The Lone Wanderer

‘Holy shit… Whatever she did actually worked…’

Percy struggled to believe it, but the evidence was right there, in his Status. His host had actually obtained a trait from him! Did that mean his clone qualified as a spectral fiend?

It was bizarre, yet he wasn’t in the mood to think about it too deeply. The whole experience had left him tired and weak. He felt like he was about to pass out any moment now.

Suddenly, the soul mana in his surroundings stirred, carrying him in a certain direction. Squeezing through Sol’s channels was still rather painful, but it wasn’t as bad as before. He had already shrunk a great deal, so he didn’t get compressed nearly as much. It didn’t take much prodding for her to push him along the narrow tube, before expelling him from her body, stuffing him into another container. At least, this one was more spacious than her core…

‘Wh-What are they doing?!’ he wondered, but didn’t have the strength to do much else.

He was no longer in contact with anybody’s soul, so he couldn’t even communicate with these people. His main body’s pull was at an all-time high, but whatever they had placed him in prevented him from leaving. Out of options, he lashed out against the walls of his new abode, before his exhaustion won out, his consciousness fading to black.

***

The next time he came to, he noted his condition was slightly better. He felt a steady supply of soul mana warming him up, gently licking his wounds, healing him slowly. That said, it would take years to restore him to his original state at this rate. At least, this arrangement kept him from degrading further.

‘Hello?! Can anyone hear me?!’ he asked, touching the walls of the container.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

No reply. It didn’t seem like he was inside a person this time.

‘Well, I suppose it was a fun trip while it lasted… Or not really…’ he sighed internally, checking his reserves.

Suffice to say, he barely had any mana left. He’d used most of it while fighting the spectral fiends before entering this world. Afterwards, he’d used whatever dregs had remained to forge that needle he’d stabbed Sol with. Though he did manage to recover some of that.

In theory, he could make something sharp with it to self-destruct. This promised to be a tedious, painful and messy task, but he should be able to do it with some effort, dismantling his clone one tiny piece at a time. That ought to free up the connection to his main body.

‘And all this because she couldn’t hold on for a couple minutes, to discuss things like a civilized person…’ he groaned in annoyance.

However, something happened when he thought back to the stubborn girl. It was strange, as he had none of his usual senses in this state, and the container even blocked his ability to feel injured souls in his vicinity. Yet, somehow, he could tell which way Sol was!

It wasn’t quite at the level of his connection to his main body or Micky though. If he had to describe it, this was more like a ‘nascent cord’, a step weaker than the real thing. He doubted they’d be able to communicate or transfer any mana through it.

‘Is this what the Status meant by “Beacon”?’

Was this half-baked connection Sol’s new trait?

Not the most optimal outcome for either of them. Once he destroyed his clone, the connection would probably be lost. He didn’t think it would get transferred to his main body. Even if it somehow did, would he be able to sense her location all the way from Remior? Without the clone’s memories, he wouldn’t even know about this place.

‘I don’t think it’s great for her either.’

The girl had made it clear she could only ever absorb a single fiend. He still wasn’t sure if this qualified, but it was entirely possible she had just wasted her only slot, filling it up with something useless.

‘Well… Not my problem…’

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Whatever the case was, she’d brought it upon herself. Percy was about to draw his fused mana out again, when the container shook.

“Ber kan il theig?”a female voice asked.

He recognized her, though she sounded a little muted compared to when he was inside her core. More importantly, he couldn’t understand the words like this.

‘I can hear you!’ he yelled back.

“Tam keliz!” she exclaimed.

She must’ve heard him, though she was talking to somebody else now. Her dad, probably.

“Ber kan il gimaz?” the vessel shook again as another voice spoke, this one male.

A few minutes and some more gibberish later, the three of them established they wouldn’t get anything done like this. Just when Percy thought they would release him, destroy him, or place him in some dusty cabinet and forget about him, he felt a powerful suction force pulling him out of the container. Soon, he was back in somebody’s mana channels, following the path to their core.

“I’m warning you! If you try anything funny again, I’m going to destroy you this time!” Sol spoke.

‘Warning ME?!’ Percy sneered. ‘Should I remind you who it was that tried to absorb me in the first place?’ he fired back.

At least, it was nice they could understand each other again.

“Look. We clearly got off on the wrong foot.” she sighed, taking a step back. “I’ll admit I shouldn’t have done that, as soon as you apologize for everything else.”

Her audacity left him speechless.

Still, rather than continuing the pointless argument, he figured it was more productive to move past it. Focusing on her words, he realized her tone was a lot different than before. During their previous interaction, she had acted all smug and entirely uninterested in hearing him out. Right now, things were different. While her half-assed apology left much to be desired, she appeared genuinely interested in mending the broken bridges. For some reason.

‘What changed?’ he cut to the chase, too tired to beat around the bush.

The girl exhaled in exasperation.

“I suppose you wouldn’t know…” she said, before elaborating. “Naturally, every kid has some idea of what fiend they’d like to absorb, but like I’ve previously explained, that’s not up to them. We’re all stuck with whatever we happen to get.”

‘So?’

“So, our ancestors have long drilled into us the importance of accepting our trait regardless. Whether we like it or not, our most important job is to figure out how to make the most of it, to serve our society to the best of our ability. Refusing to do so is a big taboo.”

Percy nodded, thinking they probably had some means of identifying their trait even without a Status.

“And what does that mean for you?” he asked again.

“What else?!” she snapped. “I’m stuck with the most useless trait ever! As far as I can tell, the only thing it does is letting you sense my location.”

‘I fail to see how that’s my problem.’

“It’s your problem, because it’s now my civic duty to make YOU useful, somehow!”

‘Not sure if you’ve noticed, but there isn’t even that much of me left.’

Next, Percy explained how his clones worked. He talked about the many adventures he’d had, though he obviously left a few of the more sensitive things out. That said, he did make it clear just how many things he could teach her.

Of course, he had no intention of teaching her Circulation, nor did he know if they had any ingredients suitable for alchemy. Still, he didn’t mind passing along Sengo’s craft or showing her how to draw runes.

“So, you can hide your mana with this enchantment?! Our hunters will be able to sneak up to their prey more easily!” she whistled in appreciation. “Teach me!”

‘Girl, you’re not listening. The runes are too complicated to describe like this. I’ll need to tap into your eyes and hands to demonstrate any of the things I’ve mentioned. Sadly, that’s not an option right now.’

Percy had already tried to strengthen his connection to her, but it wasn’t working.

“What if I let you return to your main body? Do you promise to come back after you recover?”

Percy didn’t know whether to cry or laugh at her naivete. She’d trapped him, injured him, trapped him some more, and now she even wanted him to bend over backwards to serve her. But he swallowed the harsh words he was about to speak.

‘I don’t know if I can find the way here. It depends on how far that trait of yours can reach me. Either way, that’s not the only problem. I won’t survive the trip like this.’

Percy was confident he’d get eaten by a fiend long before he escaped this place. He was positively tiny, and without any means of defending himself. Hell, his soul might even crumble on its own on the way to Remior.

“Crap! Why does everything have to be so complicated?!” Sol groaned.

‘Because of you…’ Percy wanted to roll his eyes.

But he spoke again a few seconds later, offering a solution.

‘Listen. It’s not all bad. I won’t be able to escape as I am, but there might be a way for both of us to benefit.’

“How so?” she asked with some hope in her voice.

‘You’ll help me recover as much as possible and replenish my mana stash until I’m ready to survive the trip. Naturally, you’ll also explain what you’re doing, teaching me how to heal my soul more efficiently. Consider that my payment for all the shit you’ve put me through.’

Percy hadn’t missed how her soul injuries had improved. Clearly, these people knew what they were doing.

“And how do I know you’ll really come back afterwards?”

‘You don’t.’ he said.

He could practically feel her bubbling protest, but he stopped her in her tracks.

‘Look. If you ever want to see me again, here’s what you’re going to do. You’ll accept some accountability over your damn mess and start showing some good will. Do that, and I might come back here, if and when it suits me.’