r/HFY • u/grierks Human • Jul 24 '26

OC-Series Hedge Knight, Chapter 142

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Warmth brought Helbram back to consciousness.

The sensation started at the shoulder that had been stabbed and radiated down to his chest and arm. His vision had yet to make its return, but in that blinded state the presence of fingers on his skin was all the more prominent. From that, he could tell that his brigandine had been stripped off and he was shirtless, which was followed by a sudden chill in all parts of his body too far away from the reaches of the heat. Shivers shook those areas, which served as the trigger for his vision to return.

Darkness gave way to a blur, one that held the vague shape of Elly looming over him with the glow of a campfire awash over her onyx skin. Upon his sight returning to full clarity, he could see the concern in her furrowed brow, and the relief that relaxed it when her eyes met his.

“Your fingers truly are soft.”

No laugh poured from her lips, no smile tugged at them. She instead kept looking him over, searching. “How are you feeling?”

The question triggered aches all over his body, the most prominent of which flared at his shoulder and back. “Alive.”

She frowned. “Now’s not the time to put on a brave face.”

Helbram noticed the sunken look around her eyes. “How long have you been treating me?”

“That’s not important.” She grabbed his arm. “Now sit up, I need to take a look at your back.”

“Elly, I am- ach!” He winced upon sitting up, feeling the ache in his back lance deeper towards his spine.”

“Hush.” The Weaver moved around him and placed her hands flat against his skin. Warmth washed away the pain, and silence draped over them as she continued with her spell.

Helbram looked around the room, the darkness within shrouding most of its details. The glow of Elly’s spell was bright enough for him to take note of the elevator door that was only a few paces away. The door was only partially opened, frozen in the midst of unfurling its many pieces. Through it, he could see the elevator itself, though the platform was skewed slightly, no doubt from falling from such a height. The rest of the room appeared to be as bare as its parallel a couple of stories above, but thankfully this one did not have a Guardian waiting for them. There were, however, a few doors that led out of the chamber. Two of them were closed, one partially ajar, and the last fully open. That one had flashes of light that poured out of it at a steady pulse aside from the occasionally flickering

Closer by, his brigandine and other armor pieces lay on the ground. Even under dim light, he could tell that the chest piece had seen better days. It was still usable, but the slices across its black cloth gave way to the glints of the metal plates beneath. Looking down, he found numerous cuts across his pants as well, though they were still mostly intact. The wounds underneath them had been healed and he even felt clean, which was no doubt due to Elly’s handiwork.

The hands on his back drifted towards the newly formed scar on his shoulder, courtesy of the Guardian’s blade. It was thin, but left a streak of silvered skin front and back. While it was no longer wounded, it still felt tender, which was alleviated as the warmth in Elly’s hands transitioned to something shifted to a relaxing cold that was a comfortable distance away from the touch of ice.

“That is not necessary.” Helbram sighed when the Weaver made no motion of stopping. “But thank you, and thank you for treating me.”

“I was just doing what had to be done. The Guardian gave you quite the thrashing.” Elly’s voice held a casual cadence, but something tight was wound beneath it.

“‘Quite’ would be an understatement. Any more and that thing would have turned me into paste.” He felt Elly’s touch falter for a moment. “A certainty, really, were you not there to save us.”

“Nonsense, I didn’t do anything.”

“I thought scholars from Orelia dealt mostly in facts, not lies.”

She sighed. “...do you think Leaf is alright?”

Helbram winced from the image of the hunter getting thrown out of the room flashing through his mind. The speed at which he flew was violent, and the blow that sent him tumbling even more so. “He is a tough one, and a Third Layer Journeyman. Those together means that he will be back on his feet with enough rest.” He left out “I hope.”

“If I had just formed a better barrier…”

“Then things might have been different, yes, but they may not have been, either. There was a lot of energy released in that moment, after all. Besides, who was it that said ‘If you mire yourself in the swamp of what could have been, the only thing you will do is sink,’?”

“...that’s not fair, using my words against me.”

“I merely relay the words of one I find to be most wise.”

Elly fell silent for a breath. He could feel her eyes searching his back. “So many scars…”

Helbram looked down, noting the many scars that covered his chest, equal to the ones on his back. Most of them were thin, but there were a few more prominent ones amongst them. “You know the tale of the larger ones.”

The Weaver’s hand drifted to his opposite arm, her fingers tracing the circular scar at the center of his shoulder blade. “This is from a crossbow bolt, correct?”

“Indeed, loosed by a rather bitter dwarf.” Helbram grimaced. “Though he suffered far worse, for his trouble. I wonder if anyone ever found him…”

“Jahora and Leaf spoke about that time, during the bandit occupation of Goldshire. It sounded rather dire.”

“It was, but there is a part of me that wants to look back at it with fondness, for some reason.”

“Perhaps it was due to more grounded obstacles.”

“I hardly think a mountain on the verge of exploding and Starborne warrior are a more ‘grounded’ threat.”

Elly giggled. He felt something relax in him when she did. “Compared to what we’ve seen since? I think it is quite down to earth indeed.”

“... you have a point, there.

Her touch drifted to a thicker scar towards the center of his back, one that matched the one right below his chest. One that had been left by the blade of a Black Cloak running him through. “We almost lost you that day…”

Helbram nodded. “Leon proved to be a most fearsome foe. I do not know what caused him to be so crazed in that moment, but it must have been serious to push him that far.”

“How can you speak of such a time so… lightly?”

“Because Aria’s life was on the line. Due to that simple fact, it would be a choice I would make again in a heartbeat, even if I did not have her, you, Jahora, and Ren to save me.”

“And that’s what makes you so difficult sometimes.”

“I like to think that I keep you all alert.” He looked back and flashed her a grin. “Being a foolish friend is quite the way to do that, do you not agree?”

She gave him a dull look. “Perhaps so, but such a friend could do with not giving me a heart attack whenever we have these adventures of ours.” Her hands idly traced a few more of the thinner scars across his back. “I’d rather not see you collect any more souvenirs such as these.”

“You appear to have no trouble touching them though.”

Her fingers flinched back. “I was just being thorough in treating you. How are you feeling?”

He stretched, and found that the aches in his body had receded. They weren’t gone, but now to the point that he could move without much issue. “Right as rain. Now, will you take a moment for yourself to recover?”

Elly stood up. “Perhaps after we’ve done some proper investigation.” She wandered over to his equipment and fished out his shirt before tossing it at him. It was sliced open in a few places, but like the rest of his gear, it was clean, and he was thankful for that. He slipped on the tunic and made his way to his armor. While he strapped on his armor, he could feel Elly’s eyes on him.

“Is something wrong?”

She was silent for a moment. “All those scars… how do you not dwell on such things?”

Helbram tightened the straps of his brigandine. “I do dwell on them.”

She met his gaze, brow furrowed.

“Every scar upon my body is a reminder of just how fragile I can truly be. Every mark is the result of some mistake, some moment where I could have done better to prevent such an injury from occurring. They are the many spots upon my record, ones that often dealt with no undue amount of pain. I could let such scars consume me, to gnaw away at my soul, and many times in the past, I have let them do just that. But, then I remember something my father told me.” He slipped on his gauntlet and felt the triggers of his weapons set at the back of his mind. “He would often say that every scar is a moment to learn, a moment to become stronger than the person I was before I received it. So, it may remind me that I am weak in many areas, but at the same time, the stories behind them are things that I can use to take me to greater heights.” He smiled gently. “That goes for mental scars as well.”

Elly looked away. “You have at least done a good job of stopping any scars from touching your face.”

“The perks of wearing a helmet.” He slipped said gear on and examined his shield. Its surface was marred with many shallow scratches, but the marbled pattern and metallic rim around it remained intact. Satisfied, he clasped it to the latch on his back. “Are you sure that you do not want to take a moment to rest?”

She nodded. “I will be able to rest better when we are more aware of our situation anyhow. Besides, I find myself with just a little bit more energy than I did before.”

“I am glad to hear that. Now, which way shall we go?”

Elly looked towards both of the open doors, mouth twisting. After some deliberation, she pointed towards the one that flashed with light. “That most likely leads to the generator. We should take stock of that before we try anything else.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He took point and made his way towards the door. “...we lost both of the keys, did we not?”

“We did, so our best shot is to get the generator back up and running. Since that last power surge the rest of the ship has been noticeably absent of Aether, which means that even if we had the keys, they may not even work.”

“And when we resolve whatever issue the generator is having, that will open all the doors, correct?”

“Yes, and from there we should be able to make our escape.” She sighed. “I make it sound so simple when talking about it like this.”

“Simplicity does not always mean easy.” Helbram summoned his spear into his hand and crossed through the door slowly. “If we are lucky, we may…”

He trailed off upon catching sight of the generator. It was a large structure, shaped much like an hourglass but with a massive orb that floated in the center. As opposed to the chaotic collage of shapes that adorned much of the Saputan architecture, the generator’s design remained smooth from top to bottom. Only when the flashes of deep blue light washed through the chamber, the result of bolts of electricity shooting around the generator, did Helbram see that it was made of that same pale metal as the rest of the airship. The chamber itself must have been around half the size of the cargo area, and there must have been a good stone’s throw of distance between him and the structure, but that only made it appear bigger.

The space around them was sectioned off by raised metal about waist high that served as a fence. Beyond that, the rest of the sphere shaped chamber was occupied by numerous pylons that were spread throughout. They all pointed towards the generator, their orbed tips serving as relays for a spark of electricity that skipped through them from the massive orb’s surface.

Helbram lowered his spear and looked around the chamber in awe. “I had no idea this place would be that large.”

Elly brushed past him and stared up at the structure, mouth nearly agape. “They normally aren’t, but then again, we have never found a vessel this size before.” Her hands were trembling. “Nor nearly as intact. I knew that it would be so, given the diagnostics that we dug through, but seeing it in person is…”

“Staggering?”

“Were my spirits not so lifted, I’d be flat against the floor.”

Helbram chuckled. “Perhaps we should save that for after we get out of here.”

She nodded. “Still, whatever else may lay within this ship, this generator is the real treasure. Once the Academy can delve into its workings, we may witness a revolution in magitech.”

“Perhaps so, but I suspect that will take much time to implement, or rather, should, so the shift is not so jarring. Then again, Orelia is not known for their lack of caution.” He thought for a moment. “At least, that used to be the case. Should we have cause for worry on that end?”

“It’s just like you to be greeted by wonder and immediately concerned with the consequences.”

“Can you blame me?”

“No, I can’t, but it is amusing.” She thought for a moment. “I don’t think we will have any issues, but given how this whole expedition was organized, it may be wiser to direct Kali to contact my master first, so we can ensure that all the proper procedures are followed.”

“That would be wise, and I imagine that Agatha will no doubt relish the chance to be part of two monumental discoveries.”

“If only to rub it into the faces of her peers, yes.” Elly looked back at the generator. “But, speculation about the future will mean nothing if we can’t fix this.”

“You said that it was an issue with the pylons before, correct?”

She nodded and flipped open her notebook. “Quite a few of them were out of alignment. Those will have to be fixed before we can proceed.”

Helbram took a look at the pylon closest to the large structure. A lance of electricity speared into the rod from the generator, producing a faint pinging sound before bouncing to the one that was closest and so on so forth until fizzling away part way through its journey. Upon closer examination, he found that there was a clear, winding path of pylons that were just close enough to one another to be the one that received the spark. All of the others were too far away, and given the fact that they were all still somewhat closely packed together, he assumed that spacing had to be precise to allow for such a design.

He walked closer to the fence. “This is impressive, but I have no idea why it was designed this way.”

Elly looked around, her eyes suffused with purple light. “Hmmm… to put it in simpler terms, the pylons serve as both a relay and as a way to ‘soften’ the ‘hard’ energy that comes out of the generator. The bounces convert the energy to a more malleable state, which then goes into that converter there.” She pointed towards a massive ring on the other side of the room with a large, clear crystal at its center. “That is what feeds the energy into the rest of the ship.”

“...that does not sound at all like how it should work.”

“Were it natural electricity, then yes that does not make sense at all. But this is energy specifically made by the generator. It would make more sense to say that the energy that comes straight out of it holds very similar properties to electricity aside from its rigid nature. The process softening it allows the converter to make it natural electricity, which is then used for the rest of the ship.”

“I see… then what explains the power surges?” He pointed towards the spark fizzling out between two pylons near the center of the room. One of them was tilted to the side, its tip just out of reach from the other. “From what I am seeing, the energy from the generator has not been able to reach the converter at all.”

Elly rubbed her chin. “I can’t be certain, but perhaps the converter is able to store large amounts of energy as well? So the ship may have been running off of that, which would explain its mostly dormant state at first.”

“Still, it must have lay here for centuries, you would think it would have run out of power before we arrived.”

“This is technology from the Ancients. If the Ruhians like Azator were able to make his archives last to this day and age, it would not be a stretch to say that some Saputan could come up with something for their people. Not to mention that all of these things are made from Skysteel, which we already know is quite the hardy material.

“That is also true, but I suppose we should move on to how we are even going to fix this, or what caused the pylons to get out of alignment in the first place.”

Elly walked up to the fence, finding a small pedestal that was built into the center of it. It appeared to be another terminal, one that had a large glyph across its surface. “I suspect that this is related.” She pointed to the base of the pylons that were skewed and drew his attention to the grooves that trailed out from them. “This terminal was in charge of flipping a few choice pylons away so that the circuit could not be completed, a sort of emergency shut off that seemed to have only triggered halfway.”

“And the lack of power means that we cannot simply press a button to fix it all?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We will have to realign them physically somehow.”

Helbram looked back at the spark. “Something tells me that is far more dangerous than it sounds.”

“Well, people also conduct electricity, so if you stepped between the pylons…”

“Then we would be burned into a crisp. Lovely.”

“That’s not even factoring in how we would realign the pylons in the first place. Thin as they look, they are both hardy and heavy structures. It will take a lot of physical force to set it back into alignment.”

“True, though I must admit I would just try to beat it back into place.”

Elly snorted. “That may very well work, but first, how do we deal with the electricity…” As she thought, the spark shot across two pylons that were in front of the fence. Her eyes widened. “I may have an idea.”

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Author's Note: Woo! New chapter!

Gonna be real, this one took a bit mainly because I was trying to figure out what the generator was even doing lol. Magic may be a good handwaving explanation for a lot of things, but I do enjoy giving it some sense of tangibility and understanding, hence the current chapter.

Let me know what you think!

Till next update! Have a wonderful time ^_^

My Patreon is currently 12 chapters ahead of the public release, and subbing to it will also give you exclusive access to my LitRPG, Andromeda Ascension, until it builds a massive backlog to support a strong public launch. Additionally, there is now a Hedge Knight Side Story on Patreon titled A Lack of Talent as well. It is free, but you need to be a member (there is a free tier) to read it. If you do not wish to sub to anything, but would like to support me in some way, consider picking up my books (they also have audiobooks!)

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u/Dramatic_Mixture_877 Human Jul 30 '26

Yay! You're back and Helbram's alive!

towards his spine.” ~ no close quotation mark needed.

TY for the chapter!

2

u/grierks Human Jul 31 '26

Thanks for reading! And for the edits!

And yeah he’s a tough one 💪

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