My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror - Chapter 243 (Patreon)

Billy ran from the arena as fast as he could, nearly tripping over his feet multiple times before he threw himself through the archway and disappeared from view. The rest of his compatriots followed on his heels, leaving Damien alone with the girl he had pinned to the ground.

“A little violent for you,” Henry observed quietly within his mind. “You could have handled them without any real injury.”

I know. I was mad.

“Anger against the pathetic only demeans you,” Henry said, putting on his wisest voice. He let it fall and let out a slight sigh. “I can’t say if this is bad or not. You’ll need to be ruthless to take on the Void, but after everything I’ve learned from you and the other mortals, I don’t particularly enjoy seeing you act like a Voidling.”

Am I that bad? They did attack first.

“Have you looked at her? She might not be about to die, but the girl’s clearly in pain. She isn’t nearly strong enough to injure us, and she’s already down for the count. Why not just knock her out or get off her? You’ve still got your foot on her back.”

Damien grimaced. He shook his head, trying to push the Void’s influence back. Unlike before, when it had stubbornly tried to control his actions, it slipped into the recesses of his mind and flickered at the farthest edges of his vision.

He took his foot off the girl’s back and she groaned, sucking in a desperate breath of air.

“A certain amount of ruthlessness is important,” Henry continued. “But pointless brutality is a detriment. That’s what monsters do, not humans.”

You’re right. I don’t really control the Void. I don’t think it can control me anymore, but it’s still changing how I react to things. Please keep a close watch on me. I’m worried this will get worse until I’m voluntarily doing what it wants.

“You got it.”

Damien studied the fallen girl’s injuries. She had several broken bones and burns from where her fellow student had punched her, but she should have been through worse as a Year Three.

She’s faking the severity of the injury, isn’t she?

“Can you blame her?” Henry asked with a chuckle.

“I know you aren’t that badly hurt,” Damien said, cutting one of her groans off midway through.

“What do you want with me?” the girl asked, real pain tinging her words. She kept her face pressed against the sand, not turning over to look at him.

“Well, I think that I’m the one that should be asking you that question,” Damien said with a snort. “You attacked me when I hadn’t done anything. Is everyone in Mountain Hall going to try something like this? That would be pretty annoying.”

“That’s it?” the girl asked, grunting as she flipped to look up at him. “Just annoying? How in the Seven Planes are you just a Year Two?”

“If you think you’re in any position to ask me questions, you’ve got another thing coming,” Damine said, shaking his head. “Don’t mistake me letting up on you for pity or admiration. You and the other students that attacked me were hilariously weak. Mountain Hall’s reputation is greatly exaggerated if that’s really the quality of student that goes here. Even Drew and Bartholomew were better than this. Were they your only competent fighters?”

The girl’s fists clenched and she glanced away. “No.”

“There’s a but coming after that sentence,” Damien said, crossing his arms.

“Mountain Hall makes sure its top students get enough resources and tutelage to become some of the greatest mages in the kingdom,” she said, still not making eye contact. “But the rest of us…”

Damien’s frown deepened as he finally started to piece together why he’d been attacked. “You thought you’d get some reward for taking me out or humiliating me, didn’t you? That’s also why you and the others were so weak. Were you at the bottom of the class and starved for resources?”

“Just rub it in, will you? Just finish me off already. The professor will probably take care of me when he finds out I attacked you and didn’t even win,” the girl said miserably. She coughed and winced. “And even if he doesn’t, I’ll fall even farther behind with injuries like this. This was our best chance to try and get ahead.”

“Stupid move. If I took care of Drew and Bartholomew, why would you be able to handle me? From what it sounds like, even a Year One that’s been favored would be stronger than you,” Damien said.

The girl’s cheeks flushed in shame and she didn’t respond.

Damien pressed his lips together. Now that the fight was over and his adrenaline was fading, he was actually starting to feel a little guilty. Henry was right – he could have handled the fight much better, especially after he knew how weak they were.

“What’s your name?”

“Why’s it matter?”

Annoyance flickered in Damien’s eyes and a tiny trickle of Void energy came, turning his pupils gray. The girl’s face paled.

“Xil.”

“You’re an idiot, Xil,” Damien said. “But I can’t blame you for trying to get stronger. Are you sure your professor is going to have such a problem with it? I mean, attacking me kind of seems like something that Mountain Hall would support.”

“Only if we’d succeeded,” Xil replied glumly.

Damien’s senses alerted him to magical energy approaching from the front of the arena. He turned as Billy hesitantly edged into the arena, followed by a tall, bare chested man with a sharp goatee.

Ether gathered around Damien as the man approached. Henry took control over his Mage Armor, turning it black before the professor was even within talking distance.

“I was told that you went on a little bit of a vacation before coming to meet me,” the professor said when he drew close. His voice was slick, like an oily river.

“That’s one way to put it,” Damien said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I was having a surprise training session with some of your students.”

“I see,” the professor said. “It does not look like they performed suitably. I fear you’ve found some of the scum that’s managed to weasel its way into our school. My apologies. I promise, the abilities of our true disciples are more than enough to give you challenge.”

“Everyone that goes to a Mage College is a true disciple of it,” Damien said flatly. “You should show some more care toward your own students.”

“This… filth is not one of my students,” the goateed professor said, spitting on the ground beside Xil.

A bolt of fire gathered at his fingertips. It was only the size of a nail, but Damien could feel the Ether packed into it. The spell was hot enough to burn straight through a foot of solid stone.

Damien’s Ether leapt to his call as he cast Devour, forming a shield before Xil and swallowing the professor’s attack before it could strike her in the throat. The professor’s eyebrow quirked upward.

“You are new here, so I’ll excuse the misunderstanding. Any disciple that fails to properly execute their abilities is worthless to Mountain Hall. We can use them as we see fit.”

“I believe you just said she was no disciple of yours, Professor…”

“Hawk,” the man said, his eyes narrowing. “And I meant that I was not her teacher, not that she wasn’t a student of Mountain Hall. If you continue interfering in our internal affairs, I will have to report this to Dean Whisp.”

Damien nearly laughed in the man’s face. Then, after a moment, he did. “Please do. That isn’t my concern, though.”

Hawk shook his head and let out a disappointed sigh. “You are too soft. But, since you showed the wisdom to come here and learn, I will instruct you. The reason we do not tolerate such weakness in our ranks is because it undermines everyone. This foolish girl attempted to fight a considerably stronger opponent on her own. If she had managed to defeat you, it would have been commendable. However, the difference between bravery and stupidity is success. We humor brave students. We do not humor fools.”

Damien’s gaze flicked over to Billy, whose face had gone as pale as a ghost. They’d pinned everything on Xil. A quick glance down at the girl’s face showed she’d just realized the same thing.

Henry burst into laughter in his mind. “Wow, these kids really are pathetic. Tossing their own friend under the chopping block. Maybe you should have killed them after all.”

Now who’s talking like a monster?

Xil’s mouth worked for a moment, then she set her brow and gave a jerky nod. “Professor Hawk is correct. I was desperately trying to raise my station in Mountain Hall, so I took the miniscule chance that I might defeat you. If I had, I would have bought myself a future. This is the price for failure for acting alone.”

Damien’s eyebrows raised. She was taking the hit for them. Professor Hawk gave her a curt nod.

“The girl understands. Do not interfere again. I will purge the weakness from Mountain Hall.”

“I refuse,” Damien said, casting out his net of mental energy and drawing the surrounding Ether into him with such speed that, for an instant, the magic in the air reduced. “I defeated her in battle. She’s mine to do with as I see fit. I’m not going to give up my prize for some worthless saving of face.”

Hawk cocked his head to the side. A cold grin slowly stretched across his lips and he shrugged, dropping his hands. “Well, well. Perhaps some of what I heard about you was wrong. I was told that you were overly compassionate, but you are quite the clever boy, aren’t you? Playing everyone like fiddles while taking what you want for yourself. That drive and pursuit of power – we respect that at Mountain Hall. Very well, keep the girl. She’s no longer a member of this college and is yours to do with as you see fit.”

Disgust welled up in Damien, but he didn’t let it show on his face. He just returned Hawk’s grin. “Blackmist didn’t have anyone of such a mindset. It’s… refreshing to meet someone like this.”

Refreshing to picture myself punching his head in. This guy disgusts me.

“You’ll fit in quite well, I think,” Hawk said. He slipped his hands back into his robes and turned on his heel. “You will stay on the South Mountain – the one directly across from us. You’re in the eighth underground level, in room twelve. While we will not prohibit you from keeping servants, no extra food or supplies will be produced for her. If she is spotted anywhere on the mountain without your escort or proof that you sent her for a task, she will be dealt with as an intruder.”

“Very well,” Damien said. “Is there anything else I’m expected to do today? Or will I be free to wander around and learn more about Mountain Hall?”

“Your official tutelage will begin tomorrow,” Hawk replied. “Familiarize yourself with the college. You may buy supplies with gold, since you don’t have any contribution points here yet. I will seek you out in the morning to judge where you stand and see how we can both help each other.”

Hawk strode out of the arena. Billy gave one final glance at Xil, his eyes full of relief and horror, then scurried after his master. Damien watched them go, his distaste with Mountain Hall only growing with every passing second.

“Why?” Xil asked, coughing again. “I won’t–”

“I don’t want you to,” Damien said with a grimace. “Trust me, I really don’t want much to deal with you at all. Unfortunately, if he killed you here, I probably would have felt pretty bad about it. I’m not that heartless yet.”

“I have no future here,” Xil said. “As soon as you leave the mountain, I will be killed.”

“Then find a way to make yourself useful to someone before then. I didn’t want you killed because you showed at least a little bit of care for your compatriots – more than they showed for you, at least. It means you aren’t as bad as most other students from Mountain Hall I’ve seen so far.”

“You want me to spy on you, then use that to save myself?” Xil asked in disbelief.

Damien snorted. “If that’s where your mind is going, you aren’t going to survive very long. Between Mountain Hall and me, I promise that I’m a lot scarier than they are – at least while you’ve got to do what I want you to. Do what you want, though. If you try to interfere with anything I’m doing, I’ll pick up where Hawk left off. Don’t mistake my momentary guilt for idiocy.”

“Well spoken,” Henry crowed. “Now end it with an evil laugh and stare off into the horizon while striking a menacing pose.”

Oh, go get buggered.

Damien barely managed to keep his composure. Xil groaned, slowly pushing herself to her feet. Every movement was jerky from the pain racking her body, but when the alternative was death, she didn’t have another choice.

“Why don’t we start with you leading me to my new room?” Damien suggested. “We can stop for some form of healing on the way over. I don’t know any magic that can help you.”

Xil swallowed and gave him a weak, jerky nod. “This way.”