The Lone Wanderer

The next few weeks passed by in a flash.

True to his word, Percy didn’t miss a single class since he cleared the air with Dugris. Even better, he made great progress in his studies, learning all sorts of valuable things every single day.

Cosmic Studies, in particular, was the highlight of Percy’s week. Not that he didn’t enjoy the other classes, but Mrs. Lia’s lectures were unique in more than one way. First, the lessons themselves didn’t require him to do any work – he could just switch his brain off and enjoy the teacher’s soothing voice as she taught them about the universe.

The content of the course was also quite intriguing. The kind Blue gradually introduced many of the known greater springs in detail, sharing all sorts of useful information that would come in handy during his future travels. Of course, not everything about them was public knowledge, as every race in the universe went to great lengths to keep the most sensitive details about their civilization under wraps.

For example, Percy was confident the Divine Order did their best to hide both the Fungal Spire’s existence and the nature of their Decrees from outsiders. That said, there was a limit to what they could do. Simply by virtue of Remior producing gods, others could infer they had a means of advancement. Iapetus’s Decree was also difficult to hide, given that Remior’s gods and demigods had to use their bloodlines against their enemies. The same could be said about the Thirsty Valley, as other factions wouldn’t have missed the sudden jumps in his people’s age and grade.

‘Phoebe’s Decree is the only one that might have not leaked yet…’

And the same was true for many of the greater springs that ruled the universe. Not everything was known about them, but outsiders could still infer a lot of information based on random clues here and there. There was also a huge intergalactic market for this sort of thing, so whenever some news leaked, it tended to spread like wildfire.

‘As expected, most of the peak factions have reached their status due to a higher advancement speed.’ Percy realized.

According to Mrs. Lia, over 600 of the 888 greater springs had shown signs of cleansing their cores faster. Unfortunately, he had no way to tell which of them had accomplished that via the cyan powder. He guessed it had to be the majority, and visiting any of them might be a waste of time.

Even if their means of advancement overlapped with his, it didn’t mean there was nothing else of value to be found there. Those civilizations were bound to have a ton of Decrees and other resources.

That said, he’d much rather visit one of the other 300 or so places that were estimated to have reached their status due to their longer lifespans. The ones that had naturally evolved to live longer wouldn’t necessarily benefit him, but the ones who had extended their longevity through artificial means might.

And there was another thing that piqued his curiosity.

“Some civilizations were found to possess certain blessings at much higher rates than what should be possible. We don’t know the reason for that – the possibility of a god passing down a blessing to their children is supposed to be fixed, and rather small. Yet, every demigod on Ignius with the fire affinity possesses the blessing of heat. And that’s not the only place where something similar has been observed.” she said one day.

Unlike her, Percy had a pretty good guess about it though.

‘Those factions must possess Rings of Sacrilege!’ he realized. ‘But why don’t the Felmarans know about them? Has Rhaziel kept the information from the mortals? Or do the gods not know about the rings either?’

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Apparently, this piece of knowledge that Metatron had so easily shared with him might be a little more esoteric than he’d initially believed. The guy must’ve really wanted him to keep an eye out for any news of the lost rings…

In any case, Percy took mental notes of all the important things Kemdahlia shared. The factions that he suspected had rings, the ones that might have an interesting Decree for him to snatch, the ones that he thought could help with his lifespan…

Not that he had any way of targeting them at the moment, but he wanted to at least recognize them if he found himself in any of those places by accident. Leaving from a greater spring empty-handed because he failed to realize its worth would be a colossal waste.

In any case, his other courses had progressed well too. Pre-casting less so than Alchemy, as he hadn’t had as much time to work on it outside his classes, opting to invest all his afternoons into mastering the restructuring principle instead.

‘It’s fine… I’ll make up for it once I earn a spot in the Wiseman’s Chamber.’ he’d kept reassuring himself.

Of course, neither Lonan nor his classmates were privy to his thoughts. From their perspective, Percy was just a lazy bum, so they all continued to throw disdainful looks his way with every chance they got. But he didn’t pay them any heed, progressing in his own pace.

Alchemy 10 was arguably where he’d made the greatest strides, however.

“26%.” Dugris declared during the fourth session, pinching Percy’s healing pill between his thumb and index finger. “Leo is officially the first one to earn a point!”

It wasn’t Percy’s first pill, though it was the first one to reach an acceptable yield. Some of the other kids had partially succeeded too, but none of their pills had even approached a standard dosage.

“Keep working hard if you want to beat him.” Dugris told the others, before turning back to look at him. “And you should also keep the good work up. Don’t get complacent. Have you thought about the next brew?”

“Yeah.” Percy nodded. “I’ll stick with healing potions, but I’ll try turning them into gels this time.”

It wasn’t a random choice. Granted, gels weren’t necessarily all that different from potions, often used in similar ways. Still, he had a couple of reasons for picking them. First, he technically had some experience with gels too, as many of the things they brewed on Remior – including the elixirs – involved a gelatinous phase.

Not a stable one though, as it would lose its efficacy very quickly when somebody tried to store it, turning into inert sludge within hours. Remior’s alchemists had to distil it immediately into a liquid, before that happened.

In order to create stable gels, one needed to infuse them with an ingredient rich in mud mana – the composite affinity made of earth and water. Still, his experience in handling the unstable gels would make his life a little easier.

And there was another reason why he’d picked them. While he didn’t have any use for them directly, the method of brewing gels was closely related to that of the third and final product he intended to work on, so he hoped it would help him save some time.

***

“I’m glad you’re doing better!” Klatz said after swallowing his noodles.

He, Percy and Lyn were currently having lunch in the garden, sitting on one of the benches close to Rhaziel’s statue, enjoying the view. The tall construct looked even more majestic during the day, its smooth surface shining brightly under the suns’ rays.

“Right! Don’t pay those idiots in Pre-casting any attention.” Lyn added. “They’ve no idea how tough the past year has been for you. Just the fact that you’ve stopped taking those pills and started attending your classes is a huge win in my book.”

Percy nodded, though he didn’t say anything.

Ever since he realized the Wiseman’s Chamber might help him heal Leo, he felt a weight lifted off his chest. He wasn’t sure it would work out in the end, but the fact that he was doing everything he could alleviated much of his guilt.

Consequently, he’d allowed himself to hang out with the kids more often. He’d even started to genuinely enjoy their time together! He still had to keep his words to a minimum of course, afraid of saying something weird. But socializing with them grew easier the more he got to know them.

‘Felmara wouldn’t be a bad place to live.’ he thought at some point, surprising himself.

But he smiled bitterly the very next moment, realizing how foolish the idea was. Sure, this place was a peaceful paradise as long as he posed as a native, but they were bound to be hostile towards humans. Besides, he had no way to bring his real body here, nor could he just abandon his friends and family back home.

‘Still… I’m glad I ended up here. The things I’ve learned aside, it’s quite an eye-opening experience. Life can be so much better than what most people in the universe think…’