Spellheart 10: Chapter 5 (Patreon)

By the time we finished several days later, I felt an exquisite sense of exhaustion. It was the tired feeling of a job well done and a life well lived. My hips ached, which was a hard thing to happen for a Demigod.

I probably could have focused my zeal on them and made the feeling disappear, but I didn’t want to. There was something satisfying about feeling tired in this manner that I didn’t want to give up. It was the few remaining vestiges left from when I’d been a mere man, instead of the quasi-godlike magical being I was now.

So I lay there, surrounded by a pile of naked flesh as I relaxed and basked in the afterglow. I figured I might as well catch a bit of shut-eye. I didn’t sleep too often these days, but like with my aching hips, there were times when a quick nap was warranted.

When I woke up, I heard the faint sounds of screaming outside. My eyes shot open immediately.

What was happening? Was the Hearthwood under attack?

“Mac, give me a status update. What’s going on out there?”

[Ah, you’re done, I hope? Good. You can deal with this,] Mac replied. He sounded as exhausted as I felt.

“Is this an emergency?”

[No. It’s civil unrest. Your current policy for the Hearthwood allows peaceful protests, and many of your vassals are here to do just that.]

“Wait, really? I thought we were doing a good job.”

[Just... look for yourself,] Mac sighed wearily.

Okay, so we weren’t under attack. But what was going on? Were there rumors of rebellion I’d missed? I thought my tour-building infrastructure for Deania and the surrounding nations would have made me well-liked abroad. I’d basically done decades of work in mere days. They should love me! Why were they protesting?

“Do you hear that?” Tivana asked me curiously.

“Shh... go back to bed. I’ll check it out.” As I wiggled out from between them, I ushered Tivana and the others to return to sleep. I soon found my discarded clothes and squirmed back into them.

I ran up the stairs as soon as I was dressed. The noises got louder. This part of the tower was not nearly as soundproofed as the chambers below.

As I approached the window, I started to hear the demands being shouted.

“Where is the Patriarch?”

“Open these doors!”

“We demand to see him now!”

I pulled the shutters open just a tiny crack and grimaced at what I saw. Many of my most powerful vassals were protesting in the Hearthwood. There was the leader of the Golden Sword Sect, a powerful sorcerer. Yillinarena, Sovereign of the Auqualian isles, and many of her wizard-realm subordinates. Xoreda and many members of the Circle of Necromancers. Even Teilinith and Feilinith were there, the two leaf-covered elven Sorcerers of the Ancient Tree Temple. And I thought I saw the Sunspire Princess, Tivana’s friend.

This was a terrifyingly powerful force to have arrayed outside my city, let alone my tower. I’d be terrified if I wasn’t already a Demigod and hadn’t already pushed most of my companions into the Sorcerer realm. The only thing keeping me calm now was Mac said they were peacefully protesting.

But what could they possibly be upset about? I thought they all liked me!

There was only one way I was going to find out. I steadied my resolve, smoothed the wrinkles out of my clothes, and opened the doors. Time to hear what had frustrated so many people all at once.

Before me stood an array of nearly a thousand elves. I recognized many of them, and most were quite powerful as far as the average cultivator went. A single wizard was strong enough to build and lead a mighty clan of elves, and here they were by the hundreds. All the sorcerers I’d spotted earlier were at the front of the line as well, with the others keeping a respectful distance behind them.

Further back were rows of True Mages, Mage Acolytes, and even a few heartwielders all the way to the rear.

Many people were holding picket signs aloft, most adorned with the simple words, ‘Let us in!’, ‘Equality for all Matriarchs’, ‘We demand reproductive rights!’ and much more.

I still couldn’t figure out what these people were protesting for the life of me.

Were my laws unfair? Some of these issues seemed, unfortunately, familiar to me. I thought I’d left Earth and its problems behind. Frankly, I didn’t understand how they could follow me here because elves had always been matriarchal and mostly women, but perhaps I’d need to put on my best politician’s smile anyway.

“Everyone, everyone! I understand there are some social issues causing concern. Rest assured, your voices will be heard, but only if you talk to me in an orderly fashion. You, what is it you want?” I pointed, seemingly at random, into the crowd. In reality, I’d singled out the Golden Sword Sect Leader.

I had defeated her before, and she was no match for me now, but she certainly wasn’t weak. She was likely a figurehead in this protest and a symbol for others to rally behind. If I could pry her away from the other protestors by satisfying whatever her issues were, things would start getting easier.

The sect leader tossed her sign demanding reproductive rights aside and pointed a finger at me. “I demand only one thing, Patriarch! I insist that you impregnate me immediately!”

Huh?

“Wait wait...” I held up my hands. “What kind of reproductive rights are you protesting for, exactly?”

The sect leader pointed a thumb at herself and then pointed a finger at me. “With all due respect, Patriarch, I thought we had an understanding. Sooner or later, you would pin me down and plant your warm, delicious seed deep in me, and I would bear at least one, preferably many, children on your behalf. Normally, I’m a patient woman, and I was content to wait however many centuries it takes for your schedule to open up for me. But here you are, giving the gift of life to the same women repeatedly, leaving the rest of us with nothing!”

“It’s unfair!” an elven wizard protested. “We demand equal rights to your dick!”

“Yeah, we’re all matriarchs serving under you! Why do they get a monopoly on you? Just because they were here first?” Yillenarena asked. Beside her, Teilinith and Feilinith nodded in unison.

“We demand entrance to your sex dungeon!” Xoreda said.

“Let us in! Let us in!” another elven wizard held up her sign, and as she began chanting, others joined in. Soon, the crowd demanded entry into my quiet and isolated little slice of heaven.

“Well...” the calm and cool demeanor I’d carefully prepared for myself evaporated instantly. Whatever I’d been prepared for, it certainly wasn’t this. And how the hell did everybody already know about my new sex dungeon? It was supposed to be a secret!

“I’m not leaving the Hearthwood unless I’m leaving filled with your seed!” the Golden Sword Sect Leader swore.

Suddenly, my aching hips weren’t feeling like such a well-earned boon anymore. Suddenly, we had a big problem I wasn’t at all prepared for.

“Okay... okay... I’ll get back to you in a second. Let me discuss this with my... er... team.”

I closed the door, wiped the sweat from my brow, and then figured out what to do. Perhaps the first move was to call for reinforcements.

“Hey, Mac? Are Sam and Dean busy? Maybe I can invite them over to help with something real quick.”

Surely the two of them could get some of these desperate women off my back? Otherwise, there were too many for even me, at least in the state I was in currently. This challenge had come at the worst possible time.

[No can do,] Mac instantly replied. [I took the liberty of contacting them when you were busy. Apparently, the two of them have each dealt with similar incidents to this one in the past, though not quite to this scale. They both made it clear that their days of running around were over, and they’d settled down. They said that it would be a lesson you’d learn for yourself soon.]

“Crap...” I placed my head in my hands. “So I’ve got no reinforcements incoming.”

[Sam asked me to tell you that you are on your own for this one.]

“I’m sure he did.” I found a nearby chair and let myself flop into it.

[Dean was quite impressed. He said that back in the day, his mob only consisted of Mage Acolytes and a few True Mages. You’ve truly outdone yourself by getting the ruling Matriarchs of a dozen nations beating down your door. But I suppose that’s only to be expected from a man who anointed himself the Patriarch.]

“I thought it was a cool title when I came up with it...” I grumbled. “But now it seems to come with unexpected responsibility.”

[Elven males are few and short-lived. It’s no surprise that those at higher levels are sexually deprived.]

I sighed. It made sense. More powerful elves would have difficulty finding a male elf they were attracted to. Really, it was the same problem Sam and Dean had with picking up new women with the genders reversed. Potential male lovers for them would die in the blink of an eye, so what was the point? And most of them would be hundreds of years younger, at the least, with far less live experience.

But not me. At my current cultivation level, I would be around for a long time. Not to mention all the other benefits my high cultivation could bring to a potential partner...

I wasn’t just stroking my own ego when I realized I wasn’t surprised they were interested in me. I was a prestigious local authority figure and powerful enough to surpass them in abilities.

If we truly had to, I was confident I was man enough to satisfy them all. It would be the easy solution, really. The gifts I could share were powerful though. In some ways, my cock was the Hearthwood's most precious cultivation resource. Sharing it wasn't a decision I could make without serious political ramifications. This wasn't the sort of decision I could make on my own. I’d need my companions to figure this out.

I returned to our room, where they were just starting to stir. Apparently, my departure had roused a few of them, who’d then roused the others, and after a few quick showers, they were all pulling themselves together again after a long and energetic series of nights.

“Gather everyone. We need to have a bit of a talk. There’s quite a protest outside.”

At my warning, the others scurried a little faster. We gathered upstairs in one of the more mundane portions of the tower. There was a fireplace surrounded by enough plush cushions for everyone to sit and chat all at once. Despite my many companions, I still didn’t have a fire cultivator with me. But Amisra could throw out a few sparks and get it lit anyway.

Once the fire was going, we settled in for a chat. The voices were louder here, and a few of my companions had already taken a peak out the windows to see what was going on. I had Tivana share the news with everyone else.

“There’s a large-scale protest outside. It includes the leadership of many of the surrounding nations.”

“What do they want?” Eltiana asked. She leaned against my shoulder and rubbed at her eyes.

“Well...” Tivana shrugged, a red flush on her cheeks. “Apparently, word got around about what we were doing in here over the last few days. And they want in.”

“Seriously?” Eltiana sat up straighter. “Maybe if I show them the state of my butt, they’d reconsider. They’ve definitely earned some punishment themselves for waking me up early.”

Tivana shook her head. “They already know. Apparently, that just makes it all the more alluring."

“So...” I began, thinking my women would want to figure out how to solve this problem. “What do we do?”

“It’s pretty clear what we have to do...” Sava sighed as she shot a glance at the others. They nodded back at her.

“That’s right,” Illiel adjusted her spectacles. “We need to set up a schedule.”

“Wait, what?” I asked, surprised once again.

“Obviously, they know a good thing when they see it. Our man is the greatest specimen in the Ten Thousand Worlds, and the world leaders are smart enough to want a piece of him for themselves.” Assyrus stroked her chin in contemplation. “I bet they’re already dreaming about what powerful warriors their children by you will be.”

“Immune to Orcish pheromones and with more vitality,” Yorik added.

“I can see that...” My children would have some of the many advantages of being human in a place like this. The original creators of the Ten Thousand Worlds had been humans like me, so they’d naturally rigged some aspects of cultivation to their own advantage.

“So it’s settled. It seems we have little choice but to share a little of our man if we want to keep the vassals in line.” Sava ran her fingers along my chest as she stood behind me, elbows on the cushion and arms draped over me as she rested her chin on my shoulder. “But we should control the distribution of his seed. It is probably the most valuable resource the Hearthwood has at its disposal, even including The Wanderer.”

“Agreed. Perhaps we can award single droplets worth of it? Truth be told, with as much concentrated vitality he has, a Mage Acolyte who isn’t properly prepared would probably die from exposure to more than that,” Nela added.

“Wait, we’re going to sell it?” I choked back a laugh. “Really?”

“Why not?” Sava shrugged. “Those Vitality potions are already a delicacy in the Hearthwood. People drink them recreationally. I had to put purchase limits in place, otherwise higher-level cultivators would drive their value beyond the price of heartwielders aspiring to transform to Mage Acolyte.”

“Damn. I had no idea...” I adjusted myself in my seat. It was startling to think I was producing a substance that had the power to change the lives of so many aspiring elven cultivators. How much of it had I wasted over the last few days? Maybe I should feel guilty about that. But at the same time, perhaps I could do more.

“I might be able to produce a little more of it,” I shrugged. A few times now, I’d released a barrel’s worth of seed in one go. That was an effect of my increased body cultivation. I’d played around with those physical features a bit, but now that I was a Diamond Skin body cultivator, it might be possible to push myself to far greater limits than before. If I could go from a couple of barrels to an oil-tanker’s worth, it might not be so scarce a resource.

“Perhaps...” Sava frowned. “But I would actually prefer if you go in the other direction. Concentrate it. You’re a Demigod. No one will be surprised if your undiluted seed is powerful enough to kill them without precautions. And we can always dilute it for the vitality potions."

We chatted a bit more about how we were going to fairly distribute my sexual activities. The seed was one thing, and technically, that was all I needed to do to satisfy most requests. In such cases, the kids wouldn’t really be mine, I’d just be something like a sperm doner. I wasn’t fully satisfied with that, but considering how many children I already had in the Hearthwood, I wasn’t sure we had the space for a few hundred or thousand more.

Of greater difficulty was the matter of the women who wanted the full treatment, so to speak. Many of the people outside weren’t just asking to be impregnated by me. They wanted into my sex dungeon.

“How did word about the dungeon get around so fast, anyway?” I asked my companions.

“It was pretty obvious when the Whitewood Clan was hurrying into the tower with armloads of furniture,” Yavilla replied. “Besides, your proclivities aren’t exactly a secret.”

“Damn. Alright...” I sighed. “How about this. We’ll add some special time with me to the clan rewards board. Make it really expensive, and mandate anyone who earns it needs to swear their eternal loyalty to me and the Hearthwood now and forever. That will ensure only the most fanatically loyal vassals ever earn that opportunity.”

Illiel scribbled something down on her clipboard. “Understood. We shall make the points requirement so steep that only a true masochist could accumulate so many points.”

“Ha!” Eltiana laughed. “I see the look in the eyes of those girls outside. You might have more people making the cut than you think.”

“Maybe so, but the matter is settled. We’ve now established the Bureau of Submission and Breeding,” Illiel declared with a note of finality.

This was certainly among the strangest of everything I’d done since establishing the Hearthwood.

<Note>
Hope you guys caught that Amazon Apocalypse 2 is out on ebook!

Also, I'm pretty sure this was Theo's third sex dungeon in the story. There was zero chance of it remaining a secret.