The Lone Wanderer

Chapter 666 – End of the group phase

Percy and his companions were reunited with the other contestants back at the stadium. They were told by a Maradorian demigod with aquamarine-coloured skin that the delay had been caused by a fault in the long-range teleportation enchantments. Apparently, the protocol in such situations was to redirect the teleportees to a temporary lounge that was located elsewhere on Tanarill until the issue was resolved.

Judging by the participants’ expressions, nobody had bought that crap.

It didn’t take an expert in runecrafting to know that such flaws were rare, so everyone could tell that the delay had had something to do with Kassorith’s extraordinary performance in the flowerbed. The fact that he hadn’t joined them in the lounge had only made the demigod’s lies even more obvious.

However, the mortals hadn’t been kept waiting for long, and the matter didn’t really concern anyone but Percy’s host, so nobody cared enough to raise a fuss.

The crowd’s reception was also somewhat muted, probably due to the delay having doused the spectators’ enthusiasm. Still, Kassorith got showered with plenty of love upon his return, since everyone liked cheering for the underdog and the Maradorian civilians weren’t used to Thess’kalans doing as well as he had.

Percy didn’t care about any of that, his mind preoccupied with more pressing things.

‘It was a close one,’ Micky pointed out as they rode a flying greatsword back to the inn.

‘It was,’ Percy agreed.

Fleeing to the Vault to avoid the meeting with Ishkuria would have been the safer option, but it would have meant giving up on two rewards that he and Kassorith had worked very hard to earn – not to mention any hope of claiming the Void Decree.

Thankfully, the titaness had treated them about as fairly as she could have – better, even – since Percy and his host had slithered out of her place with a bountiful harvest.

Upon reaching his room, Kassorith manifested a metallic cup and enchanted it with a simple heating rune. After filling it with water, he pulled the objects Ishkuria had given him out of his spatial pin and dropped a teabag from the second box into the cup.

After warming it up according to the deity’s instructions, he drank it. A refreshing feeling spread through the Thess’kalan’s body the moment the magical liquid entered his stomach, reminding everyone of the life-extending feeling of an advancement.

Even though a first-generation leaf was supposedly more potent than the second-generation variants Percy and Kassorith had consumed in the past, the feeling wasn’t nearly as pronounced. After all, the jump in lifespan between the consumables was somewhat modest.

‘What are we going to do about Ishkuria?’ Kassorith asked as Percy stored the three objects in his own spatial seal.

Now that Percy had so many spare teabags, he had considered giving a few more to Kassorith, to deliver to his lowborn friends in the Vault. However, he’d ultimately decided that it would be safer to hand the objects in person the next time he visited the artificial world. The wait would cost them a significant chunk of their remaining lifespan, but at least Percy would be sure that the teabags ended up in the right hands – rather than whomever Metatron deemed worthy.

‘Nothing,’ Percy replied with a mental shrug. ‘For now, we’ll just enjoy her gifts. It’s not that I don’t feel bad for her, but she knew what she was getting into. Our circumstances are way too complicated to risk helping her. Once the Void Hand learns of Lanthaniel’s defection, we will all become fugitives from the alliance. Maybe the token she’s given us will come in handy one day, or perhaps I’ll find a way to pay her back without compromising our safety, but that’s none of your concern.’

It pained Percy to give up on a version of the Inimit’s ancestral Decree that would be specifically tailored to his needs – on top of whatever else a good relationship with someone like Ishkuria could bring him – but he could worry about all of that after finding himself in a stronger negotiating position. Neither he, nor Remior were ready for such gambles.

Besides, fulfilling the deity’s request wouldn’t happen in a year or two, so there was no sense in worrying about it this soon.

Kassorith responded with a spectral nod, apparently agreeing with Percy’s decision for a change.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘Leaving the storm affinity aside, getting those teabags is great for us,’ Micky pointed out. ‘They’ve freed up one of our limited rewards to spend on something else.’

‘Indeed. I’d still rather not get more than one active-type Decree from the tournament, nor try claiming two mental-types at once. However, we might be able to pick an extra free-type Decree if we win our next match,’ Percy replied. ‘Let’s check out our next opponent before deciding.’

Following his stellar performance in the second event, Kassorith had unexpectedly climbed to first place in the group and qualified for the elimination phase. Percy would have loved to receive an extra prize for that, but first and second place were sadly treated the same way.

Even more annoyingly, participants had to claim their rewards before the next fight, so waiting to see whether they would win or lose wasn’t an option. The good news was that Kassorith was allowed to delay his selection until after the lottery, meaning that they would at least have a better idea of their opponent’s strength before planning their choices out.

Two days later, Percy and Kassorith’s shared expression twisted into a grimace as they read the details on the terminal closest to their inn.

‘Lohkrat. A Maradorian with two Blue cores. Plasma and soul affinities, as well as a secondary ice affinity. On top of a short-range teleportation bloodline,’ Micky summarized.

This was just the official information on the man. The fact that they hadn’t watched any of his battles and thus weren’t aware of the specific spells he favoured or the way he fought only made things worse.

‘Well, crap… so he’s resistant to both heat and cold – which is basically all of our strongest attacks. If that wasn’t bad enough, his soul spells will slip through our defences more easily, and his bloodline will make it impossible to keep our distance,’ Kassorith concluded.

Percy nodded grimly, knowing full well how deadly a soul affinity could be. ‘I’m more worried about him hitting our wisp. In theory, the stadium’s enchantments should protect you from lethal damage, but we have no idea if they’ll do the same for us.’

The trio let out a joint sigh, everyone realizing that they were probably at the end of their rope.

‘Should we surrender? To avoid any accidents?’ Micky asked.

Percy thought about it for a few seconds. ‘No. This one is way too important to give up without even trying, though we need to be ready to concede the moment things get dangerous.’

He wanted to be optimistic. There was only one final battle separating them from the Void Decree – their main goal in this entire tournament – yet there was no denying that the odds were not in their favour. Objectively speaking, Lohkrat was an even worse matchup for them than Remlat or Zurvanai, and Kassorith hadn’t been able to do much against them either.

‘Alright. Given how badly we got screwed by the lottery, I suggest that we choose our rewards under the assumption that we aren’t getting anything else,’ Micky said.

This… really wasn’t ideal. Their prizes naturally included an upgrade to Percy’s Status. Doing that now came with the risk of crippling some of their most important abilities before the fight, which would only hurt their chances even further.

On the other hand, not picking the mental-type Decree early would probably mean missing out on it along with the Void Decree. Something that Percy would rather avoid, since this was arguably the second most important prize in the tournament.

‘Metatron won’t be happy if I go back empty-handed,’ Kassorith protested. ‘He’s given up on a spy for this.’

‘None of us are happy about it,’ Percy corrected him. ‘But there’s no use in crying over spilt tea. Earning three new Decrees and an extended lifespan is still well worth the hassle.’

What Percy left unsaid was that he and Micky had received even more rewards than their host: Ishkuria’s gifts, the marks that they had placed on some of the alliance’s most important planets, and the knowledge of where the Void Hand’s Rings of Sacrilege and one of their Elemental Sources were located.

Kassorith would never get another chance to participate in the tournament, but that wasn’t necessarily true for Percy. Of course, finding another suitable host wouldn’t be easy, so he would have much preferred to succeed the first time around.

‘We can still use Circulation,’ Kassorith insisted. ‘Are you sure that keeping it secret is worth missing out on an extra mana core?’

Percy metaphorically shook his head. ‘First of all, there was never a guaranteed that the Void Decree will work for us. Secondly, Circulation is currently Metatron’s secret as well. Handing it over to the alliance means that he’ll also lose an important advantage over them. Now, that, is certainly something that he won’t be happy about, and I’m not the one who lives in his cube.’

Kassorith clicked his tongue, but he had no retort.

‘Hey, cheer up guys!’ Micky said. ‘We’d all known from the start that this mission was a long shot, but it’s silly to be acting all depressed right when we are about to claim a couple of brand-new Decrees. Think of how many people in the universe would dream of being in our shoes. Well… if Kassorith wore any.’

‘You’re right… I’m just being an idiot,’ Percy admitted. Had anybody told him that he’d be in this position a year ago, he wouldn’t have believed them.

How many clones had he sent out over the course of his life, and how many of them had brought anything even nearly as useful back? No matter how he looked at it, this was obviously one of his most profitable trips ever.

Regardless of anyone’s feelings, they had to hurry up and choose their rewards. They only had four days until their next fight, and acquiring either or both Decrees might involve long rituals on distant planets, so the window to act was tight.