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

by Marvin Whiteknight

  “Coward,” Yulli cursed. “Fight toe to toe!”

  “Is wealth not another type of strength? You have your skill with a sword and fire zeal, my clan has its blood zeal and wealth.”

  “My clan had files on your people. You were a minor tribe of insignificant importance. The Crimson Dragonfly tribe had no wealth to speak of and was bound to be destroyed by the Claw Tamer tribe sooner or later.”

  “As I said, I have friends in high places,” Red Serpent grinned. “I’ll give you a hint to whom.”

  Red Serpent’s body flickered as a set of plate armor came into existence around her, covering her head to toe. It was gold and silver, more in common with Yulli’s color theme than the crimson colors that Red Serpent wore. It clashed with the color of her clothes and blood-red hair.

  Songstone Elder Armor

  This armor was produced in the Songstone mines, controlled exclusively by the clan of the same name. It offers great protection but serves primarily as a symbol of status for the elders of their clan. It is forbidden for outsiders to wear. The Songstone Clan will kill anyone caught doing so to maintain their honor. After the Songstone Clan’s fall, these sets of armor were looted by the conquerors.

  Yulli’s eyes went wide and furious. I could feel many of the former Songstone Clan members react with rising rage.

  “You!” Yulli snarled. “You aligned yourself with them!”

  “That’s right. Our backers are the Sakaku Clan. Your Songstone Clan couldn’t fight them when you were at full strength. And you think you can oppose me with that rag-tag band of survivors? I think not. My friends in the Sakaku Clan asked me to finish you off, and so I shall.”

  I sensed the hatred flowing off the former Songstone Clan members. I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted.

  “Don’t you mean your masters in the Sakaku Clan?”

  Red Serpent’s gaze turned on me, a dark look in her eyes. But at the same time, the former Songstone Clan members looked at me with admiration and loyalty. Their opinion of me had increased as I struck a verbal blow.

  Yulli sensed my train of thought and joined in. “Don’t fool yourself, snake. The Sakaku Clan has masters of its own. Masters who will use you up and spit you out.”

  Red Serpent's eyes scanned me up and down, examining me down to the core. I resisted the urge to flinch.

  She turned back to Yulli. “You need to control your subordinates. Not that you’ll have the chance to now. After this they’ll be slaves to the newly formed Crimson Dragon Clan.”

  Things were not looking good. Yulli was on the defensive, and the first blow soon struck her left side. Blood shot out of her wounded limb and streamed through the air to swirl into a sphere in Red Serpent’s hand.

  The stream of blood flooded into the dragon-spear. The spear glowed brighter, and the next time it struck Yulli barely had the strength to parry it.

  Red Serpent struck at Yulli’s exposed back while she was still recovering from the first blow. Yulli cried out, as the iron tip of the spear poked out from her stomach.

  Her skin started turning gray as crimson light pulsed into the iron tip of the spear.

  Red Serpent planted her foot against Yulli’s back as her sword fell from her hands. She contemptuously kicked at Yulli’s back and pulled her spear out. Yulli staggered several steps. Then Red Serpent twirled the spear like a blade and severed Yulli’s head. She spit on the ground and kicked Yulli’s body in my direction. It started rapidly turning to dust before my eyes, until it faded, leaving a glowing, golden yellow elf soul floating in the air. It was far larger than the mage acolyte level souls I’d seen before, but it was equally unmoving.

  To see someone so strong get cut down so easily… I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. Suddenly all my plans went out the window.

  I may have made a major miscalculation.

  “T-the match is finished. Matriarch Red Serpent is the victor,” The Arbiter announced in a shaking voice. She had been calm and steady when mage acolytes were getting cut down, but to see a true mage level expert die had left her shaken. “The kin of the deceased may now collect the soul of their fallen.”

  “No,” Matriarch Red Serpent interrupted. She picked up Yulli’s bag of holding, examining its contents for a moment before pulling out a soul jar. She popped open the lid and sucked Yulli’s soul inside.

  “Matriarch Red Serpent… it’s tradition that the kin of those defeated in a duel are permitted their relatives belongings and soul, so that they have the option for a resurrection…”

  “I am a relative of the deceased Matriarch Yulli now. The Crimson Dragon Clan reigns supreme over this forest. Henceforth, the Hearthwood forest shall be renamed the Crimson Dragon Forrest, and all elves that live within its bounds are subject to my rule.”

  “But that…” The Arbiter tried to argue, but Red Serpent’s gaze was directed at the scroll in the arbiter’s hand. The arbiter gulped and nodded. “Yes, Matriarch Red Serpent.”

  “Then I assume I hold the rights bestowed on clan matriarchs by the queen?”

  The arbiter took a deep breath and nodded. “In the name of the queen, all elves of the Hearthwood forest are now the subjects of Matriarch Red Serpent and the Crimson Dragon Clan! Kneel before the power granted by the queen!”

  Every elf in the vicinity not from the Crimson Dragon clan was forced to their knees by a supernatural force. For those who weren’t mage acolytes, their foreheads were pulled to the ground where they lay in supplication.

  For me, I felt nothing. The magic must target something about elves. Despite that, seeing what was happening to those around me I thought it best to play along. I took a knee, though I kept my eyes level, scanning the faces of those in the other clans. Some were calm, but most were furious.

  I closed my eyes, feeling the beginnings of a plan spark in my mind.

  “Honored Matriarch,” I began. “I would consider it a personal favor if you could give the soul of our former Matriarch to me.”

  Red Serpent clicked her tongue. At first, she seemed like she was going to lash out at me on instinct, but she held herself back.

  “Don’t think I’ve forgotten you after two breaths of time. You’ve got quite the mouth on you. A pity the Hidden Serpent tribe wasn’t able to capture you first. I can think of better uses for that mouth of yours than what you seem to use it for.”

  If there was ever a time to be a man-whore, now was it. “A personal favor,” I promised the matriarch. “Anything you want.”

  “I could build a harem of male elves, each with a higher cultivation base than you. But still, you caught my attention with your boldness,” Red Serpent tossed Yulli’s soul jar into my waiting grasp. The way her eyes lingered on me made me suspect that she was bluffing. From what I’d seen thus far, a chaka was a rare prize for any elf clan. “Even if you manage to restore her, she’ll have to rebuild her cultivation base, and I doubt she’ll have the talent to do so without the resources of the Songstone Clan.”

  “Many thanks,” I replied slowly, not trusting myself to keep my tone neutral if I used too many words.

  Red Serpent licked her lips. “I’m going to call in that favor as soon as things settle down. Enjoy the next few days while you can…”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  THE NEXT WEEK in Queenshold was unpleasant, to say the least. The Crimson Dragon Clan wasted no time displaying their superiority over the local tribes of elves. As the rulers of this region, tributes went through them, with the Crimson Dragon Clan skimming their portion before sending the rest to the queen. Because of this, they demanded much of the tribute in spellhearts. Not only that, but the amount they demanded in tribute went up fivefold. None of the tribes had prepared so much to offer directly to the queen, so assets had to be rapidly liquidated at rock-bottom prices… only to be bought up by the only tribe that had low-grade spellhearts in abundance, the Crimson Dragon Clan. I had been planning on using all those spellhearts to enhance the spellhearts of clan members, so it was espe
cially painful to give them up.

  With Yulli dead, we’d been forced to abandon the name of the Songstone Clan a second time. Especially since having a rival organization calling themselves another clan is what drew the animosity of the Crimson Dragon Clan in the first place.

  So, we went back to being called the Hearthwood tribe, now just a tribe. The Crimson Dragon Clan elves weren’t happy about that but since Matriarch Red Serpent had rechristened the forest under the name Crimson Dragon Forest, it wasn’t like we were insinuating to be the owners of the whole region anymore.

  Out of all the tribes in the area, the Hearthwood tribe was the only organization that met the new increased tribute quotas, and then only because we had lots of wealth that had been hauled off by the survivors from the Songstone Clan. It wasn’t sustainable though. We could have used those resources for centuries of tributes to the queen, but under the Crimson Dragon Clan they likely would last a few decades at most.

  If our situation could be considered rough, this development was downright devastating to the other tribes. The Waterbeetle tribe was immediately forced to yield their exclusivity on the dungeon entrance they possessed, which I’d since learned was connected to that place where I’d found the blue beetles. And to Mac.

  The Ironwood tribe now had a fixed quota of Ironwood tools and weapons that needed to be produced. I wasn’t sure how hard it was to produce ironwood, but based on their constant grumbling, their quota was too high.

  The Myriad Hues of Flame tribe had it worst of all. They tried to evacuate their whole tribe from the Hearthwood forest, but the Crimson Dragon Clan caught onto their plan. Now, members of the Crimson Dragon Clan were present in large numbers in the heart of their tribe, observing their secret magics and reporting on every move the tribe members made.

  When Crimson Dragon Clan members weren’t available, it was usually members of the Hidden Serpent tribe who did the dirty work. They were the purple-haired elves who’d attacked me not long after arriving in this world. Their leadership didn’t like me much because I killed one of their males, which was why I was concerned when somebody high in their command structure asked me to meet with them.

  I had been thinking about cutting losses and running back to Mac with Sava, Illiel, Yorik, and Nela if I could find her. They must have realized I wanted to run though because every time I looked behind me there was a purple-eyed elf glaring death in my direction.

  “Theo of the Hearthwood tribe? My mistress has ordered me to escort you to the tent of the young chieftain,” a slim, purple-haired elf said after having brushed open the flap to my tent without warning. I suppose that unannounced intrusions were commonplace in her clan, seeing how her tribe favored midnight assassinations over open conflict.

  I instructed Yorik and Illiel to follow me at a distance before I left. Illiel had been teaching Yorik some finer tricks to mind magic, and now they were both capable of casting a inconspicuousness shroud. I’d even gotten the hang of the trick myself, though it wasn’t as useful as I’d hoped. Sava tagged along, though she kept herself well back and watched with the corners of her eyes. I was glad for that, since she lacked the mind magic to follow closely.

  I was led to a large tent in the colors of the Hidden Serpent’s tribe. As I would have suspected from a tribe of wannabe ninjas, they had situated themselves in a rather out-of-the-way area, almost hidden from the rest of Queenshold, half shrouded in darkness and quietly supporting the Crimson Dragon Clan from the shadows.

  Inside the tent was an elf that looked familiar. She was a smaller elf with purple hair, but most Hidden Serpent tribe elves were small, purple haired women.

  The elf absently rubbed her stomach, as if feeling for an old wound. That’s when it clicked with me. This was the elf I disemboweled when I first arrived in this world. She’d been one of the three purple-haired elves who came after me. So, her friend managed to save her life after all.

  I was worried that she was justifiably upset about me shoving a piece of cold iron into her stomach, but she smiled when she saw me and dismissed her subordinate, who hesitantly went to stand outside the tent.

  “Hello, Theo. I’ve heard a lot about you recently. They say you’ve taken over leadership of the Songstone… Riverweed? Hearthwood? tribe. You know, you should consider changing names less often.”

  “Hearthwood tribe nowadays. If it were up to me that would be the one we stick with. And I don’t really claim to have taken over the leadership position. Honestly, it’s Nela Songstone who’s doing most of the work as acting clan leader. With the support of some of the mage acolytes of course.” I downplayed my leadership role to keep from looking like an enemy.

  “Impressive, your understanding of our language has improved remarkably since we first met.” The elf said. “But as we were saying, you have no small amount of influence as well. Oh, forgive me, I know your name, but I never introduced myself. My name is Eltiana Violet, and thank you for sparing my life,” Eltiana curtsied. It maintained all the elegance expected of such an act, but with Eltiana there was a hidden undercurrent to it. Like a viper poised to strike at any moment.

  “Don’t worry about it, and I’m sorry about the guy you had with you. I would have spared him too if I could have.”

  Eltiana waved her hand. “I understand. While his death was a sad loss to our tribe, we recovered his soul and he can be reincarnated in time. I know it is the nature of males to vie for dominance with each other. He felt threatened the moment he saw you.”

  “Right. Reincarnation,” Sava had told me that was what the elf souls were used for. That if we left them to their own devices, they’d float about collecting zeal until they formed a new body, allowing the elf to be reborn. If they accomplished this quickly enough, they might even keep some of their old memories.

  “That’s actually what I need your help with. Natural reincarnation would require us to expend valuable treasures we no longer possess, as all such treasures have been seized by the Crimson Dragon Clan. So natural reincarnation is not an option, but we have other tricks.

  “My Hidden Serpent’s tribe is often employed as spies and assassins. We are popular for hire even beyond this forest. We’ve since uncovered many secret techniques, one of which is a technique that allows for accelerated and improved rebirth for recently deceased clan members.

  “The Matriarch Red Serpent took the last portion of her name from our tribe, the Hidden Serpent tribe. That’s because she was originally one of us. She was born from a male from the Crimson Dragonfly tribe though, and when she had a falling out with her sister, the previous Hidden Serpent’s chief, she left us for the Crimson Dragonfly tribe. That chief was my mother, and one of the first things my aunt, Red Serpent, did when she ascended to the true mage realm was to return to the Hidden Serpent tribe and slay my mother. Ever since then Red Serpent has elevated elves in my tribe based on utter subservience to her, allowing the Crimson Dragon Clan to control us like a clan of servants, thanks to my aunt raising up a few individuals loyal to her into key leadership positions.”

  “I see. So you’re representing a faction that doesn’t support the Crimson Dragon Clan. What do you need from me?” I was both puzzled and curious at having been approached by an apparent enemy.

  “Well, the secret reincarnation ritual technique that my clan possesses requires one item in particular. A male from beyond The Thousand Worlds. In other words, a chaka. From a place called Earth, I’ve heard.”

  I laughed. “Even Sava doesn’t believe that one, and I told her directly. Who’d you hear it from?”

  “We’re spies and assassins, Theo,” Eltiana leaned in close. “And ever since our little fight I’ve taken a great deal of interest in you. So what do you say? Will you be my mother’s new father?”

  I gave it a moment of thought. “Done. On the condition that you share the magical technique with me, in its entirety, leaving nothing out. I can think of a few uses for it. Oh, and one more thing.”

  Eltiana quirked an eyebro
w.

  “No calling me grandpa.”

  I still had the bottle of alcohol modified with mind magic. I’d originally designed it with Yulli in mind, but now there was another true mage level elf on my list.

  “It should work…” Illiel said hesitantly. “It’s no more absurd than your previous plan, though it’s more dangerous for you.”

  “Risks have to be taken,” I argued. We hammered out the mechanics of the mind magic spell.

  If all worked well, I’d be able to trap Red Serpent in an illusion long enough that I’d be able to finish her with my secret weapon. Normally, there were precious few ways someone at the zeal accumulation level could slay a true mage, but one of them was with cold iron. If you could get it.

  Fortunately, Sava pulled my little scrap of a broken sword out of the river with me. It had been sitting in a crate ever since she rescued me, but after my last trip to Queenshold I brought it along. Perhaps I could turn it into a spear tip with time and attach it to an ironwood shaft so Sava or one of the other elves could wield it. This could be my secret weapon, or the secret weapon for an entire clan if I could make more of them. Considering how toxic iron was to elves, it was no wonder they never developed a process to smelt it into metallic form. But I knew how and given time I could outfit an entire clan with iron weaponry.

  Perhaps iron would give my rebellion the advantage we needed to take down the Crimson Dragon Clan. It would take me ages to equip an entire fighting force with swords, but less time for something smaller, like a spearhead. If I had a few months to hole up in the woods… I tucked the shard of iron into the pocket of my tunic, adjusting it so I wouldn’t get cut on the newly sharpened edge. I wondered who’d forged Matriarch Red Serpent’s iron spear.

  While Illiel and I worked on our plan to deal with Red Serpent, Sava made contact with the Ironwood, Waterbeetle, and Myriad Hues of Flame tribes. They wouldn’t meet with Nela, but Sava had more of the Riverweed tribe to her than Songstone Clan. The other tribes would see a Riverweed survivor as someone closer to kin than talking with Nela or another golden-haired Songstone Clan member. Yulli’s actions hadn’t endeared them to the Songstone Clan.