Chapter 106: Heart for Range
Seo-jin stood over the Brundar's corpse, feeling a hollow scrape loose inside him. It wasn't grief, just the hunger for what Brundar represented: a tool, a golem, something taken before its use.
He thought about their combat lessons and felt cheated. Training stalled. Progress stalled. He'd learned nothing.
Panic finished licking blood from his arm and froze when Seo-jin's focus tightened on him.
"Tell me what happened."
The broodling answered without stalling.
After ten minutes of sharp questions and tighter clarifications, Seo-jin stitched together the timeline from Panic's report.
Before the dwarf unleashed his golem, Seo-jin had ordered Panic to stay hidden, to observe the auras he'd seen, track the red-tinged one, and act only if the dwarf's life was in danger. After seeing the construct rise in full metallic fury, he never expected the broodling would need to move at all.
And just as he predicted, Panic reported the golem had ripped through the snakes, tearing them apart like wet parchment...but what he hadn't seen coming was its rampage was short-lived. One serpent, larger and meaner than the rest, survived long enough to tear the dwarf open with a surprise attack before crawling off to escape.
After Panic finished with his report, Seo-jin showed no emotion as he hoisted Brundar's weight, then moved toward the fortress entrance.
"I need to finish this."
[It's gonna be harder now. Something tells me this dwarf was special to the Forgemaster. I suggest you get ready for conflict when you return.]
He let out a breath and looked down at Panic padding beside him.
"Scout ahead and make sure no enemies are still about."
"Yes, Broodfather!"
Panic shot forward on all fours and vanished into the trees.
Seo-jin walked at a steady pace, mind working through contingencies.
"I don't think it will affect our agreement. Thragdur should have scouts capable of verifying the scene. But if Brundar's death means no golem, I'll gut every snake I find for the rest of my life."
[You really want one of those things, don't you?]
"You should know the answer to that."
Imagining the potential loss, the corpse felt heavier than it should have.
He spent the march deciding which details to bury, but as the fortress grew near, he pinged Snare and Pain through the link. Their replies were blunt and expected: casualties minimal, invaders wiped, dwarves regrouping.
But what came after caught him off guard.
They were helping patch breaches and reinforce entry points. Something that shouldn't have been possible without communication. Seo-jin felt a flicker of surprise sharpen when he realized Snare had somehow learned enough of the dwarves' language to make himself understood.
Cutting the broodlink as the hidden entrance came into view, Seo-jin summoned Panic back. A pulse of pride and irritation ran through him.
The system still handled his translations. A flaw he meant to correct.
Beneath the great tree that crowned the hidden stairwell, he stood with Brundar's corpse held carefully in his arms. The ground began to tremble and split, stone shifting as Panic arrived. Moments later, a band of dwarves emerged from the passage below.
Seo-jin recognized two of them, the guards he'd knocked unconscious earlier. Neither met his gaze. Their eyes locked on the body in his arms instead.
"Brundar!"
They ran forward, faces hard, eyes reddening with disbelief.
"Bring him in!"
They moved fast, clearing the path without a word. Seo-jin followed, Panic close behind. He expected questions, accusations, but none came. Only silence and the sound of boots striking stone.
When they reached the bottom, one dwarf stepped forward. He tied his hammer to his waist then extended his hands.
"We'll take him from here."
The tone was final. Cold. Enough to make Panic bristle and bare his teeth. Seo-jin didn't bother arguing. He passed the body over, slow and deliberate. The dwarf turned without another word and carried Brundar away.
Seo-jin stepped to follow, but the remaining guards blocked his path.
"We've been instructed—"
One coughed, grip tight on his axe, his voice tight.
"That once you returned, you're to gather your demons and retire to your quarters until the Forgemaster sends for you. If the Broodfather finds that not to his liking… you are asked to leave the fortress until further notice."
The man's confidence cracked by the end, his throat tightening around the words. Even he knew how suicidal it sounded to tell a demon to leave. Panic's soft giggle filled the space, high-pitched and wet.
"I will gather my brood and retire to my room."
The tension broke. Shoulders eased. Knuckles regained color.
"We will escort—"
"I know the way. And tell the Forgemaster this: time isn't on our side. Recover fast. War's already here."
He turned from them without waiting for a response.
Behind him, the dwarves hesitated...unsure if they should stop him or thank him. By the time they decided, he was already gone.
[It seems those two did a good job. Their attitude toward you has definitely shifted.]
'Not choosing him again was probably too much for Pain. I can't keep singling him out though. If I push it too far, it'll turn to hate instead of drive.'
[Then add another. Expanding the brood could shift that pressure off you.]
Walking the winding halls in silence, his eyes traced the aftermath of the battle. Cracked stone. Scorched metal. Dwarves moving in grim rhythm.
Panic padded beside him on all fours, claws clicking without rhythm against the stone, head turning with twitchy curiosity at every blood smear and broken weapon they passed.
One dwarf trudged by with two buckets of red water, the liquid sloshing and dripping trails behind him. Seo-jin watched him go, while Panic leaned in, nostrils flaring at the iron scent, tongue flicking once before Seo-jin's stare cut him off.
Only then did he finally respond to the system's suggestion.
'What do you think the brood's missing?'
[If they were a dungeon team, the flaw's clear—you lack range.]
'That's the problem. I don't know what part of me would fill that.'
[You're overthinking it. The part of you used to spawn them shapes the result—but not alone. Look at Pain and Panic. Both born from your fingers. Nothing alike.]
He couldn't deny that. His first two were opposites...cold murder and manic frenzy given flesh. Glancing down, he found Panic watching the world in restless fragments, his gaze snapping from dwarf to flame to bloodied wall and back again. Chaos lived behind those eyes, hungry and violent.
The differences between the three broodlings made it obvious the next should bring something all its own. Still, he wanted control. Precision. A ranged killer meant magic or marksmanship, and he preferred the former. He didn't want another Gregor.
Thinking of possible body parts, the heat rose as he turned down a narrow side passage. He could have summoned Pain and Snare to come to him, but he wanted the walk, the time to breathe.
As he neared the lower corridor, faint light licked the stone and voices echoed through. The air grew thick with snake's blood and soot—the stink of stale flesh, blood drying over rock, and work forced to continue before the dead were buried.
'Must be one of the breach points.'
Dwarves moved with desperate purpose, hauling stone, dragging sheets of metal across the floor with a grinding scrape. Sparks lit their faces as they welded seams, the heat painting their beards in orange glow.
And among them—his broodlings.
Snare hunched over a spread of blueprints, jabbing at the parchment while two dwarves argued with him. Floating above his shoulder, Grimm drifted in slow circles, the faint blue of his ghostfire casting light across the plans. Pain stood against the breached wall, claws and fire working as torch and welder in one. The sight made Seo-jin's mouth twitch with a rare, rough hint of pride.
And off to the side, Panic sat crouched low, tail wrapped tight around his mouth to smother the laughter shaking his body.
After taking it in another moment, Seo-jin sent a pulse through the broodlink.
At once, both Pain and Snare froze mid-task and turned. Grimm's flame flickered, dimming as he turned toward the signal. The dwarves nearest Pain staggered back, hands half-raised, until the broodling stepped away from the molten metal to join his brothers.
They gathered before Seo-jin, Grimm hovering above them like a silent lantern. With Panic joining last, the brood dropped to a knee. Pain spoke first, his tone charged with something new—eagerness.
"Welcome back, Broodfather!"
The dwarves watched from behind their tools, faces caught between awe and dread. Some glared at the interruption; others looked ready to bolt. Bowing his head slightly, he spoke to no one in particular and addressed the crowd.
"I'll need these two with me. If time allows, I'll send them back."
Before he could move, the two dwarves who'd been arguing with Snare stepped forward. Black-bearded, ash-faced, eyes burning with manic curiosity. One spoke rapidly, his voice shaking.
"Forgive the interruption, Broodfather. If possible, we'd like to keep Snare a while longer. His designs are… revolutionary. A day, maybe?"
The second cut in, voice more desperate.
"Three! Three days, and we'll pay whatever we can. Within reason."
Through the link, Snare's pride burned like coals. Pain and Panic bristled beside him, the jealousy sharp enough to taste.
Seo-jin nodded once.
"We'll speak again once things settle."
"Thank you! I'm Drom, this is Thrunn—find us when you can. We'll share our results in full—for free! It won't affect the price!"
He left them with that, feet shuffling against the stone as his brood followed. Behind them, he could hear the dwarves exhale like men released from a chokehold.
"You handled yourselves well. I'll expect full reports later."
Snare cleared his throat, kicking Panic off his leg before speaking.
"Where are we headed, Broodfather? The Forgemaster's still below. I can take you to him."
"No need. There's something else first."
When Seo-jin glanced back, Pain and Panic were both spitting on Snare's shoulder as Grimm bobbed around them laughing. Snare's staff cracked through the air in answer. Seo-jin ignored them the rest of the way.
Let them stew. They'd find out soon enough. At least once he decided what part of his body to carve off.
----
It had been a long day. From the bathhouse to the shore, it had been nothing but blood and adrenaline. Now, in the quiet of his quarters, Seo-jin finally let his shoulders ease. Even Grimm had taken the moment to enjoy another nap.
"This trip's turned into a real fucking chore. Haven't had human meat in ages. Snakes taste like bile. Spiders worse. Any of you get a bite of dwarf yet?"
All three broodlings shook their heads. Panic, still gouging idle marks into the wall with his blade, perked up with a grin.
"There were a few bodies left out. Want me to grab some? If I only take toes, they'll never notice."
Seo-jin waved him off.
"Not worth the risk."
Panic sank down, tail dragging, sulking like a scolded dog.
Leaning back in the lone chair, Seo-jin forced his hunger aside. He had bigger problems.
'Heart or blood. Which one…'
[Human theory is inconsistent. Both are sacred in their myths. Either could work.]
He'd asked the system which part of the body held the strongest link to magic. After digging through its database, it found the same answer every ancient text whispered, the heart and the blood. The seat and the flow.
A knock cut through his thoughts. All three broodlings jumped, but he stilled them with a look. When he opened the door, the same two guards he'd knocked out earlier stood there, stiff with unease. One cleared his throat and motioned behind him.
"We brought what you asked."
Seo-jin stepped past them, smiling faintly. The snake corpse was heavy and cold in his grip.
"Appreciate the effort."
He shut the door before they could speak again.
Panic's eyes lit up.
"Food!"
"Not yet."
He dropped the body onto the floor. It hit hard, limp and half-rotten. The skull was caved in, but the flesh was still firm enough to eat. The soul was long gone—no use to him, but more than enough for his brood.
"I'm spawning another broodling. Eat while I work."
The air thickened. The three froze, unease bleeding through the link. Even Snare's usual arrogance went still. Seo-jin ignored it. He dragged the chair to the center of the room and sat. The corpse lay between them, waiting.
System light flickered against the stone as he stripped off his chestpiece and shirt. His hand warped, bones cracking into claws.
One breath. Then two.
"Feed."
[-1SM]
[Brood Feast // Activated]
[+25% Health Regen from Targeted Corpse]
The broodlings fell on the body, teeth splitting scales, blood misting in the air. Their feasting filled the room with the sound of tearing flesh.
Seo-jin steadied himself, then drove his claws into his own chest.
Fire exploded. His health plunged, the system shrieking warnings in his head. He didn't stop. He reached into his chest, gripped the pulsing muscle, and ripped free a chunk.
The world tunneled. His heart stuttered, spraying blood down his ribs. The wound sealed in ragged bursts as the brood's feeding fed him back, their hunger fueling his recovery.
When his breath finally steadied, he dropped the bloody piece onto the floor, still twitching.
He smiled through clenched teeth.
[-2SM]
[Spawn Broodlings // Activated]