The Lone Wanderer-Chapter 331: Twice the results

The following days reminded Percy of his time in the Thirsty Valley. Once again, he found himself in a group of three people: or three bodies, at least: surrounded by an endless expanse filled with horrific beasts.

Only, the situation was a little worse: in many ways. Doh, Sol and Latt were arguably weaker than Elaine, Nesha and his main body. They also had to keep moving, and were operating under a far stricter timeline.

But it wasn’t all bad.

At least, the denizens of the silver forest seemed less prone to attack during daytime. The dark cloak of night provided the insidious creatures with a better cover for their vicious raids. That wasn’t the case with Kronos’s Decree, as day and night weren’t all that different under the dome of bubbles.

Furthermore, the hunters’ travelling speed indeed doubled once they no longer had Orange cores to escort. It hurt to admit it, but Rei and the others had made the right call. The three survivors were able to cover a lot more distance and avoid many more battles since the massacre. The fights were easier too, as they didn’t have as many people to protect.

On top of that, their enemies thought twice before taking a gamble on them, clearly not sure it was worth the hassle for so little food. After all, a mage’s power grew proportionally to a beast’s as they advanced through the grades, but the same couldn’t be said about their size. Starting at Green, sapients were already much smaller than beasts, possessing several times less meat for the starving creatures to feast on.

That said, there was still some downtime whenever the group needed to rest, so they had to split the shifts between them.

“So, you don’t need any sleep at all?” Percy asked Latt one day, not completely sure how his trait worked.

“Nope,” the man grinned. “Insomnia is one of the most broadly applicable traits. It’s not as specialized as yours or the captain’s, but you’d be surprised at how much time it’s saved me since I got it.”

Percy sighed, feeling a little envious. Not that he was unhappy with Weaving, but he’d have preferred Composing or Insomnia. Doh’s Coordination trait also sounded pretty powerful. It gave the Green-born better control of his body. It was one of the reasons he’d learned Circulation so much faster than his subordinates.

At any rate, Latt’s condition was quite beneficial for them.

While Sol and Doh were the strongest in the group, they still had to sleep every now and then, so it was nice to have somebody who didn’t in the group. Of course, Sol had it a little better than Doh, as she and Percy could take turns controlling her body. That said, they still shared a single brain, so it wasn’t like they could keep going without pause. Sleeping while their body was moving and fighting wasn’t easy either.

Nearly two days after Rei’s sacrifice, Sol managed to activate her new core, allowing everyone to sigh in relief. It had taken a little longer than usual because she hadn’t been able to focus solely on that, but she’d made it there in the end.

Percy wasn’t too surprised with its affinity either. Pulling up his Status again, he checked the most relevant sections one more time.

___

Sol (Percival's clone)

Mana cores:

[Mana core 1 – Yellow – Soul][Mana core 2 – Yellow – Soul]Spectral traits:

[Beacon] – Allows one to broadcast their location to their soulmate.[Weaving]: Boosts one’s proclivity in manipulating one-dimensional structures.___

‘Figures…’

He’d suspected she’d end up with another one of those. Unlike Elaine who had found herself in that situation purely out of bad luck, Sol had probably been doomed to get a second soul core from the start. Then again, that was just another type of bad luck…

‘Hey, at least it’s a rare affinity. And, if you’re gonna have two soul cores, I can’t think of a better place in the universe than Melodia to get them.’ he said to cheer her up.

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He wasn’t just trying to console her either. Without the means of advancement, she wouldn’t have to worry about catching up to her first core, or keeping the two in sync. They should be able to integrate the new core into her mana network by the end of the week. And they were currently heading towards the Mirror Lake, a paradise for soul users. Not to mention how thick the soul mana in the air was.

Figuring out the soul component of the Dance couldn’t possibly get any easier than this.

Another thing he’d noticed in his Status, was that both of their spectral traits were listed. Each person could only absorb a single fiend in their soul, but they had two souls, didn’t they? Apparently, they could even use each other’s traits.

Not that either of them was very useful at the moment, but it was nice to have the option…

In any case, Sol’s strength shot through the roof due to the passive benefits of her new core. And she received another minor boost a few days later, once she could use it in battle. The pattern of her boosting art had changed a lot, the silver lines now forming two maelstroms on her skin. One was centred around her sternum, while the second spun around her abdomen.

Percy was a little surprised by this. Elaine’s pattern hadn’t changed as much when she added the new core to the network. But they hadn’t had to put much effort into adjusting it either, as the soul mana seemed to settle into the new configuration by itself. This, coupled with Rei and Sol’s lessons about souls gave him some ideas on how he could perfect the final step of the Dance, but nothing concrete yet.

‘Hopefully the Mirror Lake will help everything click…’

Better still, Doh managed to activate Circulation not long after, allowing the trio to move even faster.

Latt was the only one who hadn’t made much progress. If they were being honest with themselves, the guy was beginning to bog them as much as the Orange cores had done. And he seemed to understand that too, as he offered to stay behind multiple times.

But they wouldn’t hear it.

They’d had to sacrifice the others out of necessity. They wouldn’t do that a second time unless they ran out of options again. And things weren’t that dire yet, as their new power-ups allowed them to make quick work of whatever beasts were dumb enough to attack.

Another week passed.

The trio hadn’t reached the Elemental Source yet, but they were getting closer. They could tell, because the lake’s influence was already noticeable. After all, it was a supreme treasure capable of affecting an entire planet, so it wasn’t that strange its presence spread hundreds of miles away.

“There’s so much soul mana!” Sol exclaimed.

She was sitting cross-legged at the base of a tree with her eyes closed. She was taking deep breaths, working alongside Percy on their boosting art. The silver whirlpools were constantly shifting along their skin, making it extremely difficult for him to maintain them.

At least, the ambient mana couldn’t have been easier to absorb. By the time it entered their body, Percy had already converted most of it to soul mana. Sol didn’t have to put much effort on her end.

‘Focus.’ he said. ‘It won’t be this easy once you return to your country.’

The incomplete Dance had already surpassed Circulation, but only because they were cheating. They wouldn’t always have each other, or the Mirror Lake to help them. They had to perfect it before he left Melodia.

“There’s a Green bird looking at us from above!” Latt suddenly said.

It was the middle of the day, yet they still needed somebody to keep watch. It didn’t happen as often, but sometimes the beasts attacked them when they least expected it.

According to Doh, things would continue to worsen over the next few years. The beast tide would escalate as the creatures exhausted what little food they had left. They would grow more desperate, cannibalizing their packmates, before turning to even the trees and bushes around them. Eventually, there would be nothing left.

But this wasn’t any of Percy’s business. Whether the expedition succeeded or not, he’d be back to Remior by then. Dealing with the problem would be up to Sol and her people…

Shifting his attention back to the present moment, he looked up, soon spotting the creature. It resembled an oversized eagle, but its body was translucent, reminding him of Gabe. It allowed the bright sunlight to pass right through it, causing him to squint.

He groaned.

Even after all this time, he despised fighting during the day. He had yet to get used to the extreme brightness of the forest like the natives. Taking down an airborne opponent would be even worse.

‘You should handle this one.’ Sol suggested.

Obviously, Latt couldn’t fight it by himself, and they didn’t want to wake Doh up just yet. It was his turn to rest, which was why they’d taken a break. The Green was currently sleeping a few metres away from them. So, it had to be either Sol or Percy taking down the intruder.

‘Feeling lazy?’ he asked.

She rolled her eyes.

‘No, I just think it’s good training for your homing spell.’

Percy nodded, tacitly agreeing with her. It was a fast, airborne opponent. That alone would make it challenging to hit. The fact he had a tough time looking at it directly also helped. It would prevent him from subconsciously trying to control his mana, allowing his constructs to do their thing.

‘Alright.’ he said, getting up. ‘Keep the Dance active. I can’t work on two new spells at the same time.’

Maintaining the boosting art wouldn’t be easy without his help, but she should manage. The Mirror Lake was still about a week away, but it had already started affecting them, allowing them to accomplish twice the results with half the effort. Its influence was still subtle, so he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it did exactly, but it should help him progress with his spells a little faster.

Drawing some mana to his hands, he manifested two sickles, yet he didn’t stop there. He expelled more from his pores, forming another four weapons spinning by his side.

Realizing it had been discovered, the eagle let out a shrill cry. It dove towards him, its pale eyes filled with hunger…

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