Suffice to say, Micky and his sister were both crying buckets by the time their father reached this part of the story. Even Percy was quite moved by the old Hero’s stubbornness, despite having pretty much predicted the ending. He couldn’t help but feel some newfound respect – not only for the Dying Hero, but also for the countless others like him around the universe.
Based on what Micky’s father had said, it seemed the old man had accidentally stumbled upon the principle of deat...
2025-08-21 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Nesha wrinkled her nose in disgust as she kicked the rotten banana peel away, trying to make out the faded text on the soggy flyer by her feet.
Initially, she hadn’t been thrilled at the idea of operating in the 121st district – the place was downright filthy. Sadly, it wasn’t like they’d had too many choices. They knew they couldn’t return to the places they’d been to before, and this was among the best for information gathering.
Sighing, she read the details on Percy...
2025-08-20 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Micky’s father paused for a while. He helped his son flip over, as it was time for him to draw the tattoos on the other side of his body.
Meanwhile, Percy took the chance to ponder over the man’s words. Being somewhat experienced in cosmic affairs by now, he had a pretty good idea where the story was headed. But that didn’t make it any less interesting.
‘This Dying Hero… He’s the one who invented elixirs on Huehue, isn’t he? Or at least the one who truly breathed...
2025-08-20 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Whenever Percy powered up – be it through a trait, a mutation or a spell – he was usually eager to explore his new limits.
Not this time.
After gulping down a few healing potions to patch up the scratches on his skin and relieve the worst of his fatigue, he took a break for a couple of days. This was one of those rare moments when he genuinely wished he could still sleep. It wouldn’t have accelerated his recovery or anything – the whole point of the Insomnia trait...
2025-08-19 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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“Weird name for a hero,” Micky replied, causing both his parents to chuckle.
“It is, isn’t it?” his mother asked. “But you’ll understand why we call him that, after you hear the story.”
“Do you know it too, mom?” the girl – Atzi – asked.
Percy caught the woman nod by the corner of his eyes.
“Everyone does. My mother told it to me when I was young.”
Percy could tell Micky was curious about the story, though the boy winced as his father ...
2025-08-19 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Writhing atop the jagged stone platform, Percy clung desperately to the rock, trying to keep himself from sliding into the sea below. His nails split and his palms tore under the pressure of his grasp, blood mixing with the salty spray. But the sting on his hands was ultimately nothing – a mere tickle – compared to the agony ravaging his soul from within.
‘Zoris wasn’t kidding about this!’
The second trait had indeed hurt a lot. But this?
2025-08-18 06:01:02 +0000 UTC
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Once again, Percy found himself standing on the frigid wastelands of Huehue’s dark side, his – or rather, Micky’s – feet buried a few inches deep in the snow. The only source of light were the cyan lines glowing on his skin, faintly illuminating his immediate surroundings, and no more than that. He was breathing hard; his lungs numb from the cold. But all four of his tiny fists were clenched tightly, the boy stubbornly keeping the boosting art going.
‘He’s even younger t...
2025-08-18 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Waves hurled themselves against the rocks below, each one breaking apart in a crash of white foam. Just beyond the spray, Percy sat cross-legged at the cliff’s edge. If he’d let his legs dangle, the sea would’ve washed over his feet every second or third wave. As it was, only the cool mist reached him – sharp bursts of brine that salted his lips and left crusted traces in his hair. He ignored that, as well as the irritating sting of the numerous cuts still marring his soul, and the de...
2025-08-17 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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The giant crow landed next to Percy once more, the powerful rush of wind nearly knocking him off his feet. He could tell the bird was doing it on purpose, still not done flexing his new strength.
He rolled his eyes.
Percy had already equipped his familiar with a new clone, yet that was only a tiny facet of what they intended to do. Their cord had always provided them with a very convenient means of communication even in its original form, but they’d accumulated a few more tools ...
2025-08-17 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Micky was flying leisurely a dozen metres above the surface of the water, the peaks of the hill-sized waves occasionally washing over his talons. Though the bird wasn’t wasting his time, doing a bunch of things at once.
Perhaps, the most important one was working on his new boosting art.
Only the green lines were currently decorating his plumage, as he focused on the air pattern of the Dance. Long whirlpools of the same colour extended out of his pores, resembling the original v...
2025-08-16 06:01:03 +0000 UTC
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‘This time for sure…’ Percy said, gathering some ice mana to Micky’s wings.
With a violent flap, he sent a powerful gust crushing against the boulder, the force causing the cracks on the hard stone to expand some more. At the same time, several shards of ice drilled deep into the object, crystalline patches of white soon blossoming around the holes.
[Congratulations! Your spell has evolved: Concussive Blast – Crude -> Frozen Shards – Refined!]
2025-08-16 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Thinking he wouldn’t be able to pour another drop of power into the spell, Percy finally let go.
The gaseous portion of the soul-freezing ice he had compressed exploded soundlessly, propelling the object forward. The construct reached the blond, middle-aged man in an instant, encountering no resistance as it phased through every obstacle in its path.
Spinning rapidly, it left a trail of soul-freezing liquid behind it as it dug through the Blue’s defences. The domain-infused wa...
2025-08-15 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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One month earlier
Percy’s main body was busy getting used to the Carnival and absorbing the blessing, while his second clone was discussing with Nesha and Elaine about their future plans.
But none of that had anything to do with him.
He was the version of Percy who had been inside Micky’s body since before the battle, accompanying the crow through his advancement and subsequent evolution. And boy did they have things to work on…
‘F...
2025-08-15 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Save for a few key moments, Micky hadn’t participated as much in Percy or the clone’s experiments with the new Secret Art. While Micky had also learned how to fuse the soul mana into his ice, he’d prioritized other things with his time.
Perched atop a frozen hill, he examined his wing, scrutinizing the glowing lines decorating his plumage. Having learned to circulate his ice mana – the non-soul-infused variants – inside all three of his networks, he had impro...
2025-08-14 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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“Are you sure about this?” Percy asked Nesha upon receiving his clone’s memories, not even bothering to mask the disappointment in his voice.
She gave him a rueful nod.
“I’m gonna miss you too, but this is something I have to do.”
Percy sighed. Evidently, his hopes of spending some time with her after taking Acton down had been nothing but a pipe dream. His girlfriend had decided to return to Twilight City by herself, and he didn’t exactly fault her for it eith...
2025-08-14 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Vast frozen plains stretched as far as the eye could see, jagged protrusions jutting out like icy fangs every mile or two. Nothing here was all that new to Percy – he’d traversed numerous frigid wastelands in the past – but he wasn’t used to associating such vistas with his own world.
This was Remior’s north pole.
It was common knowledge that the singular supercontinent humanity called home stretched to cover both of the planet’s poles, though he wasn’t sure whether ...
2025-08-13 06:01:02 +0000 UTC
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Luckily, Percy’s soul was several times sturdier than the last time he’d absorbed a fiend. If not, having so many of them wreaking havoc inside his channels could have been an issue. Pushing six of the creatures out of his pores, he allowed his mana to incinerate them completely, keeping only the last one inside his body.
‘Be gentler with it, or you won’t be able to absorb it.’ Zoris advised.
Percy nodded. He had already discovered how destructive his mana could...
2025-08-13 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Sitting on Micky’s neck, Percy couldn’t help but examine his familiar’s body once more. More than fifty percent of it was made of ice by now, as the crow had suffered countless injuries over the last few months – some much more serious than others.
By the bird’s own admission, the wounds didn’t hurt in the slightest, nor did the chunks of living mana that had replaced them feel all that different from flesh and blood. After overcoming the initial shock of seeing his body gra...
2025-08-12 06:01:00 +0000 UTC
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A great thing that had come with Elaine’s advancement a few months back, was the same privilege Acton and his men had enjoyed for so long. The girl’s Blue core served as quite the deterrent, ensuring that no beasts ever attacked the group of their own volition. Of course, it wouldn’t have been hard for them to deal with even the strongest creatures in the Valley, but it was nice they didn’t get their training constantly interrupted.
Suffice to say, it was with great peace of min...
2025-08-12 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Harrin sighed as he gauged his companions’ excited expressions.
Being the only Yellow-born in their little group, he was by far the youngest of the three Blues. Shouldn’t the roles have been reversed? Weren’t his elders supposed to be the level-headed ones – and he, the impulsive junior they had to rein in?
‘I guess I can’t really blame them…’
The Root had already raised their target’s bounty twice since he started slaughtering his pursuers. It had...
2025-08-11 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Air and ambient mana rushed toward Percy, a teal hurricane of playful wisps dancing around his body, leaving blazing trails behind them. Many of the drifting globules approached him too, only to be knocked away by the violent torrents.
He sat cross-legged, his unkempt hair flaring erratically as beads of blood and sweat evaporated off his swollen muscles. Getting used to his newly evolved boosting art was important. Powerful as it was, he didn’t want to leave himself half-crippled aft...
2025-08-11 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Percy couldn’t help but grin.
Not only had the notification appeared immediately this time – instead of forcing him to keep trying for several minutes – the words were also crisp and readable, painting a stark contrast against the jumbled mess his Status had inflicted upon him on Atlantis.
‘Has it learned from its previous evolution how to better handle compatible Decrees? Or does it simply have more raw power to bully Obatala’s Approval after devouring Ea’s Gift?...
2025-08-10 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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“So, what are we waiting for?!” Poseidon asked. “Bring him in already! Lock him in a room and have him send clones and impregnate women! We don’t have that long! He’s just a Red-born – he’ll die of old age in the blink of an eye!”
Many of the gods nodded, though a few looked at him in disdain. Everyone in the hall – both the men and the women – had taken many mortal consorts over the millennia, siring countless children. They did that partly to alleviate the boredom ...
2025-08-10 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The storm raged on, occasional flashes of lightning piercing through the thick film of dust to hammer the new Decree directly into Percy’s mind. Uncaring about their success in the trial, the horrific weather would persist for another week – though it wouldn’t really affect Percy all that much.
Having achieved his primary objective on Gallimus, he’d be gone by then.
His borrowed heart still thrummed with excitement as he thought back to the thrill of the last few minutes. ...
2025-08-09 06:01:00 +0000 UTC
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A magnificent temple stood at the very peak of the tallest mountain on Remior. The thick marble pillars were adorned with the most intricate runes, humming like coiled songbirds ready to burst into chorus – another of Hephaestus’s masterpieces.
Admittedly, their local branch of runecrafting wasn’t as developed as that on other worlds, but it wasn’t due to the god’s lack of talent. There was a limit to how much a single person could do to advance an entire field by themselves ...
2025-08-09 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Duwa hadn’t meant to screw Percy over.
He was grateful to his guest, not only for saving his life and granting him a second core, but also for keeping him company all this time. Duwa had tried not to dwell on it too much, but spending so many days alone had nearly driven him mad.
That was why he’d decided to take a break from training upon noticing the towering cloud of dust heading south. The storm marking the end of boreastrum would last for several days, and sparring agains...
2025-08-08 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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The size increase was the single most predictable thing about Micky’s evolution – it was standard for Green beasts to grow about as large as elephants, so Percy should have obviously expected it.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have been this shocked then, as he craned his neck up to gaze at the colossus standing in front of him. In his defence, he couldn’t help but compare the current Micky to the tiny chick that used to stand in his palm, too small to eat a single mouse in one sitting.
2025-08-08 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Up until now, Percy had only experienced a relatively mild season on Gallimus – something akin to spring on Remior. The heat had been rising steadily, but it had remained bearable. Before today, the extreme weather effects his host had warned him about had yet to come into play.
Suffice to say, Percy’s shock was palpable when he saw the tide of dust and shattered vines sweeping toward them from the south, a towering cloud rapidly advancing over the hills. His first instinct had been...
2025-08-07 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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[Congratulations! Your spells have merged: Synchronization – Refined + Dance of the Savage Gods – Masterful + Wild Art: Grim Battlefield – Masterful + Infinite Harvest of Souls – Masterful -> …]
[…Wild Art: Carnival of the Savage Gods – Masterful!]
Percy drew a sharp breath upon reading the notification. His decades-long efforts had finally born fruit, granting him a spell to truly be proud of.
That was when he remembered th...
2025-08-07 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Since that day, Percy worked alongside his host to develop his own domain, though he knew his efforts might ultimately prove unnecessary. Depending on how the Decree got disseminated, he might receive his own free copy regardless. Still, he didn’t want to risk it.
He hadn’t forgotten how close he and Enki had come to missing out on Ea’s Gift. Had the totem in the assessment centre not decided to shower them with a second portion of mind mana, they would have swum away with merely ...
2025-08-06 06:01:01 +0000 UTC
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