Spellheart 9: Chapter 5 (Patreon)

I could hardly believe it. Segolas was going to fight the Death Eye Observer, despite the danger. All for... what? So he could compare himself to me?

[It would seem that is the case, Master. He wants to be just like his father.]

“Except I didn’t defeat the Crimson Eye Observer alone. I brought Sava, Eltiana, Assyrus, Melise, Illiel, and Yorik along to fight by my side!” I growled.

[The tale has grown in the telling. Remember what those women you helped in the simulation chamber said? The current rumor is that you slew the beast single-handed with nothing but your unbridled masculine energy.]

I would have laughed if the sight before me weren’t so serious.

[Do you want to intervene? I may be weakened, but it still wouldn’t be too hard for me to take over that undead’s mind.]

“Infiltrate it and be ready to freeze it at a moment’s notice when it looks like it’s about to deal a lethal blow. The kid needs to understand there are limits to what he can and cannot fight.”

Segolas impressed me once again with his resourcefulness and capabilities in battle. His skeletons wove around him in a practiced formation, with half of them on the offensive and the other half guarding him. Those on the defensive had large shields or skulls that they were using as shields. They would have been better off with something shiny though, assuming the Death Eye Observer’s beams worked in the same way as a living Crimson Eye Observer’s beams.

“Come on, son. Withdraw while you still have forces to cover for your escape...” I whispered, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he didn’t plan to run. Just like he said, the young half-elf had a certain brittleness in him that would accept nothing less than total victory.

It was a noble goal, and he was the hero of some story. It might have worked out well for him. But this was no myth in the making. This was his life offered up on the chopping block.

[Your son appears to be running out of death zeal.]

I nodded when I saw him cannibalize some of his undead. If he could make it back to some of the giant raptors he’d just killed, he could replenish himself far faster that way. But the Death Eye Observer’s beams shot out one after another in the blink of an eye, and they had enough range to stretch across the entire cavern. Giving his opponent more range to work with would only be to its advantage, and Segolas knew that.

So he fought desperately for every meter he could gain on the monster. With sword in hand, he worked his way across the cavern floor one jump, leap, slid, or dodge at a time.

Three times he was nearly struck, but three times he sacrificed a talisman from a pouch on his waist. I recognize the design on them. They were Argona’s work. I wish I had something half that good when I was fighting the Crimson Eye Observer.

Bit by bit, he gained a few steps worth of ground on the Death Eye Observer. The battle grew more intense, and I crept closer. Even though this fight was entire realms of power below me, it was incredibly intense for a mage acolyte. Segolas’ senses had to be completely overloaded, and he probably wouldn’t have detected me even if I’d stood right behind him.

Rather than being quite that bold, I snuck behind the Death Eye Observer instead. I kept my aura carefully reigned, lest the Death Eye Observer sense my presence behind it and panic.

I wondered what it was thinking, and Minerva answered. She was already in the creature’s mind, though it didn’t know it yet.

[It is growing increasingly confusing. It doesn’t understand why he’s still fighting. Any other mage acolyte creature would have left its territory the moment it realized it could not easily win this fight. And yet Segolas continues to fight.]

I wondered that myself. Segolas should have run away, but I saw the decision in his eyes. His undead were blown away by beams of corrosive death energy, and by now, there were only half a dozen left. He could still use them to cover his escape and leave if he really wanted.

But I saw the determination in his eyes, and I sensed him reaffirm his decision to slay this beast or die trying.

“You’re finished!” Segolas shouted, suddenly channeling all his remaining death zeal into one ultimate attack. Death zeal filled the air around him, and an ephemeral skeleton ten times as large as he took shape around him, stretching out his in line with Segolas thrusting out his sword. Two more abilities shot out from either of his hands, one in the shape of a ball of purple light and the other lining the length of his sword.

As one, all six of his remaining skeletons charged forward, dead ahead. He was throwing them at the Death Eye Observer all at once, hoping to buy a moment or two for himself while the Death Eye Observer destroyed them or let them get a few hits in while the Death Eye Observer targeted him.

The Death Eye Observer didn’t have nearly as many smaller eyes as its living kin, so most of its damage came from the main central eye. It locked that eye on Segolas himself, pouring all of its power into stopping what it saw as the largest threat.

The glowing spectral image of the giant undead humanoid surrounding Segolas weathered the blow in his place, and the laser shattered the massive bone rips stretching around him. As it was destroyed, the spectral image faded. If he had any power left, Segolas might have been able to reinforce it to help it hold a little longer, but he’d already thrown all of his remaining reserves into one final attack.

The Death Eye Observer grew increasingly panicked and shot its beam of energy at him with reckless abandon. The blackened-withered skin covering what must have passed for the creature’s skull shriveled up as it exhausted its own death zeal. That my son could press a true mage-level monster to the edge of death like this did me proud, even if picking the fight had been a poor decision on his part. He could fight above his level and hold his own, and with that kind of unyielding determination, it was no wonder Xoreda had wanted him as an apprentice.

The Death Eye Observer made its first sound of the entire battle as it opened its maw to reveal yellowed, jagged, and bony teeth. Most of them were broken into shards, but that only made them all the sharper if used against something like a half-elf’s tender flesh. It realized Segolas would reach it before its energy beam broke through his defenses and that it would have to resort to something a bit more barbaric to defeat him.

Segolas’ sword struck first, and it unleashed all the spells he’d channeled into the undead monster’s eye. Despite all the speed and strength Segolas put behind the blow, he was facing a true mage-level monster, so his weapon only sank a hand’s breadth into the eye. That wasn’t enough to finish it, but it was enough to blind it and cut off that beam of deadly energy.

[Master, should I freeze it?]

I gave Minerva my approval as I made my presence known just as the Death Eye Observer latched its teeth around Segolas’ head. The tips of those teeth had just barely pierced the skin on the back of his neck. Segolas squirmed within its maw, trying to break free, then suddenly confused at why the Death Eye Observer had suddenly stopped.

I stepped up from behind Segolas and made my presence known, releasing the aura of power that surrounded me. All of a sudden, Segolas froze just as surely as the Death Eye Observer.

“Hey son. Need a hand?”

I didn’t bother waiting for an answer as I tore him free from the Death Eye Observer’s maw. I looked him over for wounds, and he had a couple of deep gashes. I had a number of pills that could have him fully healed in moments, but I wanted him to remember how close he came to death. Fixing him up too soon would be counterproductive.

Segolas’ eyes darted between me and the ground. He fought a war with himself, confused at what to say. At first, I thought he’d be mad at me for saving him, but he had more sense than that. Eventually, he settled for a quiet mumble.

“Hello, father.”

“Hi yourself. Your mother is already worried sick about you. If you’d actually gotten yourself killed, I would have never heard the end of it. You know the lengths we went through to pull you out of that coma.”

Voice quiet, Segols replied, “I know.”

I glanced back at the Death Eye Observer. A single undead had survived Segolas’ desperate last-minute charge. After Minerva stunned it, the undead continued to follow its last orders. It used the shard of bone it had been holding and stabbed it into the back of the Death Eye Observer’s giant eye over and over again. One blow rained down on the beast after another, and I could sense the Death Eye Observer fading away. Even a true mage-level monster like this one could die to a heartwielder skeleton if it wasn’t allowed to defend itself and was already heavily wounded from Segolas’ sword running through its eye.

“If it’s any consolation, I think you did it,” I said as I took in the Death Eye Observer. “A sword through its central eye would be pretty rough, especially considering it has no arms to remove the sword. Its main weapon would be permanently disabled, and it’d be easy prey to the next thing that entered this place. And that’s assuming you couldn’t buy enough time while being eaten for your minion here to deal lethal damage on its own.”

“You really think so?” Segolas brightened a little. “It still isn’t close to what you managed.”

I snorted. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear. It was Eltiana who dealt the final blow, not me. A lot of those stories from my early days are greatly exaggerated.”

“But you faced off against entire armies dozens of times, risking everything to establish the Hearthwood Clan as the power it is today.”

“Yes...” I replied carefully. “But I never took a risk like this one. Well, there was that one time against Tim where I really had to roll the dice, but I prefer not to.”

“But then how...”

“I won all those battles by stacking the odds in my favor well ahead of time. If I have any choice at all, I don’t pick fights unless I know I can win them. That’s how I lived long enough to get as powerful as I am.”

Segolas was silent. “I didn’t know that. I just heard the stories...”

I nodded. “Tell you what. Once you’re better, we can come back here, just the two of us. I’ll show you how I fought at your level and give you my best advice so you can do even better at yours.”

“But... if I waste any more time, I’ll fall even further behind...”

“Did I ever tell you the story about the tortoise and the hare?”

Segolas looked confused. “Tortoise, hair? What?”

“Right. How about the story of the Iron-Shelled Stone Pig and the Silverwing Hawk?”

“No... I’m not aware of any such story.” Segolas frowned.

“Well, it’s something every father should tell his children. Two animals race. One is quick. The other is slow. But the slow one keeps going long after the fast one has stopped to take a break. In the end, the slower animal wins because he doesn’t give up.”

Segolas was silent, and I feared I hadn’t done the story justice. But he spoke up again a moment later.

“You’re... saying that I don’t have to worry about my siblings racing ahead. I just have to keep cultivating at my own pace?”

I grinned and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “You’re not competing with your sister, or your brother, or even me. The only person who can stop your progress is yourself. If you must overcome something, overcome yourself so that each day you’re a better person than the day before.” I hauled Segolas to his feet.

“I didn’t know you were a scholar as well as a cultivator, father.”

“Ha! Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” I ran my hand through the hair along the back of my head. “But I’ve been around the block before. Tell you what, how about we run through this dungeon once or twice, you and me? I did that with a few of your siblings already. And don’t spread this around, but I’ve got an ability that helps those adventuring near me get lucky while adventuring. Odds are, we’ll find some good stuff for you! And if we don’t, I’m sure I’ve got something in the clan’s stores.”

Segolas had a grimace on his face at the sound of free handouts. Unlike Comela and my other children, he wouldn’t take kindly to handouts. He wanted to earn his power, just like I did. In that way, at least, he was the most similar to me of all my children.

“Get your mother off my back. I just know she’ll be a mess when she hears what happened. Make her happy, and we’ll call it even.”

Segolas raised a skeptical eyebrow. “That’s it?”

“You underestimate how important your mother is to me. Compared to seeing her upset, a few cultivation supplies for a mage acolyte are practically worthless. Don’t think I wouldn’t give any other mage acolyte in your position the same deal.”

“Even if they weren’t your son?”

“Yes, even if they weren’t my son.”

“Alright. I’ll do it.” Segolas dusted some of the blood and gore off his shirt, looking uncertain of what to do next.

I pulled him into an embrace. “But remember, you are my son. And you did just take down a true mage monster on your own. Even if you gave up fighting and gaining power here and now, I’d always be proud of you.”

“Thanks, dad.”

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