ruwen stood up straight. “Dragon silk?”

  Fluffy nodded. “That’s why I’m having you start with this. I’m pretty sure no matter what you do, you won’t be able to damage it.”

  Ruwen wiped his hands on his pants. Leaf Dragons were unique in that when they entered a new stage of growth, they transformed inside cocoons of silk. This silk provided the same protection as obsidian while remaining flexible. Terium, although stronger and more valuable than Leaf Dragon silk, was much harder to craft with, making this silk precious.

  Looking at the matrix, Ruwen found dragon silk. He traced the column down until he intersected with the Mana infused blood row. Ruwen figured that row came the closest to Fluffy’s magic blood comment. The cell had three symbols in it, and he looked at the bottom of the page to see what they meant.

  Minimum Spell level – One (subtract 2 Energy per second per level)

  Energy consumption – Very High (15-20 Energy per second.)

  Scrub duration – High (minutes)

  Damage probabi
lity – Low (under 25%)

  The Energy consumption gave Ruwen pause. The textbook said anything over ten Energy per second should be considered dangerous. He would need to be careful. At least he had a low chance of damaging the cloth.

  Ruwen returned the book to his Inventory and picked up the edge of the cloak again. He took a few deep breaths and then pictured the icon for Scrub, a brush, in his mind. A second later, his hands glowed.

  With his current Energy Regeneration, he could max out Scrub at twenty Energy per second and still have a surplus of two Energy per second. But he didn’t want to do that since his textbook considered even ten Energy per second dangerous. The minimum Energy required at his current spell level was fifteen, so he decided to start there.

  Ruwen realized he needed to finish this set of cloth armor while camping. Once he returned to Deepwell, he would have to return the rings, and his Energy Regeneration would plummet.

  Taking a deep breath, he placed a hand on each side of the cloak, and then slowly increased the Energy to fifteen.

  His hands itched from the vibration, and they glowed brightly. The black stains faded, and after thirty seconds, they had disappeared entirely.

  Fluffy stood and came over to look, and Ruwen grinned. He scrunched his hands as he tried to push the clean area out of his hands.

  “Here, let me help,” Fluffy said.

  Fluffy, carefully avoiding Ruwen’s glowing hands, grabbed the cloak, and pulled a stained section into the area of the spell. They worked together like that for the next four hours. Ruwen would rest his hands at the end of every pass, shaking them to relieve the itchy feeling. In the second hour, Ruwen realized he could cast Campfire again, and while he didn’t need the extra Energy Regen, the Health Regeneration removed the itchy feeling in his hands, and they worked faster.

  Fluffy grinned as he replaced the Ink Lord set on the mannequin.

  “Superb work, Ruwen.”

  Ruwen smiled as well. His hands ached from the constant vibration, but cleaning the cloth had been extremely satisfying. Seeing the black stains slowly disappear had been enjoyable.

  “Thanks,” Ruwen said.

  Fluffy put the Ink Lord armor away and then nodded at Ruwen.

  A notification blinked, and Ruwen opened it.

  Ting!

  You have completed the Quest – Nothing to See Here…(repeatable)

  See Quartermaster Fluffy for your reward.

  “I suppose you’ll be wanting your reward,” Fluffy said.

  Ruwen laughed. “Since you mentioned it, sure.”

  Fluffy laughed as well, and they walked back to the door they’d entered. Fluffy opened the vault door, pulled a crate from the bottom shelf closest to the door, and took it into the next room.

  “Come on,” Fluffy said.

  Ruwen quickly followed him through the door and to the big table in the reception area. Fluffy sat the crate down and walked back to his desk.

  “Let me know what you choose,” Fluffy said as he sat down behind his desk.

  Ruwen pulled items out of the box. Almost all the items required a higher level than five, but he found three things that didn’t. Unfortunately, two of the items were weapons: a sword and an ax. He didn’t have the skills yet to use those, so they didn’t excite him much. The last item was a glass vial the size of his index finger. He picked it up and looked at the description.

  Name: Divulging Cologne

  Area of Effect: 50 feet

  Quality: Fine

  Uses: 10

  Duration: 1 hour

  Weight: 0.2 lbs.

  Effect: +1 Charisma (wearer)

  Effect: -2% per breath (including wearer) to all concealment related Abilities/Skills/Spells that require concentration to remain concealed.

  Restriction (User): Level 5 (Minimum).

  Restriction (Target): No effect on level 20 and above.

  Description: The scent of this fragrance clouds the mind, causing a loss of focus. Perfect for finding your hidden admirers.

  Ruwen rolled the vial between his finger and thumb. What Shade would want to give up their own stealth abilities to expose others? It made sense that this cologne ended up in this junk crate. For Ruwen, though, it could be useful. He didn’t have much ability to hide, so the penalty to him didn’t matter. Having the chance to see others, however, would be huge.

  Holding up the vial, Ruwen faced Fluffy. “I’m going to take the cologne.”

  Fluffy nodded. “Come back when you can. I have more work for you.”

  “I will,” Ruwen said and then pointed at the items on the table. “Should I clean this up?”

  “No, I’ll take care of it before I leave. You can portal out.”

  Ruwen put the cologne in his Inventory and then walked to the nearest wall.

  “Ruwen,” Fluffy said.

  Ruwen turned and looked at the quartermaster.

  “That was a fine bit of work you did in there. As much talent as this place holds, none of them could accomplish what you did. I’ll make sure the Mistress knows.”

  A warm feeling filled Ruwen’s chest. “Thanks, Fluffy.”

  Ruwen crossed his arms over his chest, bowed, and then touched his mark to the wall.

  “My room,” Ruwen said and then stepped through the portal.

  Chapter 18

  Ruwen stepped into his room and went to his bed. His clock read 2:04 PM. They had to leave around 1:00 AM this morning so they could be back at camp around 6:00 AM. The differing timelines were tough to keep straight, but he had eleven hours before they needed to leave.

  He didn’t know when Sift would get back, and Ruwen thought about what he could do. Reading always benefited him, but he felt a little restless. He’d just spent four hours hyper-focused on a task, and sitting still didn’t sound appealing. The alchemy lab, while better, still had the problem of intense focus and very little movement.

  Ruwen looked at his palms and the branded falcon on each. The memory of the pain hadn’t faded yet, and he rubbed his palms together. He stripped down to his underwear, removed all his rings, and then put on a pair of the black Shade pants Fluffy had given him when Ruwen had first arrived.

  He walked barefoot to the center of the room, squatted down into the first Step, and practiced what he’d already been shown. Over and over, he blocked and punched.

  “Breathe out fully when you punch,” Sift said.

  Sift had approached silently, and Ruwen jerked in surprise. He focused on breathing out more when he punched.

  “Better,” Sift said.

  Ruwen stood and shook his arms and legs. His clock read 5:21 PM. He’d been practicing for over three hours. He had two notifications, and both were from leveling up his Unarmed Combat skill. His level had increased to six. The brand on his hand had already paid off.

  “How was lunch with your parents?” Ruwen asked.

  “Lunch was great. The six hours of torture looking for my center, not so great.”

  Sift’s difficulty in finding his center, and the Spirit stored there, reminded Ruwen about the book and how it probably needed Spirit to open.

  “I’ve seen you fight. You must use Spirit even without everything working right,” Ruwen said.

  Sift shrugged. “I can’t find my center, so I don’t know the right way. I just focus on pushing everything out of my feet if I want to fly or assume the proper pose if I’m Fortifying my body.”

  Ruwen closed his eyes, and the bright ball of Spirit surrounded him. He tried to force the Spirit out his feet, but it felt like pushing on fog.

  “You look constipated,” Sift said.

  That broke Ruwen’s concentration, and he opened his eyes. He removed the book A Worker’s Guide to Harvesting and handed it to Sift. “Can you put some Spirit on this, please?”

  “It isn’t jam, you know.”

  “I actually don’t. For all I know, it’s exactly like jam.”

  Sift took the book, put it on the floor, and stood on it. Ruwen winced. Seeing someo
ne stand on a book made his insides turn.

  “Do you need to stand on it?” Ruwen asked.

  “My feet are the most consistent place Spirit comes out.”

  Ruwen nodded.

  Sift rose a few inches into the air, and Ruwen knelt to study the book. He couldn’t see a difference, and when he tried to open the cover, it remained shut.

  “That good?” Sift asked.

  Ruwen grabbed the book and stood as Sift dropped back to the ground.

  Ruwen tried to open the book again, but it wouldn’t budge. His shoulders slumped as he put the book back into his Inventory.

  “Thanks for trying,” Ruwen said.

  “Do you want my parents to try?”

  Ruwen bit his lip as he thought about the suggestion. Between the name of the book and the requirements to open it, Ruwen guessed that any unbound souls like Sift and his parents wouldn’t be able to help. He had hoped that the combination of Sift’s Spirit and Ruwen trying to open it would be enough to succeed. He worried about what would happen if Sift’s parents saw the book. They might even take it from him if they thought the book seemed dangerous. Ruwen didn’t want to chance it.

  “That’s okay, I have some other ideas. Thanks, though,” Ruwen said.

  “When do we have to go back?” Sift asked.

  “Around one this morning. We should try and rest a little before then since we’ll arrive back at camp in the early morning.”

  “Okay, if we leave four hours for sleep, that still gives us four hours. Do you want to try level five? It’s a maze, so it’s possible we might get stuck.”

  Completing level five in the dungeon would be more experience, which Ruwen desperately needed. But if there was a chance they might get stuck, with his luck, they would. He didn’t want to risk it. The four hours would be better spent increasing his Unarmed Combat skill. And when Sift went to sleep, Ruwen could allocate his spells and maybe make a quick trip to the alchemy lab.

  “How about we practice Steps for a bit, eat, then practice some more,” Ruwen said.

  “That sounds good. Let’s practice your falling again, with and without your staff.”

  Sift spent the next hour pushing Ruwen to the ground. When Ruwen grew comfortable falling with the staff, Sift had him switch hands. They practiced until Ruwen stopped dropping his weapon.