Interlude 2
“Hells dad…” The young captain of Safeharbor’s guard said while shaking his head. He reached up and took the offered hand. His pure black eyes met his father’s silver ones. Their pitch black hair identical in the white magical light. His father’s features were sharp for a human, so much so that he had even been asked if he was a half-elf. The guard captain was a half-elf. His sharp features and slightly pointed ears made that clear to everyone who saw him.
The older man felt the cold almost lifeless grip of his son’s hand and pulled him to his feet. His son had always felt deathly cold to the touch. A curse of the magic that flowed through his veins. “You’re getting better Claus.” The demigod of Darkness said to his son and patted him on the shoulder.
Claus shook his head. “You went easy on me.”
Darkness shook his head in reply and gave the young man a smile. “Not using domain powers on you isn’t the same as going easy on you.” Claus returned an incredulous look. “I’m serious. There aren’t many demigods who can beat each other in the other’s divine domain. I wanted to spar not crush you under the weight of the darkness within your own heart.”
Claus sighed. “Still, you didn’t disappear once.”
Darkness shrugged. “That wouldn’t have been a spar. You are getting a lot better. Level seventeen right?” He asked.
“Yeah.” Claus replied in affirmation.
“Going to take the platinum test?” Darkness asked. The test that he had made to see if an adventurer was worthy of calling themselves platinum grade, the best of the best, was to fight him in the arena for a minute straight without needing to be resurrected. Isaac didn’t go easy on them.
“Oh hells no.” Claus raised his hands in protest. “My men watching me get thrashed is bad enough, if the citizenry see that we’ll lose all credibility.”
Isaac chuckled. “Fine, fine.” After a moment of silence Isaac moved on to something else that was on his mind. “Your sister needs to hurry up and become a demigod already. She’s close. She needs a push but I’m not sure how.”
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Claus raised an eyebrow. “Is this something we should be talking about in the middle of the training yard?”
Isaac shook his head. “Probably not but it doesn’t really matter. You can’t become a demigod without proving that you are capable of it. Most people are not even capable of such a feat in a thousand years. Your sister could do it in a month if she pushed herself.”
“Oh?” Claus asked. “What does she need to do?”
Isaac smiled with a dark glint in his eyes. “Make a spell,” He let silence hang for a moment. Right before Claus was about to ask him to elaborate he went on. “mid combat.”
Claus could only blink at him a few times while he tried to process what he had just heard. “Like, a brand new one?” He asked incredulously.
Isaac’s smile only grew. “Yes.” He replied. His Lord of Darkness voice seeping out. The word was dripping with dark amusement. Making spells took months of trial and error, note books piled to the ceiling, a whole team of wizards or a life’s worth of luck. To make a spell while fighting someone was not possible. Not by mortals anyway.
“You think she can do it?” Claus asked. The guards had been hanging on every word even if they tried to hide it.
Isaac nodded. “She can. When you reach level twenty I’ll start paying more attention to your skills and fighting style. I won’t be able to tell if you have it in you to become a demigod until then. Anyone who hasn’t reached the top can not even fathom what it takes to go beyond it afterwards.”
Claus nodded his understanding. “Thanks old man.” He flashed Isaac a grin that looked all too much like the one Isaac himself had given so many people over the years. “I gotta get back to whipping these idiots into shape.” He nodded towards a specific group of guards.
Isaac chuckled and patted his son on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it.” And with that he was gone as if he had never been there.
—
Isaac spent the next few weeks playing with his youngest daughter and spending time with his wife in their manor. The Lord of Darkness and his wife, The Lady of Hellfire, had begun training the little girl. She had been born with a class. The class in question was Mage - Fire. She had already burned her crib to the ground twice before they could have a special fireproof one made and now that she knew her alphabet it was time to get her flames under control. The little girl had caused more fires and she had soiled diapers.
Isaac finally got a break from herding a flaming toddler when his oldest daughter called for him.
—
“Father, I am ready to continue if you are.” Amaranth said while looking at her own shadow. A few moments later her father stepped out of it and put his hand on her shoulder.
“After we are done we should talk about you becoming a demigod.” Isaac said to her by way of greeting. It was difficult for him to differentiate being with someone and being apart from them as he was technically always with them. Anyone whose shadow he had claimed was always under his watch whether they liked it or not. Yes, he did have boundary issues.
“Of course.” Amaranth replied. She sincerely hoped he would forget about it by the time they finished this writing session. One thing he had never been able to fix was how easily he got distracted. “Where did we leave off again?”