The Fourth Secret: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 4) by A. Kay (best fiction novels of all time .txt) 📗

his hood’s eye-slit. All the water in the air would make an explosion impossible. He wouldn’t be able to duplicate his trick from the underground temple by the oil lake.

No resistance is suspicious, Hamma said in Chat. It’s like they want us to come down.

Did you feel that? Sift asked.

Ruwen had felt the distant vibration, and Stone Echo explained what had happened. He stopped and faced his group. They just collapsed the entrance.

The walls shook around them as a much closer collapse occurred. Ruwen strode forward and moved around the circular bend. Stone Echo confirmed what he saw. Stone and dirt filled the passage completely.

We are trapped, Sift said.

No, just delayed, Ruwen responded.

Ruwen channeled fifty Energy per second into Dig and opened his Void Band into a seven-foot circle, which consumed another thirty-seven Energy every second. Chaff and Fresh Air used the last two points of his Energy Regen.

The collapsed dirt and rock were loosely packed, and the maxed-out Dig took huge chunks of the blockage every second. Fifteen seconds later, Ruwen raised a section of dirt and stone and funneled it down into his Void Band. Instead of sliding silently into the black hole, however, the rocks bounced off the Void Band and buried him up to the waist.

“You missed,” Xavier said.

Sift stepped up next to Ruwen, his face full of worry. “What’s wrong.”

“I’m not sure,” Ruwen responded. “Give me a second.” He knew Sift’s worry centered on the delay to reach Lylan, not Ruwen’s Health, but he didn’t hold it against his friend.

Ruwen stopped channeling Dig and checked his Inventory.

Inventory: 1,000/1,000

Ruwen frowned at the value. How could his Inventory be full? With one glance, he understood the problem. The dirt consumed one Inventory slot, but the rocks, instead of stacking, had for the most part each taken their own position. A few were close enough in size that they stacked, but most had not.

Ruwen wrenched his left arm free from the rock pile. “Everyone stand to the side. I have to unload.”

On the way to the camping site with Big D, Bliz had explained to Ruwen how to unload his Inventory quickly and had stressed the need for a delay when unloading large quantities. Time was critical, and he didn’t want to be inefficient.

Rami, I have a challenge for you, Ruwen said.

Is that your new way to ask for help?

I just know which of our brains thinks faster.

Flattery now? You must be desperate.

Ruwen smiled, his Overseer’s Cowl keeping it hidden from Sift, who looked like he might start digging by hand. I can dump everything in a slot, but I need to pause and move before continuing so I don’t bury myself. I have over nine hundred slots to empty, and even if I could manage two a second, that’s almost eight minutes.

Sift will have choked you to death by then.

Exactly. Using Energy to launch the rocks instead means I don’t have to move, but forces me to access every rock individually, which increases the number of things I need to do by thousands. Which would take even longer.

And you want me to do what exactly?

Impress me with how many things you can do a second.

I can do thousands of things a second, but I’m scared I might kill you if my calculations are wrong. Your Energy pool and Regen are fixed, but the number of rocks and their different sizes makes the math incredibly difficult.

I know someone good at math. Lir, can you hear me?

Yes, Architect Starfield.

I’m synching to the temple, correct? You can see what my Void Band contains?

Your revival backup is current, but I may not view details of a backup without first gaining permission from—

I give you permission to view my details.

Confirmed.

With my current Energy pool, and Ruwen paused and wondered how much of a buffer to give himself. He needed to keep the Void Band open and maybe reserve a little Energy just in case Lir’s math was bad. He continued, With fifty Energy per second Regen, I want to empty my Void Band of all the rocks past slot number ninety-two. Assume the rocks have a density of granite and an exit velocity of three hundred feet per second, at a pace of one thousand actions a second. I don’t know the calculation for Energy to acceleration, so you probably need to test fire a few rocks first. Coordinate with Rami.

Point the Void Band down the tunnel, Rami said. I’m communicating with Lir now.

Ruwen pointed his left arm down the tunnel, his Void Band open in a five-foot circle costing him twenty-five Energy per second. A moment later, a four-foot boulder plopped out and rolled down the rocks that still surrounded him.

“Seriously?” Sift asked.

Hamma grimaced, and the buzzing sound of Xavier's laughter echoed in the tunnel. Another rock exited Ruwen’s Void Band, this one landing five feet away.

“Quit messing around,” Sift said.

“We’re calibrating,” Ruwen said. “We just need some data to fine tune the calculations.”

“We?” Xavier asked.

A rock the size of Ruwen’s fist shot down the tunnel, smashing into the wall where it turned.

Rami spoke to Lir. Great job, Lir. I’m shocked you completed the calculations this quickly.

It is a pleasure, Rami.

You ready? Rami asked Ruwen. It’s showtime.

Before Ruwen could respond, a stream of rocks launched from his Void Band and his Energy bar dropped in giant chunks. Starting at one thousand nine hundred fifty-six, six seconds later the Energy bar blinked an angry red as it finally stopped dropping at one hundred sixteen.

Ruwen’s Inventory no longer contained any rocks, and he stared at the result. The most distant rocks on the tunnel floor were the smallest, gaining in size as they approached Ruwen. Like a curve on a graph, the rocks were arranged in perfect symmetry.

Xavier floated down the line and back, stopping in front of Ruwen. “I did not think you capable of such proportion.”

Ruwen sighed. “I’m not. Rami did it.”

Rami poked her head out from behind Ruwen’s ear, and Xavier nodded his head at her. “The ratios are perfect.