Sol didn’t pay Percy much attention, nodding absentmindedly. Her eyes were glued to her opponents – the horrific beasts now coming after her.
The Yellows were a touch smarter than their weaker brethren though. They waited for them to toss themselves in the line of fire, so that they could reap the fruit of their work afterwards.
Sure enough, two dumb Oranges were the first to sp...
2025-05-08 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe 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 ...
2025-05-08 06:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostPercy pondered over Rei’s question. At first, he thought it was a simple one – that she was just patronizing him. But the more he considered it, the more he realized he couldn’t come up with a good answer.
‘A soul… it’s who we are, isn’t it? Deep down. Beneath the flesh, and even robbed of our memories…’
This had to be true. After all, Micky had l...
2025-05-07 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostAs expected, the Pre-casting class was a downright humiliating experience for Percy. Even worse, unlike the hard time he’d suffered unjustly in Alchemy 10 thanks to Dugris’s pettiness, he knew he fully deserved Mr. Lonan’s cold treatment.
Against the man’s advice, he had insisted on staying in a course he was entirely unqualified for. He’d also missed the very first lesson, show...
2025-05-07 06:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post‘Rei has absorbed a fiend called Synthetis. It has granted her the Composing trait, which boosts her musical talent far beyond a regular person’s. You’ll be amazed by what she can dig out of your soul with that, combined with Soul Vision.’ Sol explained after sensing Percy’s shock.
Maybe he shouldn’t have been so surprised though. If he had managed to stumble upon som...
2025-05-06 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“I’ve thought hard about it over the past few days, and it is very clear that Leo is a talented and hardworking student who is more than qualified to attend the class. I shouldn’t have pushed things so far, and I most certainly shouldn’t have involved the rest of you in it either.” the man elaborated, sounding genuinely sorry for his actions.
Suffice to say, Percy was still take...
2025-05-06 06:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe girl – who had reintroduced herself as Sol – opened her eyes, allowing Percy to examine their surroundings. They were alone, in an enclosed space. Smaller than any room he’d ever seen – barely large enough for a single person. In fact, it wasn’t even a room. There wasn’t a ceiling. The walls were made of fabric, stitched together at the top, held up by a metallic pole.
The library didn’t have any windows, so Percy had to rely on the students coming in every afternoon to keep track of time. Over the past few days, he’d skimmed through the books with very few breaks, only stopping when he estimated it was the morning before the class. Granted, he should still have a couple hours left, but he didn’t want to cut it too close.
‘It’ll probably s...
2025-05-05 06:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostClone #270, maybe – Percy had lost count years ago – was about to look for a random body to possess, when he caught something he hadn’t expected to see by the edge of his ‘vision’.
It was a soul. A damaged soul, much like the overwhelming majority of his hosts. But this one was different. It was actively calling out to him, and from even farther away than he was used to. He’d ...
2025-05-04 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“What are you supposed to do if lumps start forming in the concoction?” the teacher asked.
“Generally, you break them either by increasing the cauldron’s temperature or by stirring.” Percy replied, before elaborating. “Usually, heating the mixture up is preferable, as it impacts the yield less. That said, novices are advised to stir instead, since they lack the experience to g...
2025-05-04 06:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostIt had been around eleven months since they entered the Valley when Nesha finally managed to activate Circulation. Her version involved lots of black circles of various sizes decorating her body, many of them seemingly disconnected from one another.
The visuals aside, the boosting art bumped her fighting strength noticeably. Between that, and her other spell upgrades, she had finally reac...
2025-05-03 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“But, if that’s the case, shouldn’t these beast gods have dominated the universe already? How can the rest of us compete with creatures that advance so fast?” the same boy from before jumped in again.
The teacher shook her head this time.
“I can see why you’d think that, but it’s not as simple. Despite the relative abundance of resources on their planet and the various...
2025-05-03 06:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostSeveral months had passed inside the Valley.
Everyone was making good progress towards the next grade, having never missed a single cleansing session. None of Acton’s guards had advanced either, which was great news.
Other than that, Elaine and Nesha were both growing stronger by the day, constantly fighting against the beasts and honing their magic. They’d registered a couple n...
2025-05-02 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostPercy did his best to tune out the incessant chatter, trying to squeeze in a couple more minutes of practice with the pre-casting exercises as they waited for the teacher to arrive. Unfortunately, his efforts were doomed from the start – the gossiping students making it impossible to focus on his mana.
It was a larger room than usual too. From what he’d learned, the academy owned clas...
2025-05-02 06:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostElaine and Nesha were fighting against a pack of Yellow hyenas led by a Green matriarch. They could have made quick work of them, of course, but they held back many of their tricks, focused on honing others.
As for Percy, he didn’t participate. Relying on his companions to keep him safe, he concentrated on something else. Semi-hidden at the foot of a medium-sized boulder, he was sitting...
2025-05-01 06:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe next six days went by in a flash. Percy skipped both the Geography and Affinities classes, deciding his time was better spent preparing for the next term.
Technically, it might have been a good idea to prioritize Pre-casting, as he knew nothing about the topic. However, he chose to invest more than 80% of his waking hours into Alchemy instead, for a very simple reason.
‘My...
2025-05-01 06:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe gorilla swung its fist down, about to flatten Nesha like a pancake. Percy and Elaine were too far to save her, currently locked up with the creature’s packmates. But she didn’t need help.
Right when the attack was about to hit, something strange happened.
Nesha took a step back. Just a single, quick step. But her foot landed over a dozen metres behind her, her leg stretching...
2025-04-30 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe next few hours were quite a slog. The lesson itself had been illuminating, cementing the idea in Percy’s mind that pre-casting was a valuable technique to master. Even though it wasn’t immediately applicable to his spells, he knew it was only a matter of time until he found a use for it.
Sadly, he’d also made a complete fool of himself in front of the others. His classmates ran ...
2025-04-30 06:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post‘Still Refined, huh?’
Percy wasn’t too surprised by the lower tier, since the runework on his new scythes wasn’t as extensive as his cauldron’s, and even that hadn’t reached Masterful yet. But there was no doubt in his mind that both spells were getting closer.
It wasn’t just the self-repair enchantments he’d added to the weapons either. He’d alternated th...
2025-04-29 06:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostAided by the map and his eagerness to begin his studies, Percy made it to the classroom early. By now, the first of the twin suns had fully emerged from its slumber, the other still bathing the sky in all sorts of vibrant hues as it slowly rose through the horizon.
The room itself wasn’t very large. It only contained twelve wooden desks, neatly arranged in four rows of three. It reminde...
2025-04-29 06:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostIt had barely been twenty minutes since Elaine fell asleep. A few Yellow beasts had invaded the stone formation in that time, searching for food. Nesha had made quick work of them at first, buying Percy time to don his armour.
Not that it was necessary for these weaklings, but he might need it if a stronger one showed up. Perhaps, it would have been prudent to do so before entering the Va...
2025-04-28 06:01:04 +0000 UTC View PostIt wasn’t until most other students had left the library that Percy registered how late it was. Getting used to Felmara’s short days would take a while. Normally, his body’s internal clock would have helped a little, but his host was the kind of guy who’d literally overdosed on sleeping pills, so… no luck there.
‘I’m not even halfway done with the books…’ he gro...
2025-04-28 06:00:25 +0000 UTC View PostPercy finally pushed himself up the edge of the cliff, rolling on his back. His chest was heaving up and down, but he didn’t dare to let go of his boosting art, in case he needed it. Only after failing to spot anything alive with Mana Sense did he allow himself to relax a little.
“How long… till they show up?” he asked between breaths.
“Any minute now.” Nesha replied, no...
2025-04-27 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostPercy’s eyes snapped open as the first rays of sunlight streamed into the room. He was still exhausted, but he forced himself to sit up, knowing that if he didn’t, he might end up sleeping through the entire day.
Stretching, he made his way to the window, curious to take in more of Felmara. He hadn’t had a chance to appreciate the scenery yesterday – too busy catching up on Leo’...
2025-04-27 06:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“You think we’ll make it?” Nesha asked, stabbing her left pick a foot higher than her right.
“Looks like it.” Percy replied, wiping the sweat off his brow with his forearm.
It was already late in the afternoon, but they’d climbed over three quarters of the way. The edge of the cliff was in sight. They could certainly get there by nightfall. They had to.
Gr...
2025-04-26 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostSomebody knocked.
Percy lazily stood up, making his way to the door. Internally, he was a lot more anxious than he showed, of course. His heart raced at a hundred miles an hour, as did his mind. But he forced himself to walk as casually as he could, trying to appear normal.
‘Well, this lock ain’t helping.’ he frowned, taking a little longer than he’d like to figure ...
2025-04-26 06:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Did you two wrap everything up before leaving the city?” Percy asked, breaking the oppressive silence of the night.
The trio had been walking for several hours, and they’d likely have to keep going for a few more. Twilight City was dozens of miles across, and the Valley was larger still. On top of that, they had to put some distance from both first, to avoid being spotted by the Di...
2025-04-25 06:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostStitching the fragmented soul up, Percy was a little worried. The shards felt dull and inactive, his host’s will absent – save for a few scattered memories he figured he could tap into if he really needed them.
At first, he thought this person had taken more damage than expected, though it soon became apparent that wasn’t the case. The pieces of his soul weren’t really in that...
2025-04-25 06:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostAs soon as he finished carving the final rune on the chestguard, Percy put it on. Then, he pulled the second layer from his spatial seal, summoning it right on top of the first one, before fastening them together with some reinforced string.
Next, he pulled a third piece of his armour out, and then a fourth, getting used to summoning them directly on his body. Sadly, he still had to faste...
2025-04-24 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostA couple of weeks ago
The group was still en route to the next town when Percy’s second experimental clone returned. In the end, he hadn’t found anything of interest in the alien horse’s world, which was a bit of a bummer.
That said, Percy and his clone had managed to keep the cord in its empowered state throughout the journey, indicating that the upgraded Sec...
2025-04-24 06:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post