Normally, Percy would have just ignored the notification. It wasn’t the first spell he’d upgraded, nor would it be the last. Plus, he had plenty of things on his plate right now. Whether it was the potion’s backlash, Elaine’s fight, or his familiar getting chased by a Blue, everything took precedence. Still, his heart skipped a beat upon reading the spell’s tier.
‘Masterful?! Just like that?!’
Suffice to say, he hadn’t expected to reach that level at this ...
2025-02-22 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Percy cracked a smile at the absurdity of the idea. Everyone on Remior wanted to get their hands on the secret behind the Aurora Dew. The thought of sharing it with a tribe of trolls in the middle of nowhere was as rebellious as it was hilarious.
‘But I’m not going to do that.’
He’d worked so hard for this head-start. Risked so much. This was a gamble he couldn’t afford to take. What if somebody stumbled upon this place at some point? Perhaps House Tant...
2025-02-22 07:00:07 +0000 UTC
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A few minutes earlier
The Green twisted his body into the space between the two scythes, narrowly evading the spinning blades. Still, the last-second manoeuvre left him in an awkward orientation, forcing him to eat several throwing stars right to his soul. He landed on the grass with a muted thud, spasming in pain.
As much as Percy wanted to follow up with a finisher, the guy’s teammate had already launched a few wind blades at him, each cutting shrilly through ...
2025-02-21 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Over the next several hours, Percy and the troll fought many more rounds. Every time the creature’s mana ran out, he gave it a few minutes to refill it. At the same time, the troll consumed one of its verdant mushrooms once every few breaks, to remove its exhaustion too.
As for Percy, he’d already mastered keeping Synchronization active since before leaving the Guild. He hadn’t had a choice, as many of his activities depended on it. Of course, that was not to say he wasn’t tired...
2025-02-21 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Forcing her racing heartbeat to calm down, she scanned the battlefield with Mana Sense, observing her opponents carefully. Whenever they attacked, she dodged with minimal movement, doing her best to conserve her mana. At the same time, she took one deep breath after another, slowly refilling her core.
‘How does he make his own spells so much faster than mine?’ she wondered, thinking back to the water mage’s arrows.
The only silver lining about this messy battle...
2025-02-20 07:01:02 +0000 UTC
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Before Synchronization was even done activating, Percy rummaged through his sack, hastily putting as many pieces of his armour on as he could manage. Not that he wasn’t confident beating a few Yellow demi-humans without it, but there wasn’t any harm in playing it safe. Regardless, he only got to don his gauntlets by the time the creatures reached them.
‘They’ll have to do.’ he shrugged.
The trolls themselves were downright massive, Percy’s head barely rea...
2025-02-20 07:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Elaine swallowed hard as the Greens approached. Common affinities or not, these people were from the Divine Root. Even with Circulation, taking on three of them wouldn’t be easy. Still, it wasn’t herself she was worried about…
‘Will he be alright?’ she stole a glance at her cousin.
She knew he’d beaten Greens before, but always one at a time and with ample preparations. Plus, she’d never seen it in person. The last time she watched Percy f...
2025-02-19 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Percy wasn’t sure if the central area of the swamp had a name. He certainly hadn’t heard the townsfolk mention one if it did, and he was confident the trolls couldn’t give it one either. From what he’d seen, the creatures could only communicate by gestures, grunts and growls. Thus, at the risk of looking silly later, he’d taken it upon himself to give the place a monicker, to make it easier to refer to.
The Trollsden.
Over the next few weeks, he and Nesha contin...
2025-02-19 07:00:07 +0000 UTC
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‘Percy! They’re here!’ Micky yelled through the cord.
Startled, Percy nearly messed up the rune he was carving on his scythe. It had already been a few hours since he and Nesha woke up, and he’d decided to take advantage of that to reforge his weapons too.
“Wait, you mean you can see them approaching? From the west side?” he asked out loud, for Nesha’s benefit.
Micky sent a mental nod back, causing him to raise an eyebrow. This was strange
2025-02-18 07:01:00 +0000 UTC
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“A little help here would be nice!” Nesha yelled, capturing Percy’s attention.
Only now did he realize that more trolls had gathered, about a dozen of them surrounding them in total. At least, the newcomers were all Reds, only the first two capable of casting magic. Still, they put a lot of pressure on the girl, who struggled to keep them all away with her butterflies.
“Leave the casters to me.” he said, rushing towards the leaders. “If more of them show up, stop going...
2025-02-18 07:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Percy’s hands shook as he tried to mould his mana into the correct shape. This was already his third attempt, but the construct crumbled into powder about half-way through, the fine dust spilling between his trembling fingers.
“Come on… not again!” he groaned, nearly slamming his fist on the table.
Nesha placed her hand on his wrist, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“This isn’t helping. You need to calm down.”
He looked at her in a daze for a couple seconds, l...
2025-02-17 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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“Do you think this place will recover after we leave?” Nesha asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.
“Sure.” Percy shrugged.
Micky rarely hunted the Red or Orange beasts of the swamp. He only ever indulged in them if he failed to find something else to eat. The lower-grade animals vastly outnumbered the Yellow variants too, so the ecosystem should bounce back within a few years. At least, Percy hoped it would.
After all, the bog wasn’t just a patch of wilderness....
2025-02-17 07:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Acton picked a branch off the ground, sniffing the broken end a couple of times before tossing it aside. The scent was there, but it was faint. More so than usual.
“Gone again…” he muttered, a grimace marring his face.
There was no doubt his target had spent some time here. But Acton was a few days late. The trail was already rather obscure, vaguely pointing south. A direction most inconvenient…
“Pack your stuff. We’re leaving for Goldenfie...
2025-02-16 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Upon seeing the new Decree take shape in his Status, Percy was ecstatic and, most of all, relieved.
The weeks of blindly brewing pills in an air-tight cooking pot at the bottom of an alien ocean, and the several hours spent in agony trying to repair his Status…
It had all been worth it! He could finally get some well-deserved rest!
Or so he thought.
While his Status was back in order, his mutation was still underway. His headache might have disappeared, but his eyes ...
2025-02-16 07:00:01 +0000 UTC
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It took them an entire week to reach the next town. The good news was that bandits never bothered them anymore, probably thanks to Elaine being in the group. Nothing like a Green to ward lowlifes off. Then again, Micky might have preferred to have a snack or two step forward of their own volition…
Either way, it had been a fruitful few days, despite the detour. Percy gradually filled his jar up with powder, one gemstone at a time. He now had more than enough to reforge his armour – ...
2025-02-15 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Percy had no idea what to expect from this latest clone of his, but whatever it was, it had to be a lot, right?
And, well... Reality didn’t disappoint.
The silver meteor punched through Percy’s soul like a molten dagger, leaving him gasping for air as memories, pain, and pressure ruthlessly slammed into his mind.
The crushing weight of an ocean… the frigid embrace of an abyss… a dead orphan… an ambitious venture… exotic knowledge… a narrow success… a selfless...
2025-02-15 07:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“What are you even doing?” Elaine asked after Percy nearly stumbled on a pebble.
He shrugged.
“If this works, I’ll never have to condense another crystal in my life.”
It was still dark, the trio walking towards the next town, the crow flying nearby. But Percy didn’t pay much attention to where he stepped, busy with something more important. He held a small teal rod in his hand. It looked like his scythe’s shaft, but it was only the length of his finger. And he ...
2025-02-14 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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The swamp reeked of decay as Percy and Nesha dragged their feet through the murky waters. Each step sucked their boots deeper into the mud, almost like the bog itself was trying to pull them under.
Had this been a year ago, they might have been attacked by an oversized crocodile or python by now. Luckily – or perhaps unluckily – the local wildlife had really taken a hit during Micky’s reign of terror. Whatever animals had survived to this day had done so by learning to keep their ...
2025-02-14 07:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Countless footfalls broke the oppressive silence of the night, as dozens of men marched through the fields. They moved as quietly as they could, but there was only so much such a large group could do to mask their presence.
Most of them were doomed to die tonight, though they didn’t seem to care about that, continuing their journey as if it was any other day. Only their leader had his brow creased, various thoughts swirling within his tired mind. Every now and then, he glanced at the ...
2025-02-13 07:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Following the guard’s explanation, the next couple of weeks passed by in a blur.
Luckily, the man didn’t dwell much on the totem’s strange state. As it turned out, it was a lot more reasonable to assume there was something wrong with the relays supplying the structure with mana, than to guess Enki was possessed by an alien ghost. Who’d have thought?
The guard was then kind enough to escort the blind kid to the local alchemists’ association, even going as far as to hold h...
2025-02-13 07:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“So… that four-armed boy in the vision… you’re saying that was me?” Micky asked once everything had calmed down.
Percy nodded. Evidently, his familiar hadn’t truly regained his memories just yet. Not in any complete sense, at least. He’d merely experienced those scenes as an outside observer – much like Percy had. Still, the crow’s time with his old family had inevitably sparked several questions.
Percy proceeded to recount his experience on Huehue, to h...
2025-02-12 07:01:00 +0000 UTC
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A soothing feeling massaged Percy’s mind as the totem’s gentle radiance seeped into his host’s head.
Over the next few minutes, he sensed something sprout, almost like a new window opening in his mind, waiting to be peered through. This would have probably felt bizarre if he hadn’t had access to something similar for most of his life already.
‘It’s actually happening! It’s like a brand-new Status taking shape in my head!’
Yet, his celebration was cut...
2025-02-12 07:00:06 +0000 UTC
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“Percy! Are you ok?!” Nesha’s distraught voice was the first thing he caught.
Prying his eyes open, he found himself back at the lakeside, resting on the same spot as before. Both girls were by his side, holding him in place. Probably to stop him from hurting himself. The patch he lay on was now covered in more mud than grass, likely thanks to all his thrashing. His clothes were stuck to his back, caked in a layer of dirt and sweat.
He nodded at his companions to ca...
2025-02-11 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Another month passed since the activation of Enki’s second core, and Percy hadn’t stopped working on the regeneration pills in that time.
Now that the boy was free from the arduous task of clearing his channels, Percy had asked him to pay attention to what he was doing. After all, observing a trained alchemist at work with one’s own body was a unique learning opportunity. Enki would benefit a lot from feeling the mana flowing through his channels, getting used to the visual cues i...
2025-02-11 07:00:05 +0000 UTC
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‘I can’t control my body. No… Micky’s body.’ Percy realized.
It wasn’t that strange. This was probably a fixed memory – nothing like the clones he was used to creating. Everything Micky was experiencing right now had already happened a long time ago. Giving up resistance, Percy allowed his body to move as it wanted to, focusing on gathering as much information as possible instead of fighting it.
Obviously, this had to be Hueh...
2025-02-10 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Crafting a bandage for Enki hadn’t been too difficult. The concealment rune didn’t have any special requirement – it worked with pretty much any material that contained some mana.
Visiting the town’s marketplace, they only had to beg a few hunters and gatherers for some scraps of mana-rich ingredients, until they collected enough fibres for Percy to do his thing. Between his Weaving trait and his growing skill with runecrafting, sewing the enchantment on a long piece of parchmen...
2025-02-10 07:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“Start by splitting them up.” Elaine said.
Following her instructions, Micky spread his wings wide, channelling mana through them. Percy watched as two streams flowed from the crow’s abdomen, each following a distinct set of channels. With a single flap, Micky sent a harmless spray of water over Percy and Nesha, the droplets dancing playfully in the soft breeze.
“He still needs a lot of practice if he wants to use magic the traditional way.” Elaine remarked.
Micky ...
2025-02-09 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Percy felt the temperature go up rapidly, as the red glow in the distance intensified, the very water around him vibrating.
Apparently, that light he’d seen the other day was an underwater volcano – and an active one at that! From what Enki explained, his people tended to build their towns and cities in similar locations all around Atlantis, settling as close to the volcanoes as they safely could. These were their main sources of heat – and also food, as they attract...
2025-02-09 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Percy quietly watched the scene unfold. His stomach churned as the boy practically tortured the poor guy, but he knew he couldn’t get involved. Even if he banded together with all his companions, he’d never get past the Holy Child’s guards. Let alone the little monster himself.
‘So, is this what a Green-born looks like?’ he struggled to keep his nose from wrinkling.
The overwhelming majority of people on Remior were born in the bottom three grades.
Ar...
2025-02-08 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
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‘Ea’s Gift? What’s that?’ Percy asked.
‘Are you kidding me? The thing you just made pop up right in front of our eyes!’
Thinking of something, Percy’s heart skipped a beat. But he didn’t show it. He wanted to pry some more information from his host first.
‘We call this thing a “Status”. Everyone has it where I’m from.’
‘All of them?! You mean, for free
2025-02-08 07:00:01 +0000 UTC
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