PathOfPen

Chapter 65 – Aftermath

Beasts tended to heal fast. Between drinking half the healing potion and consuming a fresh Yellow core, Micky was alright by morning.

Percy on the other hand… Not so much.

‘I suppose I’m in better shape than the other guy…’ he consoled himself, looking at the half-eaten corpse of his enemy.

At least, he wasn’t dead or in chains. Percy had never been m...

Chapter 64 – Maelstrom

CRASH

The spears pierced through the tree like it was made of cotton, barely giving Percy a chance to dodge.

But his trouble had just begun, as more ellow mana gathered under his feet.

Tilting his body at the last second, he narrowly escaped impalement, though not without a gnarly gash on his upper thigh.

If this had been higher up on the Spire, his opponent wouldn’t b...

Chapter 63 – Emergency

This was going to be the one.

Percy had already preserved enough of the nectar through both pacification and redirection. In fact, deattunement was going great too. Just a couple more minutes and he’d finish brewing his first drops of elixir!

Suddenly, he felt the ethereal cord tense, his consciousness nearly sinking into his familiar’s. He resisted. Percy had grown somewhat bet...

Chapter 62 – Crystal

It wasn’t easy telling day and night apart on this world.

Percy had no idea how many suns there were, as the brown clouds perpetually obscured the sky. Still, it was never dark, as the light seemed to be absorbed and then disseminated by the substance, giving it a permanent glow.

Suffice to say, he didn’t know how the natives kept track of time. But he guessed it was their equiv...

Chapter 61 – Holy ball of fur

Over the past several hours, Percy had learned a lot more about the dynamic between his species and the natives of this world.

While they were prohibited from touching him for any reason, he wasn’t. He had approached and tapped the villagers many times over, always eliciting a smile from them. They seemed to see his presence as a good luck charm, treating him like a guest of honour – ...

Chapter 60 – Docile

Beasts didn’t just ignore tasty meals.

Not all of them were cannibals, but if they encountered prey of a different species and a lower grade, their reaction was essentially set in stone. So, Percy had no clue why the flying lizard decided to spare him all of a sudden.

‘Come to think of it, there was something off with its mana.’

He hadn’t cared at the time, bu...

Chapter 59 – Floating

Percy’s feelings towards his clones had shifted a lot over time.

His first attempts had been defined by pain and confusion, as he hadn’t had the slightest clue how his bloodline was supposed to work back then. Yet oddly enough, those very trips to the Moirais’ world and Huehue had proven his most successful ones by far.

Suffice to say, by the time he’d developed a proper und...

Chapter 58 – Soul channels

‘I can’t believe she couldn’t even wait a week.’

Carving that sign for the drowsy girl hadn’t taken him longer than ten minutes. It wasn’t a big deal for him, but it had only proven just how lazy she was, having not bothered to do it herself after so many months.

In any case, Percy had considered it a great investment of his time. The sheer satisfaction he’d d...

Chapter 57 – Nesha

A ray of sunlight pierced through the blockade, causing her eyelid to twitch. Evidently, even the extra layer of clothes she had clumsily draped over the curtain wasn’t perfect. But alas, she couldn’t be asked to adjust it.

The girl ignored the disturbance, shifting on her pillow. A couple seconds later, she was asleep again.

It was noon the next time she woke up. The intensity ...

Chapter 56 – Calm before the storm

“Careful. Careful! Stir it! STIR IT!!!”

Percy followed his mentor’s instructions, picking up the pace. However, before he even got the chance to celebrate the broken lumps, more bubbles began to form in the cauldron.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

It took him a couple seconds too long to remember what he was supposed to do. Brushing his fingers over the rune controllin...

Chapter 55 – A message from a god

Percy’s past few weeks had been rough – to say the least. His last clone had been another dud, just like the five before it. He’d found himself in the body of a fish that barely survived an hour before getting eaten.

‘By a fucking crab too!’ the memory still made his blood boil.

At this point, he wasn’t sure if he’d been lucky with his first two clones, o...

Chapter 54 – Orin

Lukewarm.

If Orin had to pick a word to describe his life, it would be that. He enjoyed what he did of course – enough to forget about the bitterness in his past, but his daily routine hadn’t changed much in a long time.

It had been several centuries since he left home to join the Guild as an aspiring alchemist. He still missed his family from time to time, his House having long...

Chapter 53 – Three pillars

One of the Guild’s largest buildings stood before Percy.

It was made out of the same polished stones as all the houses and shops, covered from top to bottom in intricate glyphs, shimmering faintly whenever the colourful motes landed on them.

He’d walked past the library many times since joining, although he’d never entered. And he wasn’t alone in that. Apparently very few pe...

Chapter 52 – Time management

Percy woke up feeling… alright.

He stretched out on his bed, before glancing around the dimly lit room. Just enough sunlight seeped through the curtain to cast soft shadows on the walls.

The young man wasn’t exactly fully rested, and he’d gladly sleep for another hour if it was an option. As the shopkeeper had said, the effect of the rejuvenation potion was rather modest.

Chapter 51 – Potions

“Of course!” the clerk replied, before scratching her head. “Although, I’m forced by Guild regulations to inform potential customers that the potions’ potency is rather limited.”

“So I’ve been told. But how limited are we talking about exactly?”

“Well, they work as advertised, but don’t expect any miracles on par with the elixirs.” she elaborated, before furr...

Chapter 50 – The hunt resumes

‘I’ll be there in 10 minutes.’

Percy was running along a bridge, Circulation active, with a wasp corpse the size of a fox slung over his shoulder. The stinger pointed forward, ensuring he wouldn’t accidentally stab himself.

‘CAW!’

The crow was flying at half its usual speed with another worker hot on its trail.

Ten minutes later, they met up...

Chapter 49 – Frozen expanse

Snow covered the ground below like a white blanket. Percy was standing on a steeply inclined surface – a boulder or something.

‘This world must have harsh winters.’

Not used to looking at everything sideways, he climbed down from the rock. He noticed his host didn’t weigh much, their feet not sinking very deep, their steps barely leaving some shallow prints.

<...

Chapter 48 – Limit

“What?” Percy asked.

Freddy gave him a concerned look.

“I said, are you sure you’re ok?” he repeated.

The young man felt his mind slipping again, but he resisted the pull.

“Yeah, sorry. It’s been a long day.” he forced himself to say.

It was only now he remembered he was holding a Honey Roll.

‘Thank Phoebe I haven’t dropped it.’...

Chapter 47 – Healed

A month went by in a flash.

Percy and Micky had grown a lot better at hunting the wasps, but today he didn’t care about that. Something else was going through his mind as he sat on his bed, gazing down at his soul.

‘It’s finally healed… well, sort of…’

It had stopped absorbing more mana, although it wasn’t back to 100% yet. The hole in his ...

Chapter 46 – An idea

It was early afternoon by the time the alchemist’s lecture ended.

Advertised as a mere introduction, it didn’t really delve into the topic too deeply. After explaining the basic concepts, the guy talked about a few of the most popular recipes, giving them an overview of how the secondary ingredients worked and what tools they needed to use.

Percy did feel some anti...

Chapter 45 – Introduction to alchemy

Percy struggled to find a seat. The lecture theatre was packed to the brim with people. Naturally, the Orange cores like him were meant to sit at the very back, but even those rows were full.

Shrugging, he picked the least crowded corner to stand. It wasn’t the most comfortable solution, but he wouldn’t have trouble hearing the lecturer.

Soon, a man in blue robes walked in. He w...

Chapter 44 – Opportunity

The thing about quarterstaffs was they were two-handed weapons.

Suffice to say, dual wielding one with a sickle was more than a little awkward. Detrimental even – as it got in Percy’s way more often than not, preventing him from landing sure blows with his deadlier tool.

Of course, he couldn’t help it either. He had considered simply not using it, b...

Chapter 43 – Aleyn

The atmosphere was sombre as the crowd of hundreds stood outside, clad in black robes.

A deep silence might have been more appropriate for the occasion, but nobody had let the crickets know to stop chirping, or the birds to avoid carelessly flying over the garden.

Perhaps, the sky should have looked gloomier too, but Remior’s sun still shone brightly, oblivious to the bitter sobs ...

Chapter 42 – Adjusting tactics

‘I’m jumping in!’

Hearing the warning, the crow changed direction at the last second, briefly confusing the wasp.

Percy dashed towards it, swinging down his staff.

Still, the agile bug caught on quickly enough, dodging the telegraphed blow, before lunging forward to deliver a hit of its own.

The young man flicked his hand, parrying the stinger.

SHING...

Chapter 41 – A poor showing

The young man wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve for the billionth time. Luckily, it trickled down the enchanted fabric without being absorbed, else he would be soaking by now.

‘At least the robes came with self-cleaning runes.’

Percy was trudging down the final bridge linking the first and second levels, his eyes half-closed and his breath rugged. The win...

Chapter 40 – Starry Workers

Percy had experienced a few peculiar things in his relatively short life. More than the average person on Remior, at least. After all, how many could boast of traversing the space between worlds with their soul, or fighting in an alien arena?

Still, walking atop a giant mushroom just HAD to make the list.

And it wasn’t the first one today either. Each level of the Fu...

Chapter 39 – Starry Drones

It wasn’t like he hadn’t searched on the way, but he hadn’t found any. The colourful motes impaired visibility and even interfered with Mana Sense.

CAW!

The bird threw a quick glance around, before flying a certain direction. A few moments later, it returned with something squirming in its beak.

Its shape wasn’t much different from a regular wasp’s, but it was much l...

Chapter 38 – Orientation

The first part of the clerk’s explanation wasn’t anything too eye opening. He went over some mundane things like how they were expected to conduct themselves within the Guild. The summary was that they were pretty much allowed to do whatever they wanted, as long as they wore the uniforms, treated others politely and didn’t kill, steal or cheat.

Each of them was going to be handed 5 ...

Chapter 37 – Registration

As soon as the first rays of sunlight entered his room, Percy’s eyes bolted open. The young man practically leapt to his feet, eager to register as an alchemist and begin hunting right away.

He was still tired, having only barely managed to catch a couple hours of sleep. Not that he hadn’t tried to rest some more, but his anxiety and anticipation had narrowly won over his exhaustion. ...

Chapter 36 – Fungal Spire

Technically, baldy HAD explained what they would find at their destination. Perhaps, Percy shouldn’t have been so taken aback by the sight before him. Yet here he was, blinking repeatedly, struggling to believe his eyes. Maybe they were playing tricks on him, tired as they were from the long journey.

‘CAW! CAW!’

‘Yeah, I didn’t realize it was goi...