The Lone Wanderer

Seeing the notification, Percy couldn’t help but crack a smile. This wasn’t what he’d set out to accomplish, but it now meant that even if the operation ended up failing, it wouldn’t have all been for nothing. That said, he wasn’t going to give up so easily either.

‘Let’s make it two for two.’

Leaning onto his newly upgraded spell, he intensified his efforts in releasing the mana out of his body. Opening his eyes, he couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath as he gazed at the scene before him, almost messing up his boosting art’s rhythm!

Everywhere he looked, he was surrounded by a thick, silver mist. He had no idea how far it reached, but it was definitely beyond the edge of his sight. And, judging by Nesha’s awestruck expression, she could probably see the substance too, even without Soul Vision. It was dense enough to be visible to the naked eye!

But Percy didn’t allow himself to get distracted.

Diving back into the task at hand, he used both of his Refined spells, continuously pouring more mana out of his body, pushing it outwards into the cosmos. Or, well… at least, that’s what he hoped he was doing.

Either way, he kept at it for a long time, only stopping when, at some point, he noticed the mana had stop seeping through the cord. Creasing his brow, he was about to ask Micky what happened, but the crow beat him to it.

‘I’m sorry, Percy. That was the last body.’ Micky said, sounding a little disappointed.

Truth be told, Percy wasn’t feeling much better. By now, he’d had to face the fact that this was unlikely to work. He was already well into the tail end of the operation, his current output a mere shadow of what he’d started with. Despite their excessive preparations and the many risks they’d undertaken, it appeared they had still failed to lure the mysterious creature to Remior.

Lots of questions were floating around Percy’s mind, though he hadn’t halted his efforts quite yet. He knew his odds of succeeding dwindled with every passing minute, but he figured he should see this to the very end – just to be thorough. He’d come this far, after all.

Synchronization was the first of his spells to give out – which happened a few hours later. Perhaps, it might have lasted a while longer had he attempted the experiment in a better state, but he’d chosen to do this right after barely surviving a brutal fight.

Soul Conversion didn’t put as much of a strain on his body, but there wasn’t much point keeping it active by itself. Without the boosting art, he didn’t even have any pure mana to convert. With a heavy heart, Percy finally let go of the spell, realizing it just wasn’t meant to be.

He was about to draw upon whatever dregs of mana were still coursing around his channels, to patch the tears in his soul, when he caught something glinting by the corner of his eye.

Raising an eyebrow, he examined it more closely. The object glowed in a silver colour, somehow bright enough to even pierce through the dense fog in his surroundings. And it grew brighter still by the second, apparently heading straight towards him! If this was any other day, his first assumption would have been that his clone was on the way back to Remior… But he hadn’t sent one!

‘Don’t tell me?!’ his heart skipped a beat, though his next thought caused the colour to drain from his face. ‘Shit. I’m out of mana!’

So focused had he been on actually luring the creature over, that he forgot he was supposed to keep part of his reserves on the side, so that he could actually handle it if he succeeded.

Panicking, he began to breathe rapidly again, forcing some of the mana he’d just released back into his core. Unable to gauge how much time he had left, he hoped he’d be able to replenish enough mana to protect himself.

The good news was that it didn’t take much effort to gather it, nor did it need to be converted. The silver mist in his surroundings was already filled to the brim with soul mana. His own soul mana. Percy was practically swimming in it, as it flowed back into his core with a single thought, filling it up rapidly. That said, his channels protested loudly over his efforts, burning intensely wherever the mana flowed.

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‘Pipe down already. We’ll get some rest as soon as this is ove–’

He didn’t even get to complete that thought, when something slammed into him like a meteor. The shockwave shook his very soul, reminding him of when his clones returned. Though, instead of latching into its rightful place inside a crater in his stomach, this object tried to forcefully squeeze through the shallow cuts, worming its way into Percy’s channels! What’s more, it lashed out violently against its surroundings, trying to tear Percy’s soul apart from within!

‘What the fuck is this?!’

The pain was agonizing, but he’d always known this was some kind of living creature he was inviting into his body. Drawing some of his recently replenished mana, he surrounded the intruder from every direction, blocking its paths.

The creature wasn’t having it, however, biting against the interior of Percy’s channels, trying to dig itself out of the blockade.

Gritting his teeth, Percy clamped down on it forcefully, trying to trap it in place.

It resisted, thrashing against the mana, trying to extricate itself from its shackles. It appeared to be on the losing side, but Percy still hesitated to bring this thing into his core. What if it caused him some serious injury?

However, he shook his head a moment later, realizing he was being silly.

A mana core was even sturdier than one’s channels. He’d also have a lot more mana there, not to mention much greater control over it. If the creature failed to fight its way out of the channel, it wouldn’t stand a chance inside the core.

Making up his mind, he finally pushed the creature along the narrow tube, slowly forcing it into his sternum. Once it fell inside, he unleashed all the mana he could muster against it, squeezing it into a tiny ball.

‘Not as tough now, are you?’

He couldn’t help but exhale in relief. The hardest part was already behind him. The only thing left was to absorb the creature and reap his reward – whatever that was.

“Percy? What happened to you? Did it work?” Nesha fired a barrage of questions, her voice tinged with concern.

Opening his eyes, Percy noticed she was giving him a weird look. She must’ve watched him as he fought to contain the mysterious creature, though she’d ultimately chosen not to say anything, not wanting to disturb him during the critical moment. Micky was there too, having returned at some point.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. I’ve got everything under control.” he hurriedly explained, his friends’ expressions easing.

“Micky, can you help me figure out what this thing is?”

Strictly speaking, Percy knew how he was meant to proceed, but he’d rather figure out what exactly he was dealing with before absorbing it into his soul. Especially since the procedure was supposed to be irreversible, as far as he could tell.

Heeding his request, the crow inched closer, peering into Percy’s sternum with its innate Soul Vision, as Percy did the same. It was hard for them to discern the creature’s shape, compressed as it was. Percy cautiously loosened his hold over it, letting it stretch a little. Though he didn’t see much, only catching a glimpse of what he thought was a bug’s leg.

“Got anything?” he asked his familiar.

“Not sure. I think it looks like a spider…”

Nodding, Percy continued observing the creature for a couple minutes, trying to piece together its appearance from the momentary twists and turns in its shape. In the end, he somewhat agreed with Micky’s assessment.

The creature did resemble a spider – at least to the extent that it resembled any animal he was familiar with. Though it seemed to have a few too many legs. While he failed to count all of them, he was pretty confident it had over a dozen. Moreover, the twig-like limbs appeared to bend in every which direction. Whatever the creature used them for, it wasn’t to walk on solid ground.

‘Oh well… Let’s face it… It could have looked like anything, and I’d still absorb it.’ he shrugged.

Swirling the mana inside his core, he peeled layer after layer of the creature’s body, causing it to squirm in pain. Honestly, this part made Percy feel a little bad – even triggering some traumatic memory for a second there. But he didn’t stop. He couldn’t let a spider’s feelings stand between him and his goals.

Percy watched the severed chunks of the creature’s body dissolve in his core, before sending some of the mana through his channels, spreading the substance around his soul. And, perhaps not unexpectedly, this action caused an immediate reaction.

Wherever the mana travelled, Percy felt his body itch. It was as if somebody had emptied a bucket of ants inside him, the tiny pests crawling all over his organs. Except, this feeling didn’t affect his flesh, but his soul. And just like with soul pain, this unpleasant sensation was a hundred times more intense than the physical equivalent.

If he wasn’t sitting already, he was certain his knees would have buckled, as he desperately tried scratching the uncomfortable feeling out of his skin. Sadly for him, this wasn’t something he could fix with his fingers.

Still, he maintained enough awareness to keep an eye inside his sternum, unwilling to let the creature loose in his core. The latter kept its resistance up, struggling to free itself to no avail, its body dissolving rapidly amidst the rotating vortex of mana.

This went on for a couple minutes, though to Percy they felt closer to hours.

Luckily for him, the itching vanished without a trace as soon as the creature did. Whatever this operation had done to his soul, it was over. At this point, Percy wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, the past few days having been downright hellish.

Yet, it would be remiss of him if he allowed himself to pass out before confirming one last thing…

Spectral trait:

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