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

Foundations (Part 1)

Assemble a City Council and decide on the first three buildings to rebuild.

Reward: 50,000 experience

And the second one.

The Southern Front (Part 1)

Assemble a War Council and decide on the composition of the first 1,000 warriors.

Reward: 50,000 experience

Ruwen had expected easy experience from these two quests. How hard could these decisions be? He looked at the six Elders, all pointing and arguing with each other, and knew it would be terribly difficult. He used Ringleader to form a group with Hamma, and a moment later her portrait appeared on the right side of his vision.

Using Chat, Ruwen mentally spoke to Hamma. After our initial decisions here, I’m going to break them into two teams, and let each focus on their preferred approach. I’d like you to manage the team focusing on the city. Will you do that?

Sure, Hamma replied.

Thanks. Eventually we’ll need to join the two back together and work on strategy. But right now, some tactical wins will do us all some good.

I’ll follow your lead.

Rami, do you agree with this?

Very short term, yes.

Okay, thanks.

Lir, how many rooms are available in the temple?

There are sixty-two thousand—

Stop, I meant how many rooms are there where people can sleep in something like private quarters. Approximate numbers, please. Actually, just tell me how many people can sleep in beds without resorting to large open spaces or non-bedrooms.

Approximately six thousand.

Thank you.

Ruwen raised his voice. “You are all now New Eiru District Representatives. Your purpose is to guide and advise my decisions. After we make some initial choices, I’m breaking you into two subgroups.” Ruwen pointed at the Fighter, Observer, and Worker Elders. “Vachyl, Drivyd, and Yana you comprise the War Council, along with me.” Ruwen pointed at the Order, Merchant, and Mage Elders. “Gabryel, Zahara, and Odalys, you are the City Council, and will work with Hamma. I will likely add members to this group and your subgroups in the future. For now, this is it.”

The Elders remained silent, and Ruwen took that as agreement. “We need better information on our enemies, and we need to fortify the city while preparing for all the people we need to revive.”

They all stared at Ruwen, so he plowed forward. “We need to decide the first buildings to rebuild and what Classes we need to do it. Those decisions are affected by how many people we need to scout the enemy and provide some rudimentary protection for New Eiru.”

“That is acceptable,” Vachyl said with a hint of approval.

Gabryel pointed at Yana. “We aren’t all as fortunate as, Yana. According to the map, my dimensional bag is nearby, and I’d like to fetch it. I have spare equipment there and I’d prefer to wear something other than an Ascension robe as we get to work.”

“Finally, something we can agree on,” Vachyl said.

Ruwen smiled. It was a small victory, but he’d take it.

Chapter 45

Halfway between the city gates and the lake, Elder Yana demonstrated how the Void Band, used with Dig, removed vast amounts of soil. Ruwen studied her technique as she strode back and forth. He had used Dig in the fight with the Bone Sculptor but had used a lot of Energy throwing the soil. Yana used Dig to loosen the soil and then her Void Band to scoop it up as she walked. It was an incredibly satisfying process to watch.

The first Dimensional Bags appeared thirty feet down. They collected them for the owners, who would eventually be revived. It took less than an hour to find three of the Elders’ bags. The remaining two were under the lake and Ruwen volunteered to fetch those.

Ruwen grouped with the two Elders long enough for them to mark their bags on his map. Using a combination of Glow, Fresh Air, and Dig, he sank to the lake bottom and used Elder Yana’s technique to excavate. He turned on Survey and Stone Echo, interested in the lake's depth. He could only see five hundred feet however, and the lake continued to slope downward at the edge of his display.

Surprisingly, Stone Echo didn’t pick up the locations of the Dimensional Bags. Ruwen wondered if this was on purpose, to help protect the location of such valuable items, or maybe because they were dimensional objects. He wondered if a higher level of Stone Echo might reveal even these objects.

Every time Ruwen reached twenty dimensional bags or belts, he took them to the beach to see if any of them were the Elders. He found over a hundred before locating the Elders’ bags. All these dimensional items were a reminder of how many people died here, and it made him sad. He needed to defend this city successfully so these people could safely reclaim their lives.

Ruwen took the opportunity to store seven hundred thousand gallons of lake water, and a hundred thousand cubic feet of mud from the lake bottom. Eventually he wanted to be prepared for anything.

They returned to the temple, and the Elders changed out of the robes Niall had found them and into their own gear. The entire process of reviving them and reclaiming their gear had taken almost two hours. But now, Ruwen, Hamma, Niall, and the six Elders sat at the table in the dining room.

Elder Zahara, like all good Merchants ready to discuss business, had a feast in her Inventory. She had provided food for everyone, and Ruwen stared at the ten-thousand-year-old loaf of warm bread and bowl of steaming stew. Some things still astonished him, and knowing this meal had sat in the Black Pyramid for that long just added to his amazement.

The Elders ate quietly and Ruwen gave them a few minutes to enjoy their meal before starting. “We need information on the enemy. That data will inform the rest of our decisions.”

Gabryel now wore a white Order robe. “Naktos and Haffa you said.”

Ruwen nodded.

Drivyd spoke, the red balloons Rami had marked him with still hovered over the Observer’s head in Ruwen’s vision. “Naktos surprises