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Ring of Divine Suffering

The Ring

The powerful, addictive ring Carl surrenders by feeding it to Donut rather than let its hold on him grow.

Story so far

On the ninth floor the ring gave Carl enormous possibility, and by his own admission he squandered it. In the final minutes he found he didn't want to let go: he kept thinking about what opportunities it might provide on the next floor and the one after that, and recognized the hold it had on him as great and overwhelming.

The example of Li Na decided him — one look at her and he knew that path's slope was too steep, and that survival has more than one meaning. He pulled the ring from his inventory and held it up in front of Donut's nose. She asked if he was sure, sniffed it, then took it into her mouth and swallowed it whole, gagging and remarking afterward that nearly choking to death on it would have been quite ironic. The heavy weight of Donut on his shoulder had been reminder enough that strength stats weren't everything.

Appearance

A ring small enough for a cat to swallow, though she nearly chokes doing it.

Role

A source of divine power whose pull Carl deliberately removes from his own reach by putting it inside Donut.

Relationships

Carl — Its former bearer, who gives it up rather than be held by it.
Donut — Swallows the ring, becoming its new carrier.
Li Na — The cautionary example that convinces Carl to let the ring go.

Earlier in this series

Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:

Sources — 15 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 32
  • The ring Carl slips onto his finger just before confronting Empress D'Nadia in her throne room.
Chapter 34
  • Carl's marking ring, usable only on a target at full health, which brands a warlord and reveals their highest stat.
Chapter 35
  • Carl's mass-marking ring that lets him doom many targets at once on the ninth floor, and which is changing him.
Chapter 40
  • Crawler-preying ring that grants stats and levels as it charges, worn by King Rust.
Chapter 42
  • A ring worn on King Rust's first finger, catching Carl's eye the moment the parlay begins.
Chapter 43
  • King Rust's growth artifact, apparently fed former crawlers so brutally that it grants whole levels instead of mere stats.
Chapter 44
  • A ring worn by King Rust that Rosetta pointedly does not use for the bank authorization.
Chapter 48
  • Powerful ring Carl now owns a second copy of, looted from King Rust's body along with a necklace.
Chapter 49
  • A marking ring taken from King Rust; Carl wears only one at a time since two can't mark the same person.
Chapter 67
  • Carl's spare ring, given to Li Na after a fraught team debate, and the reason the brig is now empty.
Chapter 84
  • Ring Carl pulls from his inventory and puts on before beginning to form a death mark over Lucia Mar.
Chapter 85
  • Carl's marking ring, used from the tower to inventory everyone trapped inside the ball of flesh.
Chapter 89
  • Marking artifact Li Na uses on thousands at once, forbidding her to heal until every marked target is dead.
Chapter 94
  • The ring behind Li Na's marking power, which Donut insists she warned Carl about from the start.
Chapter 97
  • The powerful, addictive ring Carl surrenders by feeding it to Donut rather than let its hold on him grow.
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