Zeal of the Mind and Flesh: A Cultivating Gamelit Harem Adventure (Spellheart Book 1)

by Marvin Whiteknight

  Sava wielded the axe with apparent familiarity, despite having just made the weapon out of a hatchet moments ago. There was no hesitation or stuttered movements. From the moment she wrapped her hands around her weapon she was fully committed to using it. While she didn’t excel at wielding a weapon, like any being of superhuman strength when she used one she used it well.

  The swordswoman from the other day caught sight of Sava and closed the gap, but she quickly found her sword pushed aside by Sava’s heightened reflexes. With the axe the alchemist was wielding, the swordswoman should have been able to dart in and end the fight in one blow, but Sava was moving visibly faster. She was one level ahead, and the swordswoman’s skills weren't good enough to bridge that gap, but her friends were. The swordswoman was soon joined by three of her comrades, and between the lot of them they were able to push Sava on the defensive.

  Sava continued to fight valiantly, but it soon became apparent that she would be surrounded and defeated.

  I wasn’t about to sit passively by though. I prepared myself for my own attack. I pulled up a dozen more earth spikes, as I’d taken to calling them, and hurled them at the enemy before me.

  That got their attention, and many of the warriors glared at me with hostility evident in their expressions, but also a look of surprise.

  “Seize the chaka!” Her two fire-wielding bodyguards made to move towards me but Nela waved them back. “I want him fully intact please. Not burned to a crisp. Fire spells aren’t known for their finesse.”

  Instead, two of the guards that had surrounded Sava peeled off to attack me. One of Nela’s guards took their place in combat against Sava, while another stayed back to protect their matriarch.

  Where was Yorik? We could really use that stun thing she could do with mind magic right about now.

  The three guards apparently hadn’t expected much of my physical combat capabilities. The closest one sheathed her sword and lunged at me, her arms wide. Clearly, she intended to wrestle me to the ground.

  I don’t know where she got the idea that she could do that. She managed to wrap her arms around me, but I was vastly stronger than her. She wasn’t even as strong as Sava. I threw her off with ease and flipped her on her back in the dirt. Time to put that earth zeal body training Yorik had taught me to work.

  She started struggling to her feet, but I was faster. Instead of letting one of my attackers recover, I lifted the pile of muddy dirt on the ground in front of her and pulled it up, leaving an arm-deep depression on the ground. As the elf stumbled into the hole, I dropped the dirt back on top of her, pinning her under a pile of mud and dirt. She might be able to get one of her hands free eventually, but it would take her some time to dig herself out.

  At this point, I was hesitant to use lethal force. These people clearly wanted me alive. It was only polite to return the favor. Besides, killing someone’s friends is usually a bad move on the diplomatic front, and I had the feeling that I could negotiate with these Songstone people, if only they’d hear me out. I’d only start killing them if things really started looking bad.

  I swept my leg out, knocking another of the Songstone elves to the ground. Then I repeated my previous trick, dropping a pile of dirt on her and pinning her to the ground. This was surprisingly easy.

  The third Songstone elf was much more cautious, seeing how easily I had dealt with her allies. Instead of charging in hoping to pin me with physical strength, she drew her sword. It still had the scabbard on it, so it wouldn’t actually cut me, but she waved her hand down its length, making the whole sword glow with a strange blue-ish light. Little sparks jumped off the scabbard.

  I didn’t have a weapon, but recent experience made me confident in the strength of my fists.

  The elf swung her scabbard, and I raised my forearm to block it. The blue light touched my arm, causing a tingly numbing sensation to spread throughout the area. The elf must have been expecting that bit of magic to take me down though, because she was completely unprepared for when my fist collided with her abdomen. It still felt wrong to hit a woman, but I suppressed my chivalric upbringing and gave her a solid left hook to the jaw, knocking her to the ground. With a wave of my hand I had the dirt around her suck her down chest-deep and entrap her. By the time she regained her senses the earth zeal would have hardened the earth and leave her helplessly trapped.

  The attacks against Sava weren’t anywhere near as tame. The Songstone Clan wasn’t pulling their punches on her. They had their blades drawn and were striking to kill. Sava was returning the favor. Grassy vines pooled at her feet, lashing out like whips at anyone who got too close. They covered her back, making sure nobody could safely circle around her, keeping Sava safe for the moment. Sava’s axe was red and dripped with fresh blood. The Songstone Clan elf who had been hit in the collar bone had since been dragged away by her allies. Sava had landed disabling strikes on two more Songstone Clan members, and more than one of them had taken a nasty potion to the face. As a result, they were behaving more cautiously.

  I realized then why the fight had been going so well for me. Not only were these elves under orders not to hurt me, but all the real fighters were focusing on Sava, and it was showing.

  Sava was holding her ground, but it was clear which way this was going. Sava couldn’t handle this fight. And once she lost, the Songstone people wouldn’t be nice enough to capture her. I was pretty tough myself, but even with the advantage that the Songstone Clan members wanted to capture me alive, I wouldn’t be able to win. Where were these Riverweed tribe cultivators? Surely somebody had to have noticed all the smoke billowing in the air and all the noise from the fighting.

  I wouldn’t be able to rely on rescuers showing up. Only on myself and my companions. Hopefully Yorik had enough time by now to get her mind magic going.

  There was a fundamental, permanent difference in status between those who are captured and forced to join a faction, and those that willingly join on their own terms. I wasn’t about to become a prisoner if I could help it.

  “Songstone Clan! Listen up! I want to meet with your leaders,” I looked right at Nela, who I knew to be the young matriarch, or something along those lines.

  “Hush now, chaka! You’ve been captured by this vile evil-doer, but fear not! We of the Songstone Clan have come to rescue you!” One of the Songstone fire wielders shouted with pride.

  “First of all, I’m not a damsel in distress,” I replied. “And second… Yorik! Get me some peace and quiet!”

  I heard a buzzing sound which rapidly rose in volume. Yorik had been under orders to prepare for this spell. She’d been flooding the entire area with her mind zeal, though she’d warned that it would reduce her mind spellheart to half its current size to do this much. The noise increased in pitch and I knew Yorik was weaving her spell. The elves didn’t seem to notice it, but I did. This was much worse than last time. I tried covering my ears, but the buzzing noise wasn’t really sound. It was a characteristic of the mind zeal flooding the surrounding area.

  Right on my signal the humming noise that reverberated through the air intensified. The elves of the Songstone Clan, along with Sava, started moving oddly. Sword blows that should have been simple to land suddenly started missing for no apparent reason. Muscles spasmed weirdly. Elves were glancing around with expressions on their faces ranging from wonder to terror, as if each were stuck in a separate hallucination.

  To get this to work for me I’d need to capture someone important, that Lady Nela. With her has my hostage I would be able to negotiate with her directly, from a position of power. I was betting on the fact that the info I’d been given the other day was correct, and this Nela Songstone was in fact of high standing, if not the leader of the clan before me. Perhaps I could even benefit from this unexpected encounter.

  Truth was, I wasn’t entirely unwilling to join their clan. It just had to be on my terms. Also, Sava was good to me, so I’d like to see her treated well. And not killed by those six Songstone elves who were gat
hered around her poised to strike.

  Most of the elves were still conscious at the moment. It’s just that they were wandering around in a daze. Even with as much power as Yorik had thrown into the magic, it was being pushed past its limits here. Many of the elves were already showing signs of waking. Worse, it was impossible for Yorik to control. Which meant if they thought they were in combat they’d still be dangerous, despite being under the effects of Yorik’s mind magic.

  Sadly, Yorik had told me I couldn’t just rewrite their memories and make myself their leader that way. Such a task was far beyond Yorik’s level, if it were even possible.

  I guess I’d just have to usurp a leadership position the old fashion way.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  I GRABBED NELA by the arm. One of the fire wielding elves next to her widened her eyes in sudden surprise and fury.

  “Unhand the young matriarch!” She shouted.

  I jumped in surprise. She had been one of the weaker ones, and I had been certain she was still completely under the influence of Yorik’s spell. Was the spell weaker than I’d hoped?

  Thankfully, it appeared she hadn’t broken out of Yorik’s spell after all. I easily sidestepped her blow, and it sailed harmlessly past me. Then I swept her feet out from under her, toppling her into the dirt. Thanks to being in an area I’d constructed and maintained myself with magic, I still had a connection to a lot of the surrounding zeal. Added to the stuff I was dumping out of my spellheart I had plenty of zeal to work with for a simple spell like this. I used the same trick I did for the other Songstone Clanswomen and buried her neck-deep in a pile of dirt.

  I was able to spot her spellheart immediately. It was small and golden-yellow stone, lighter in color than Yorik’s amber mind spellheart. It reminded me of sunlight, especially cradled in a small gold and silver necklace. Like most elves, she kept it on a necklace which I yanked off her head.

  “The matriarch! Save her! The green swamp bears are attacking! To arms! Songstone Clan! Defend the barrels of whiskey! We’ll drink well tonight!” Her shouts quickly became less and less rooted in reality the moment I separated her from her spellheart. The zeal from her spellheart must have been partially protecting her from Yorik’s spell.

  That was interesting. I supposed that the spellheart provided some innate resistance to Yorik’s delusion spell simply by existing. Maybe you could block out one zeal aspect by flooding the surrounding area with zeal under your own control. A possible avenue of defense to pursue later.

  Still, it looked like none of the Songstone elves had such a defensive spell against mind zeal. I suddenly realized that this would be a lot easier than I thought. One by one, I went around and collected the spellhearts of every Songstone Clan member, hurrying as Yorik strained to maintain the spell. She’d come out of hiding so she could get closer and narrow the scope of her spell, but even so it was straining her. Amazingly, her spellheart had been reduced to nearly nothing. Sava told me it was impossible to use so much zeal in one sitting, but Yorik had managed it. I suspected an ordinary heart wielder would never be able to wield such a spell. The orc woman had her secrets, and while I had my suspicions as to what they were, I wasn’t going to pry just yet.

  Nela Songstone, the young matriarch, had by far the biggest spellheart I’d ever seen. More than that though, it was crystal clear and it positively throbbed with power. It was golden like the sun, as were the spellhearts of most of the Songstone elves I’d collected thus far. But her’s was far larger than those of her people, and even though it wasn’t bonded to me I could feel its power.

  Sunlight spellheart, partially bonded (Level 10)

  Incredible. If I was right, this was a spellheart at the very peak of zeal accumulation. But oddly, Nela wasn’t at the peak of zeal accumulation.

  Nela Songstone (Level 7, partially bonded)

  This thing was only a few times bigger than mine, but it was clearly miles beyond it in terms of power. Was Nela bonding directly with a powerful spellheart, therefore skipping over the lower levels of zeal accumulation entirely? A pang of jealousy shot through me, quickly followed by an inkling of greed. Could I take this spellheart for myself?

  With Yorik’s help, I disarmed everyone in the Songstone Clan. Sava was just as badly hit by the spell as the rest of the elves, so I moved her somewhere where she couldn’t hurt herself. I was also very curious about how Yorik’s distortion spell appeared to have no effect on me but was devastating to all the elves. That was another secret that I’d have to figure out.

  “All right Yorik. You can drop the spell,” Yorik slumped over. Clearly holding that many people in a dazed state had taken a lot out of her.

  “W-what!?” Nela Songstone blinked as she came to her senses. “What happened?”

  “You were defeated. By me.” I made sure to loom over her in a somewhat menacing fashion. The fact that she was half buried under the earth only helped emphasize our height difference.

  I’d expected something along the lines of ‘Let me go this instant!’ But instead the young matriarch just took a few moments to take in the entire situation. Her people had been completely immobilized, with only myself and Yorik still armed. There were some light wounds, but nobody was seriously injured. Sava had taken the worst of it, but I’d taken her inside the hut. Yorik would explain things to her hopefully. Or at least stall her long enough that she didn’t run out trying to bash some heads in while I was trying to negotiate a peace treaty. Sava didn’t like the orc, but she was smart and would figure out how I wanted to play our current hand.

  “This is a surprise,” Nela said, an air of defeat in her voice, “I didn’t realize we’d be fighting another heartwielder of the mind aspect. Just when we thought we’d survived the Unblinking Eye’s wrath they strike again when we least expect it.”

  The Unblinking Eye? What?

  “We’ve got nothing to do with this Unblinking Eye. You attacked us, remember? We were just defending ourselves. Since you lost, don’t you think you should compensate us?”

  I heard a happy noise from Sava behind me.

  “Quit pretending,” Nela said, a trace of grim acceptance in her voice, “I know you mind heartwielders have come to finish my people off. It wasn’t enough to take our home and kill our families, you had to hunt down us survivors as well.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “Fine, be that way. Just let me ask, which one of you is the mind heartwielder? It certainly wasn’t the herbalist you called Sava. Was it you?”

  I shook my head. “As much as I would like to lay claim to that power, it was not. It was my faithful vassal Yorik there.” I inflated my tone and words to sound more noble. She was a noble herself after all, and I didn’t want to come off as crude or backwoods like she no doubt thought. So I changed my words and tone to something a little more impressive. It was a skill I’d picked up from too much role-playing. The elf was taking me seriously, which was a good sign.

  “An orc? Really?” Nela said in surprise. “I didn’t think the Unblinking Eye let orcs into their circle.”

  The Unblinking Eye? That was the second time she mentioned what sounded like a sinister organization. I glanced at Yorik. She glanced back at me, shrugging her shoulders.

  A sense of tension suddenly flowed out of Nela. “You’re not with the Unblinking Eye then?”

  I didn’t want to answer that question, though I was curious as to who these ‘Unblinking Eye’ people where, and why my hostage was afraid of them. When you were negotiating, it was best to do so from a position of strength. Ignorance did not project an image of strength. Besides, there were more important questions to be asked.

  “I’ll be asking the questions,” I held up her spellheart, “Why does your spellheart look different from mine?”

  Nela blinked, as if I had asked the most obvious question in the world. “That’s a high-grade spellheart. The other thing you’ve got in your hands is a low or mid-grade spellheart. I had the seed crystal bestowed to me by the Sorcer
ess of my clan. She knows some powerful zeal manipulation techniques, which is how she made it. Yours was self-made, it looks like. The seed crystal was probably looted from the corpse of a monster.”

  Alright, new question then. “Why did you attack our camp?”

  Nela blinked again.

  “Didn’t I say, ‘give us the chaka?’ We came here to get you, of course.”

  “I gathered that, but why?” Nela gave me another look like she was questioning my intelligence, so I clarified. “Besides the obvious value I have as a fountain of life zeal to tap.”

  “If you really don’t work for the Cult of the Unblinking Eye, I’ll tell you. All it costs me is the last shreds of pride I had left after the destruction of my family.” Nela shook her head bitterly. “The Songstone Clan was destroyed. Of these people I brought with me, most are from the lowest echelon of our clan. Groundskeepers, gardeners, smiths, cooks, and caretakers. I brought them with me when I fled from the ruins of our ancestral home. I don’t know how many others of the Songstone clan are out there, but here I am, trying to save all I can. With only us left, our clan’s position is precarious. We tried to bring one of the low-ranked males with us, but he died from injuries sustained during our flight. He was a flower in a greenhouse, and when he was brought outdoors he toppled under the slightest breeze.” Sava said, dismay in her words. “Without a future generation, we’re not a clan, just a crew of bandits. We’ll have a much harder time seizing and holding territory, and there will never be any chance of avenging our kin. Thus, the two most important objectives in recovering our strength is increasing the spellhearts of our surviving members, resurrecting our fallen, and increasing our numbers. When I found out about you, I realized you were the perfect solution to all our problems. Little did I know that the band of misfits I’d gathered wouldn’t have been able to do even this much.” Nela shrugged, tears rolling in her eyes. “If I had my old spellheart, I could have done this alone. I’m just too weak, and I’ve led what little remains of my family to disaster.”