The Fourth Secret: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 4) by A. Kay (best short books to read .TXT) 📕

Ruwen locked eyes with Drivyd to keep the Observer in his thoughts. “I sent the temple Guardians to scout—”

“That was a foolish risk,” Elder Gabryel said. “Protecting the temple is their purpose.”

Ruwen didn’t get upset by the interruption. It made sense the Elder Priestess wanted to protect the temple. It probably had been foolish.

“A risk I thought necessary,” Ruwen said. “With your help I can avoid foolish choices in the future.”

Ruwen struggled to remember what he’d been doing before the interruption.

You were talking to Elder Drivyd, Rami said, sensing Ruwen’s confusion.

Who?

The Observer Elder standing next to the Mage Odalys.

It took Ruwen a second to find the Master Spy. Rami, can you help me keep track of Elder Drivyd. His Fade ability, and Uru knows what else, is making it hard for me to remember him.

With your focus issues, it’s like hiding a marble from a baby.

Hey!

Rami laughed, and Elder Drivyd suddenly had six red balloons floating over his head and attached to his collar via strings. A pair of squirrels jumped from balloon to balloon playing tag. Ruwen watched the squirrels, interested in their game.

Rami sighed, and the squirrels disappeared, leaving just the balloons.

What happened to the squirrels? Ruwen asked.

Some cures are as fatal as the disease.

What does that mean?

“Why do you keep pausing? Is there something wrong with you?” the last of the Elders asked.

Ruwen faced the woman. Her skin looked tan, and she had wrapped the blanket around her body, which highlighted her curves. Their eyes locked, and her beauty shocked Ruwen. His head swam, and a debuff appeared.

Enamored: -10 Intellect, -10 Wisdom, Brain Fog

Interesting, Rami said. Those are the same stat debuffs as the Mental Whiplash we got from trying to probe Mom’s mind.

The debuff immediately blinked and then disappeared.

At least your feeble mind shook it off, Rami said. She’s a little old for you, don’t you think?

When Rami had chosen the Codex of Perception, it had increased Ruwen’s Mind Resistance to one hundred fifty-two percent. The woman had powerful magic to overcome that kind of Resistance, even if briefly.

When he’d carried her unconscious body to the revival room, he’d noticed she was attractive, but hadn’t been punched in the face with it like now. Which probably meant she had activated some abilities.

Name: Elder Zahara

Class: Merchant

Sub Class: Transporter

Specialization: Smuggler

Class Rank: Adept

Hamma cleared her throat and Ruwen pulled his eyes away from Elder Zahara.

“To answer your question, Elder Zahara, there is a lot wrong with me. We will need to manage together.”

Ruwen searched for the balloons and found Elder Drivyd, who had moved from his original location. “To finish answering your question, Elder Drivyd, I have only the most basic information about the invading army.”

Elder Drivyd looked shocked that Ruwen had found him. “It is a start.”

Ruwen nodded and gave the Elders the summary of what Lir had discovered. “There are around ten thousand visible troops two weeks south and east of here. The underground Temple Guardian detected anomalies but didn’t investigate because I didn’t want to risk it. There are also almost fifty small scout teams spread from the Cultivator camp in the north, the Frigid Sea to the east, and deep into the Desolate Mountains to the west.”

“Ten thousand barely constitutes an invasion,” Elder Vachyl said.

“Which god is invading?” Elder Gabryel asked.

Ruwen thought back to what Tremine had said when he’d arrived.

“The ones nearest us are likely Naktos and Haffa,” Ruwen told the Priestess. “I’m unsure about the north, but I think there are at least two other gods involved there.”

“Naktos is cautious,” Elder Drivyd said, his red balloons moving lazily above him. “He is likely hiding his strength.”

Ruwen nodded. “No one expected resistance from the south. If the other gods are responsible for taking Deepwell and Stone Harbor, Naktos might only be here to catch those fleeing, secure the farmland, and chase of the Cultivators.”

“Cultivators?” Elder Yana asked.

Ruwen faced the Worker Elder. “They are Spirit users like Harvesters, but they harm nothing to collect it.”

“Pacifists are useless,” Elder Vachyl said.

“For battle, possibly,” Ruwen said. “But they could help with protection. I have met with their leaders and offered them a place near our city. In addition, there’s a dungeon portal two miles north of the city. I will update everyone’s maps with the area under the dungeon’s control.”

“You surround us with pacifists and deadly creatures,” Elder Vachyl said. “You are worse than stupid, you are self-destructive. You will cancel those agreements immediately.”

Ruwen dropped into a level three meditation long enough for it to pull the anger away. “I am certainly destructive, maybe even, as you said, self-destructive.” He looked around at each of them. “But I know this, in the future, without allies, we will fail.” Ruwen used one of the Bamboo Step phrases Sift used. “Mountains aren’t made from a single stone.”

“He’s right, Vachyl,” Gabryel said.

“Of course you’d agree,” Vachyl said. “You’re both cowards, dismissing the surrounding realities. How did that work out for us Gabryel? We can only trust our own people and must strike the enemy before they’ve prepared.”

Vachyl’s aggressiveness reminded Ruwen of the Viper Step philosophy, and he wondered if the old Fighter had been exposed to some Viper training.

Ruwen’s fellow Worker, Yana, waved her hand through the air. “You lack balance, Vachyl. You’re a sword that only knows how to stab.”

Vachyl sneered. “Don’t lecture me on—”

Ruwen quit listening. He realized leading this city would be nothing like directing his friends. Sift was overly aggressive, and Hamma wanted to minimize danger. Lylan took a practical and more tactical view, willing to take risks if they had merit. He tended to overthink if given too much time, be excessively destructive when cornered, and too willing to put himself in the most danger. But, the four of them almost always agreed on things.

These six would be different. There would be no consensus here. He would need to listen to everyone and then decide. Unfortunately, he would need to lead for the first time.

Ruwen reviewed the two quests Uru had given him when