Chapter 739 – Fading signal (Patreon)

Finding himself drifting through the infinite darkness once more, Percy couldn’t help but think that the lives of his clones were simpler than that of his main body. His copies still ended up in dangerous or unexpected situations quite often, but at least, they didn’t have to juggle fifteen different responsibilities.

Even Micky remained uncharacteristically silent. After getting a taste of how busy his counterpart on Remior had lately been, the Huehuan appeared to have developed some newfound appreciation for the “boring” part of their interstellar adventures. Not that the previous decade of constant runecrafting had been more exciting than learning to control an army of magical sentries, but the promise of the artificial advancement had kept things moving.

As luck would have it, neither Percy nor Micky got the chance to bask in the rare period of peace and quiet for long, as they caught sight of Sol’s blinking signal later that day.

‘Of course this would happen the one time I didn’t mind waiting,’ the Huehuan complained.

Percy chuckled. ‘Better this than getting side tracked again.’

Their time with Tiberius had arguably been quite fruitful, but Percy would rather not delay his reunion with the Melodians any longer.

Flying toward the source of the signal, Percy braced himself for the dense swarm of spectral fiends that certainly awaited him at his destination. The ethereal pests had been far easier to fend off after his promotions in the Thirsty Valley and the acquisition of the Blessing of Permanence. His artificial advancement should have further boosted the resilience of his wisp, so he wasn’t too worried.

Unfortunately, his recent promotion appeared to have made his clones more enticing to the fiends, prompting dozens upon dozens of the tiny pests to attack him. Thankfully, their incorporeal claws and fangs struggled to cause any serious damage, but drilling through the blockade proved a little more troublesome than expected.

The Mimicry trait turned out quite handy, as it allowed Percy and Micky to freely shapeshift the wisp into various forms more suitable for driving the greedy creatures away.

Eventually, they managed to reach the surface of the planet.

Sol had already stopped broadcasting her signal and was currently in the process of mending her spectral injuries. Percy barely managed to worm his way into his friend’s body just before her soul’s rejection had a chance to kick in.

He and Micky were greeted by a wave of surprise.

‘Would you look at that? He hasn’t forgotten about us, after all,’ a playful voice said.

‘Your signals remained calm and periodic, so I assumed that there was no urgency,’ Percy replied, perhaps a little too defensively.

‘I’ve actually considered sending them out more frequently to catch your attention,’ Sol admitted.

‘Why?’ Percy tensed up. ‘Did anything happen?’

‘Nothing too serious,’ Sol said with a figurative shake of her head. ‘That’s ultimately why I hesitated. But I was starting to worry that something bad had happened on your end.’

Percy mentally sighed in relief. ‘I’m really sorry about the long wait. It’s been a busy decade. I’ll tell you about some of it later, but why don’t you fill me in on the situation on Melodia first?’

While flying towards Sol’s body, he hadn’t missed the fact that both of her cores had advanced to Green, making her the third strongest member of her species. Percy assumed that she was, since Doh and another Green-born should have reached Blue after the latter had received Latt’s share of the Aurora Dew.

The woman’s soul and soul mana bore the unmistakable flavour of the Blessing of Permanence. Linking himself to his host’s senses, Percy failed to feel Zoris’ ring on her fingers, suggesting that she had finished internalizing the blessing.

That was true of her first core, though the mana originating from her abdomen still sported a pristine silver colour and softer feel. Sol had clearly been careful not to let the concept into the second organ. It wouldn’t have harmed her, but it wouldn’t have benefitted her either, and there was no reason to grant the same blessing to both cores when there was a slim chance that more Rings of Sacrilege of her affinity might exist out there, in the cosmos.

‘Where do I even begin?’ Sol asked. ‘I suppose I should mention that I have a couple of new traits now.’

‘You don’t sound too excited about that,’ Percy noticed.

‘I am,’ the woman insisted. ‘It’s just… absorbing my third fiend was a hellish experience that still gives me nightmares. I even had to undergo the process twice, because I foolishly passed out during the first attempt. Zoris had warned me about it, but you know how precarious my people’s situation is – or used to be. I couldn’t afford to ignore a free source of power.’

Percy nodded, fully aware of what his friend had suffered through. Absorbing his own fourth fiend was the worst thing that he had ever experienced. If he fused with Nephthys and obtained a fifth slot one day, he wasn’t sure that he could bring himself to take advantage of it.

‘Which one did you get?’ he asked, trying to pivot to a more pleasant topic.

‘Multitasking,’ Sol said, a faint hint of contentment finally bubbling up in her chest.

‘That’s the one you wanted as a teenager, isn’t it?’

‘It is,’ the Melodian confirmed. ‘I guess that there’s always a silver lining. Then again, I was just a dumb kid back then. Beacon ended up being a million times better for me and my people.’

‘I’m flattered that you think that, but everything we achieved, we did together,’ Percy corrected her. Sol had bravely volunteered for that expedition to the Mirror Lake long before their reunion. While Percy had been the one to teach her Circulation, they had figured out the next part of the spell together. He certainly couldn’t have succeeded in so little time by himself. ‘What about your other trait?’

‘It’s called “Clarity”. It helps me filter out distracting thoughts, allowing me to focus on a given task,’ Sol explained.

Percy let out a whistle. He wasn’t sure how potent his friend’s new traits were, but they both sounded like they would help with what he had in mind for this trip. The best part about possessing Sol was that he would be able to borrow her spectral traits, just like his hosts could borrow his. Between the two of them, they had access to as many as seven – though it was debatable whether Beacon was of any use to them while he was already here.

There were a million other things that he and Sol had to catch up on, but he decided to pull up his Status before discussing any of that, curious to see what Phoebe’s Decree had to say about the borrowed traits.

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Sol (The Lone Wanderer’s clone)

Mana cores [2/2]:

·         [Mana core 1 – Green – Soul]

·         [Mana core 2 – Green – Soul]

Domain:

·         [Pulse – Dormant]

Blessing [1/2]:

·         [Blessing of Permanence] – Enhance the durability of your soul.

Mutations:

·         [Saint’s Eye] – Draws from the cumulative knowledge listed in the Status to enhance one’s senses, allowing them to discern details previously unseen.

·         [Ruby Bones] – Reinforces one’s bones.

Spectral traits [7/7]:

·         [Beacon] – Allows one to broadcast their location to their soulmate.

·         [Clarity] – Allows one to focus on a given task more easily.

·         [Multitasking] – Allows one to perform multiple independent tasks more easily.

·         [Weaving] – Boosts one’s proclivity in manipulating one-dimensional structures.

·         [Insomnia] – Eliminates the need for sleep.

·         [Scribing] – Boosts one’s proclivity in expressing meaning onto any written medium.

·         [Mimicry] – Boosts one’s awareness of their physical appearance, as well as their ability to maintain or modify it.

Mindsets [57%]:

·         [Ludwick’s Compass] – Set mental checkpoints anywhere in the world. Instinctively track their location as you move away.

·         [Shimmering Constellations] – Group your senses and memories into separate identities. This artificial segregation can be freely bypassed.

·         [Enhanced Cognition] – Slightly accelerates your mental processes.

Spells:

·         [Oath of Self-Destruction – Crude]

·         [Spectral Art: Parasitic Connection – Refined]

·         [Spectral Art: Cauldron of a Myriad Screams – Masterful]

·         [Spectral Art: Adaptive Arsenal – Masterful]

·         [Spectral Art: Cradle of the Savage Gods – Masterful]

·         [Wild Art: Sage’s Pond – Masterful]

·         [Hybrid Art: Shapeshifting Sentries – Masterful]

Alchemic principles:

·         [Extraction] – Separate and condense an ingredient’s essence.

·         [Pacification] – Delay an ingredient’s activation rate.

·         [Redirection] – Adjust an ingredient’s effect.

·         [Deattunement] – Prevent multiple conflicting ingredients from reacting with one another.

·         [Bonding] – Enrich an ingredient with crystallized pure mana.

·         [Restructuring] – Alter an ingredient's phase.

·         [Scaling] – Brew a greater volume of ingredients at once.

·         [Compression] – Elevate an ingredient to the next grade.

·         [Consolidation] – Infuse multiple similar ingredients into a concoction while eliminating the redundant alchemic steps.

Mental-type Decrees [4/5]:

·         [Phoebe’s Decree – Reserved] – Grants access to your Status. If the mental-type limit is exceeded, an attempt will be made to consolidate existing and new Decrees such that they occupy fewer slots. Additional functionality will be added in the future. This Decree cannot be discarded.

·         [Ea’s Decree – Ea’s Gift] – Grants the Saint’s Eye. This Decree can be discarded at will.

·         [Obatala’s Decree – Obatala’s Approval] – Allows you to effortlessly hold and deploy your domain in its strongest state. This Decree can be discarded at will.

·         [Ningirima’s Decree – Ningirima’s Mercy] – Grants resistance to demonic infestations. This Decree can be discarded at will.

Active-type Decrees [2/3]:

·         [Metatron’s Decree] – Open a one-way portal to the Vault of Magic at will. This Decree can be discarded at will.

·         [Kerfyl’s Decree] – Establish a spectral contract between two willing parties. Infringing upon its terms will result in the destruction of one’s soul. This Decree can be discarded at will.

Core-type Decrees [2/2]:

·         [Moirais’ Decree] – Grants the seed of a second mana core to your aspects, familiars, clones, and hosts. Life and/or mind mana may be required to germinate the seed. The acquired affinity cannot be controlled.

·         [Void Decree] – Can be activated to grant a third mana core to any of your aspects. Seventy-three mana cores and eighty percent of the corresponding aspect’s remaining lifespan will be consumed. The acquired affinity will be restricted to the consumed elements.

Free-type Decrees:

·         [Penitent’s Decree] – Allows one to shed small pieces of their soul to infuse into their bloodstream, producing spiritual blood.

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