PathOfPen

Chapter 205 – Rending Tornado

It wasn’t until late the following night that the trio left the area.

Their injuries weren’t nearly as fatal as those of their opponents, but they were still quite serious. Micky’s wings were full of small holes, making it difficult for him to fly. And rather painful. While Nesha wasn’t in any danger of bleeding out, she couldn’t walk on her maimed leg. As for Percy, he had it the worst among the three. His whole body was swollen, his skin purple and bleeding in many ...

Chapter 147 – Beacon

‘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 so...

Chapter 204 – Grim Dance (3)

Percy swung both scythes at Rambert, hoping to trap him within their lethal embrace. The man leapt above the closing stranglehold with relative ease, before trying to land a blow of his own.

But Percy wasn’t deterred so easily. Letting go of his weapons, he used a third scythe to divert the attack. The construct still shattered in the process, unable to survive the full brunt of the Green’s fury. Yet, that was merely the start. Percy doubled down with another slash from a fourth scy...

Chapter 146 – Spectral fiend

Percy listened to the girl talk to her father for a while, trying to piece together the situation from her words alone. Sadly, he couldn’t tap into her ears due to their weaker connection, so he couldn’t access the man’s side of the conversation.

Apparently, she was under the impression she had captured a kind of creature she referred to as a “spectral fiend”. Percy couldn’t be certain, but he strongly suspected the monsters that had attacked him in the vicinity of this worl...

Chapter 203 – Grim Dance (2)

‘Those people we interrogated weren’t kidding about Rambert. The guy is an actual monster…’ Percy thought, his scythe catching nothing but empty air again.

Had it been Broose facing him – or any other Green, really – they would have long been reduced to pieces by now. The sheer speed by which Rambert was adapting to his fighting style was staggering. The man had already grown used to Percy’s invisible constructs, seemingly having no trouble keep...

Chapter 145 – Caught

Percy scanned the sea of souls, looking for his next host. Having grown more proficient at drawing the concealment runes, he was ready to return to the Vault for his next lesson.

Initially, he’d thought to look for an Orange or Green body this time. According to Gabe, higher grade challenges yielded exponentially more credits, and those were the two grades he had personally experienced – so he’d have some idea of what to expect.

But he’d changed his mind.

Realistical...

Chapter 202 – Grim Dance (1)

“It was you, wasn’t it? Behind all of it.” Rambert asked, though he could already guess the answer.

Travelling to Bogside town, he and his companions hadn’t really cared much about Nesha and Percy. They’d heard of them, of course, but they’d thought the two were just a front – a couple of low-born informants House Avalon had placed there. Their actual fighters had to be hiding in the swamp, right?

It was with that mindset that he’d chased Percy throug...

Chapter 144 – Two things

Archibald contemplated the latest reports as he radiated dense life mana from his palm, focusing it on his son’s stump. Even for a powerful Violet core, regrowing a Blue’s arm would take several hours. And that was taking into account his more sophisticated approach, chiselled to perfection after centuries of healing people. Blindly pouring mana into a wound like a brute would still work, but it would take so much longer.

“How did the other fronts go?” Galahad asked, not even fl...

Chapter 201 – Garden

Grian tried rushing after Percy and Rambert, but Nesha would be damned if she allowed that to happen. Not after all the trouble they had gone through to split them up in the first place. Remaining hidden behind a tree, she moved her butterflies in front of him, blocking his path. At the same time, she crouched even lower, hoping her bandage would continue masking her core’s flares.

Drawing a large amount of mana from his sternum, Grian unleashed a barrage of daggers of his own, accura...

Chapter 143 – Waves

Only one of the Greens had the bloodline. Not that it mattered much as neither Elaine nor Gawain had an easy time approaching their enemies. A long trail of flames swam through the air, resembling an earthworm, burning holes through the trees’ trunks wherever it passed. It chased the two of them without pause, forcing them to keep evading. Whenever it got too close, Elaine chopped it to pieces with her whips, but the fire mage kept pouring mana into the spell. It also didn’t help they had...

Chapter 200 – Chase

“Run. Don’t look back.” Percy whispered, letting go of Nesha’s hand.

He didn’t even glance at her as she bolted off. His eyes were still glued to their remaining enemies. Taking a deep breath, he finally pushed the mana in his channels past the point of no return, activating Synchronization. At the same time, he grabbed the invisible scythe he’d left propped up against the tree’s trunk.

Naturally, the nobles caught sight of him immediately, the motes leaking out of P...

Chapter 142 – War

Elaine was trekking through the Whistling Woods with a few others. The soft tunes of the oblong cones were more than a little nostalgic. They made her think back fondly to that time with Percy all those years ago. She hadn’t been here all that much since then…

‘Those were some peaceful times…’ she sighed.

Sadly, she wasn’t in the mood to appreciate the forest’s serene beauty today. Unlike that day’s pilgrimage, their current mission was far more dangerous,...

Chapter 199 – Eviction

“How long till they get here?” Percy asked, forcing himself to calm down.

While he and Nesha were expecting two enemies to arrive, they had prepared for more. Their ambush might be a great deal trickier to pull off now, but they could do it – as long as they made everything count.

‘About an hour.’ Micky said.

“Alright. Keep your eyes on them. And fly lower. Try not to be seen.”

Strictly speaking, it wouldn’t be ...

Chapter 141 – Demi-humans

A terrible tune pierced through the eerie silence of the bog. It had been going for a while, the amateurish melody driving even the owls and bats away from the area. Had somebody been unfortunate enough to walk nearby, they would have certainly torn their ears out by now.

Suddenly, a mound of mud rose behind Percy, a scaly reptilian head emerging from within, its slit eyes glaring at him in fury. It coiled once, accumulating strength like a spring as its mouth opened wide, droplets of v...

Chapter 198 – Three

With steady hands, Percy distilled the turquoise gel, pouring the Aurora Dew into the vial, filling nearly a quarter of it. And this was the third one this batch. Two more rested on the desk, filled and corked.

“Man, I love these eyes so darn much!” he grinned.

Besides his stash lasting a little longer thanks to his improved yield, Percy’s new mutation had also reduced the time he needed to prepare everyone’s doses. Before Atlantis, it used to take him nearly six hours per...

Chapter 197 – Truthseeker

Orin struggled to keep a straight face as he watched his elders – wise Violet cores who had been doing this for even longer than him, fumble their way around their cauldrons. They all understood – even better than him – that deattuning the elixirs twice in a row wouldn’t give them the result they wanted.

Still, Deimos simply refused to hear it. Upon learning that Rainbow Grass was involved in the recipe, he had pressured the alchemists to incorporate it by force, hoping against ...

Chapter 196 – Shadows and rainbows

The fields shone in all sorts of vibrant colours beneath the bright sunlight. It wasn’t wheat nor any other mundane crop that was planted here, however. Instead, it was a strange magical fern, glittering in a faint Red within one’s Mana Sense. Its leaves ranged from pale blues to fiery reds, to piercing yellows and exotic pinks in one’s regular vision.

And, completing the magical scenery, the rhythmic chirps of crickets added a soothing melody to this tapestry of natural beauty. I...

Chapter 195 – To the victor go the spoils

The troll’s second attendant – the one Percy hadn’t personally fought – rushed out to tend to its leader’s injuries. Pulling a few of the verdant mushrooms out of its body, it brought them to the king’s mouth before crushing them into paste.

Percy didn’t interrupt, partly because he didn’t wish the troll king any harm, and partly because he was genuinely interested in seeing the mushrooms work. Learning from the experts would only save him a lot of head-scratching later....

Chapter 194 – Fury

The troll king scanned Percy from head to toe for several seconds, seemingly contemplating his words. Eventually, he appeared to have made his mind up, nodding with determination.

Accepting that he was no longer a match for the human as he was, he decided to finally let go of his pride. First, he stabbed his club into the ground, before letting go, leaving it upright. Then, he reached for his back, squeezing one of the crimson mushrooms. Percy recognized a rush of mostly f...

Chapter 193 – Troll king

A boulder rapidly enlarged in Percy’s pupils, but he ignored it, allowing it to pass through him harmlessly. Naturally, it was just a projection, arriving seconds before the actual attack. Greater Foresight made the troll king’s telegraphed swings laughably easy to dodge, though evading them would only defeat the whole purpose of the spar.

Bracing himself, Percy then received the real club head on, the blood rolling and tumbling in his veins as he skidded on the muddy terrain. With ...

Chapter 192 – Duel

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...

Chapter 191 – Exchange

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...

Chapter 190 – Honourable

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...

Chapter 189 – Trollsden

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...

Chapter 188 – Casters

“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...

Chapter 187 – Foresight

“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....

Chapter 186 – Sorcerer’s Eye

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 ...

Chapter 128 – Grisly Bog

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Nesha asked as Percy wrapped the bloody garments around a large stone, tossing it in the murky swamp. A few bubbles rose to the surface, releasing a putrid stench of rot upon popping.

The group had already reached Bogside town, though they hadn’t entered it yet. Entering while wearing his bloodstained bandit clothes and coming from the direction where they had killed the guards would only spell trouble down the line. Instead, they had circled ar...

Chapter 185 – Ea’s Decree

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...

Chapter 127 – Wild Art

Percy limped over to the others as he dragged a corpse with each hand, his expression gloomy. He was glad he and Micky had won the fight without casualties, but it would have been better to avoid it entirely.

‘At some point, House Tantalus is going to notice their people are missing…’ he grimaced.

Of course, if they took good care of the bodies and reached the town by then, it shouldn’t be too easy to link the murders to them. Still, the resulting unrest woul...