Once again, Percy found himself in the space between worlds, shopping for a host. And just like many clones before him, his “gaze” eventually landed on a rather promising destination.
‘Another lesser spring…’
Most planets in the universe were devoid of life. Had Percy been forced to sift through all of them, he would have never found anything useful. Thankfully, no lives meant no souls, and no souls meant that he couldn’t even perceive those places via his current means. Consequently, most of the worlds he saw were teeming with life but no way for sapients to advance – even if such planets were supposed to be relatively uncommon in the grand scheme of things.
Lesser springs were rarer still, yet finding them was ultimately just a numbers game. He only had to keep searching for a couple of weeks at most, looking for a world with higher-graded souls. And Percy’s current clone was clearly luckier than most, as he’d only brushed over a couple dozen planets before finding one that had piqued his interest.
‘I seriously doubt it’s a greater spring though.’
There weren’t enough people here in the first place, and the distribution wasn’t very favourable either. Going from lesser to greater springs presented him with another massive challenge, as there were only a few hundred of those in the entire universe.
‘Well, whatever… It’s still worth checking out…’
This planet had everything from Brown insects to gods. Percy spotted over a dozen deities – they were hard to miss – which meant that this place was among the most developed lesser springs he’d seen, surpassing Remior and, by extension, Huehue, Felmara or Amenthes. Atlantis might have had more gods, but Percy hadn’t paid as much attention to details like that during his earlier trips. He’d lacked the experience with his bloodline to properly examine a world, as well as the knowledge about the cosmos to make sense of the information.
As for the Vault?
There was no doubt in his mind that Metatron had lots of gods and titans under him, but Percy usually entered the place through the portals, and left it in a hurry, dragged away by his main body’s pull. In hindsight, he did want to slap himself for not getting a better look at the artificial world during his first visit.
‘Anyway, I have to decide who to possess… The only real options are Yellows, Greens and Blues…’
It would be pointless to go for anyone weaker, and borderline impossible for anyone stronger. Not to mention that he couldn’t even spot any injured Violets or Whites at the moment. The Blues were also scarce, but he did see a couple here and there.
A higher grade obviously meant more knowledge and greater access to valuable treasures, but also more resistance, suspicion, and downright hostility. While Percy’s clones had made a lot of progress practicing Zoris’s tricks, he didn’t think he was quite ready to go for a Blue just yet.
He could latch onto a soul that had rejected him for a while, but forcing their connection to remain open wouldn’t be easy. He could also suppress the blessing’s effects on his mana for a couple hours, but it wouldn’t last for the whole trip, nor could he extend this to his soul.
Of course, it didn’t necessarily mean that his host would be an asshole. They might be able to cooperate just fine. But the added risk wasn’t worth it until he could handle himself a bit better.
‘Maybe next time… Let’s go with a Green today…’
Scanning the sea of souls again, he looked for an injured Green who lacked this unique quality. Knowing this was swiftly turning into a very promising trip, he didn’t rush, taking his time to find a host in just the right condition. Eventually, a figurative smile formed on his non-existent lips.
‘This one isn’t injured that badly… did they die from exhaustion or something?’
Percy hadn’t even known it was possible for a Green to work themselves to death, but this was good. If his host had killed themselves while training, there was a decent chance they had been trying to master the very ability that Percy was interested in.
More importantly, they seemed rather young. Telling one’s exact age through their soul wasn’t that easy. Leaving aside all the differences between species, Greens could theoretically live for thousands of years even without further advancements. Thus, the fact that Percy could tell probably meant he was dealing with a child.
‘A Green-born?!’
His heart would have skipped a beat if he had one. It was perfect!
Percy had no idea what kind of amateurs would allow a kid this young – a Holy Child no less – to die during training, but he couldn’t think of a better host to help him accomplish his current objective. If this place was anything like Remior, a Green-born who’d never advanced had to be younger than ten. They clearly hadn’t failed to master the ability due to a lack of talent – just due to their youth. Growing rapidly as they were, his host stood a decent chance of succeeding – especially with Percy’s help. And he wouldn’t be surprised if this person had a ton of backing.
‘Even if we fail, saving the kid’s life is the right thing to do.’
Not wasting another moment, he sank into the dying Green-born’s soul. Fortunately, the kid’s mind was present this time, and in a good condition too. Admittedly, their thoughts did appear a little groggy though…
‘I can save you if you let me,’ Percy said, cutting to the chase.
Some surprise seeped through their connection, but his host didn’t ask any questions, giving him a mental nod back. Percy didn’t know if this was just the kid’s personality, or if they were just too tired from all the training to engage in conversation. Whatever it was, he’d figure it out later.
Weaving the preservation runes with practiced ease, he swiftly stitched the child’s soul up, before allowing his senses to blend with theirs. Before he even opened his eyes, he pulled his Status up, eager to see what he was dealing with.
___
Duwa (Percival's clone)
Mana cores:
- [Mana core 1 – Green – Fire]
- [Mana core 2 – Seed – ???]
Spectral traits:
- [Weaving] – Boosts one’s proclivity in manipulating one-dimensional structures.
- [Insomnia] – Eliminates the need for sleep.
Spells:
- [Soul-to-soul – Crude]
- [Spiritforged Cauldron – Refined]
- [Spectral Art: Phantomscale Regalia – Masterful]
- [Spectral Art: Phantomspun Silk – 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.
Decrees:
- [Phoebe’s Decree] – Grants access to your Status.
- [Moirais’ Decree (Incomplete)] – Grants the seed of a second mana core. Requires potent life mana to germinate.
- [Metatron’s Decree] – Open a one-way portal to the Vault of Magic at will.
- [Ea’s Decree (Modified)] – Augments and enhances your Status.
___