Percy listened to the girl talk to her father for a while, trying to piece together the situation from her words alone. Sadly, he couldnât tap into her ears due to their weaker connection, so he couldnât access the manâs side of the conversation.
Apparently, she was under the impression she had captured a kind of creature she referred to as a âspectral fiendâ. Percy couldnât be certain, but he strongly suspected the monsters that had attacked him in the vicinity of this world fell in that category. It was quite eye-opening, as he hadnât even known soul-based entities existed out there, roaming the universe. He guessed they were relatively scarce, as that would explain why heâd never encountered any, but he did make a mental note to be more careful from now on.
âSo, these people are intentionally injuring themselves and leaking soul mana from their bodies, to lure the creatures and trap them in their coresâŠâ
That still didnât explain what they planned to do with the fiend once they caught one, nor why they had failed to identify him as something else. Perking up, he continued following the conversation, hoping for some answers.
âNo, I donât think it has four heads...â she said with some disappointment evident in her voice. âLet me check again real quick.â
A wave of mana brushed over Percy, though it felt different than before. The mana had purpose behind it, seemingly scanning his soul for something rather than blindly accumulating in his wounds to mend them. This only confirmed his guess that the natives knew a lot of valuable soul spells he could learn. Granted, he had to get out of this mess first.
âEr⊠Iâm not sure what it is. It doesnât have a defined appearance. Itâs more of a blob. Maybe itâs damaged?â she wondered.
Percy would have rolled his eyes if he had any.
Of course he was âdamagedâ!
He was just a soul clone â a severed piece of his main bodyâs soul! Not to mention all the other crap heâd endured over the last few hours.
Though he focused on the other thing the girl had said. Apparently, there was more than one type of spectral fiend. She and her father were currently trying to identify which one sheâd captured.
âYouâre right. Whatever it is, itâs not like I have a choice anyway. Iâll try absorbing it.â she said, shocking Percy.
âWh-What?! Absorb me?! Thatâs not what I signed up for!â
Panicking, he reached out to the walls of her core, trying to strengthen his connection to her, as more mana began accumulating around him, preparing for some intricate spell.
âWait! Whatever youâre doing, stop!!â
he yelled, hoping she could hear him.
Luckily, he seemed to have gotten through to her, as she hesitated, the spell fizzling out before it even formed.
âYou can speak?!â she asked in disbelief. âNo, not you dad! The fiend â I know itâs crazy, but I think it just talked to me!â
Capitalizing on this, Percy hurriedly reached out again.
âYes! Iâm not sure what these fiends are, but Iâm not one of them! Iâm a person like you, from a faraway place. I ended up in your body by⊠accident.â
he replied, choosing his words carefully.
âNice try buddy, but Iâm not buying it.â the girl said, dashing his hopes. âItâs saying itâs not a fiend, though it
HAS
to be lying, right? How else would I have captured it?â
It was annoying, but Percy had no idea how to explain himself. He hadnât spotted any souls above Yellow back when he was observing this world. Clearly, they didnât have any means of advancement, which meant they didnât have any gods either. Suffice to say, they couldnât produce any Decrees, so they wouldnât know what a bloodline was.
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Still, he tried.
âLook, I have no idea what your goal is, but it wonât work. Youâll just hurt both of us, as Iâm NOT a fiend! Why donât you play it safe and just let me go? You can always capture another one later! You might even end up with that four-headed one you wanted!â
âThatâs not how it works...â she sighed. âWe donât get to choose what fiend we attract. The type is fixed for each person, as it has to do with the very
nature
of their soul. It doesnât matter how many times I do this, Iâll only end up with more of
you
.â
âYeah⊠I sincerely doubt that.â
Percy wanted to bang his head against the wall. His host was stubborn as a mule. Grasping at straws, he tried offering an alternative.
âWhy donât you get somebody else to capture the type you want then? Isnât it possible to pass the fiend over to you?â
âIt doesnât work.â she shot the idea down. âPeople have tried it, but it always ends badly. Youâre only supposed to absorb the type that naturally comes to you. Anything else is incompatible. Suffice to say, the
trait
Iâll get after absorbing you is also fixed.â
The implications were interesting. It appeared the people of this world all shared the soul affinity, but that didnât mean they had the same starting point. Other than the usual diversity of grade at birth, they apparently differed based on the type of fiend they could absorb. Percy still didnât know what these
traits
did, but he could already imagine some were better than others, giving their owners an advantage over their peers.
âI wonder if I can learn to absorb a fiend too with my main bodyâŠâ
Oblivious to his thoughts, however, the girl stirred her mana up once more, clearly done talking. Percy wanted to swear. Technically, he had enough mana left to free himself if he really wanted. He was weaker than her â especially given the circumstances â but he was also right inside her most vulnerable spot.
Her core.
Spectral fiends were probably unable to fight back while trapped, as the nativesâ technique seemed to compress and distort oneâs body, robbing the creatures of their claws and fangs. That didnât apply to him, however. He was pretty sure he could still form a teal dagger to rip the girlâs soul apart from within.
But he couldnât bring himself to do that. His host might be annoying, but she was just a dumb kid trying to get stronger. Murdering his way out was a bit much.
âShould I self-destruct?â
It would suck big time, but his main body would recover after a couple of months. Though heâd lose all his memories of this place.
Sadly, the girl didnât wait for him to decide. Suddenly, a powerful pressure descended on him from all directions, as the mana began to spin around him, grating his soul. With each revolution, he felt more pieces chip away, as his wisp continued to shrink, a wave of untold agony overcoming him.
âFuuuuucckkk!â
he screamed, as he forced himself to the coreâs walls.
âStop this right now, or weâll both get hurt!â
he warned, pulling all of his mana out, forging the thinnest needle he could manage.
But the girl ignored him, showing no intention of pausing. Left with no choice, Percy stabbed at her core, nicking it. This elicited a strong reaction from his host.
âAaaahhh!! What are you doing?!â she shrieked.
Yet, she didnât stop, so neither did Percy. The relentless tornado of soul mana continued to peel layer after layer of his wisp off, as he left one scratch after another in her core. For now, the wounds wouldnât be lethal,
but fuck if they didnât hurt!
Both parties stubbornly continued for several minutes, as Percyâs soul shrunk to about a third of its original size.
âI canât keep this upâŠâ
he smiled bitterly.
If he kept hurting the girl, he might actually cause some permanent damage. There was also the question of what would happen to him if he allowed her to fully absorb him. He could already sense a faint ethereal cord beginning to coalesce. It was still just a pale imitation of the real connection he shared with his clones and Micky, but if this continued, his main body might end up with a slot permanently occupied by this random stranger.
Yet, just when he was about to turn his mana against himself to self-destruct, the spell finally halted.
âOkâŠ! I give upâŠ! Just⊠stop this!â the girl cried amidst sobs.
Percy would have sighed in relief, though his situation was far from enviable. At this point, his thoughts were groggy, and his soul hurt all over. Hell, he didnât even know if heâd survive the return trip like this.
âWhatever⊠letâs just see what Iâm dealing with hereâŠâ
he decided, pulling his Status up while still in contact with his hostâs core. Though he ignored the usual suspects, focusing only on the important things.
Sol (Percival's clone)
Mana cores:
[Mana core 1
â
Yellow
â
Soul]
[Mana core 2
â
Seed
â
???]
Spectral trait:
[Beacon]