Percy examined the group of sapients carefully to make sure that he wasn’t mistaken. There were five people – three men and two women – clearly led by one of the females who appeared to be their only deity. A couple of mortals were Violets, while a man and the second woman were Blues. None had a single hair on their scalp, so Percy could only harbour a guess about their gender based on how bulky or slender their frames were.
Their dark brown skin looked rough and covered in irregular scars. The goddess had it too, so it clearly wasn’t the result of an injury or an imperfection in their bodies – just a standard feature of their physique. It looked like somebody had stitched together lots of flakes of different shapes and sizes, too wide to be described as “scales” but too small to be called “plates”. The overall pattern resembled a dry patch of dirt that hadn’t drunk a drop of water in years.
Every step these people took caused their skin to grind against itself, releasing screeching sounds that didn’t seem to bother them in the slightest. They wore no shoes – only a set of yellow training robes woven out of a fabric as thick and hard as their skin, the right side of their tunics pressed tightly over the left by a green belt wider than their fists.
Their clothes weren’t in great condition – they were covered in holes and loose strings. The same applied to the goddess, with the only exception being that her clothes were red, though her belt sported the same colour as everyone else’s. Percy refused to believe that even the poorest lesser spring couldn’t afford better attires for their representatives. Their shabby garments were clearly deliberate.
It was a symbol of the harsh training that their strongest mages constantly put themselves through, and the atypical humility of their Green-borns – or Favoured Ones, as they called themselves – compared to most others of that birthright across the universe.
There was no question about it.
These were the same people that Percy remembered. He hadn’t had a mirror or his Sage’s Pond to examine his host thoroughly during his time on their planet, but he had seen enough to identify the entourage as natives of Gallimus.
He wasn’t sure why every single god attending the auction seemed to have brought mortals along, though there were several possible reasons. Most of the Colour mages in the space station appeared to be Green-borns, here to obtain experience. They were clearly groomed to lead their factions in the future, so interacting with other races early was probably beneficial for their growth.
It was also common knowledge that geniuses didn’t flourish by spending their whole lives meditating inside a room. Not that attending an auction was a substitute for a proper fight or other difficult challenges, but these Green-borns were unlikely to find worthy opponents at home anyway, and their gods couldn’t exactly send a Blue to fight aliens on a hostile planet. Interacting with opportunistic mortals and deities of other races in a civil environment like the Sapphire Pavilion’s events was often the best they could hope for.
Finally, Percy guessed that many of the Green-borns might have been brought here to acquire new affinities. Tiberius didn’t belong in that category. He’d already explained that his people could only afford to use affinity-changing treasures on their demigods, but other factions might be wealthier. It made more sense to bring the mortals directly to the treasures, to give them the option of exchanging for items closer to their expiration dates. It was unclear which category the group of sapients Percy was observing fell into, though he did notice that all the mortals had common affinities.
‘Wait, don’t tell me…’
Considering a remote possibility, he carefully scanned the only male Blue in the group, looking for any distinguishing traits. His old host would have definitely advanced once by now, but not a second time. The man was an adult like the rest, which made sense, since it had been long enough for that person to have grown up.
‘A fire affinity…’
The first element was correct as well, but if Percy was right, the Blue should have another core right about…
Percy couldn’t get a proper read on the mana around the Blue’s abdomen, as even the channels of his first affinity were obscured. They weren’t completely invisible, but everything by the man’s navel was blurred by some variant of a controlled concealment enchantment.
Anyone skilled at runecrafting would notice that something was off, but most people in the station wouldn’t think anything of it. The Gallimian was far from the only mage here with enchanted equipment, which almost always came with concealment runes.
Still, Percy wasn’t “anyone”. He knew exactly what to look for and had the perfect tool to accomplish that. Concentrating his Sage’s Pond on the mortal’s body, he tried to slip his sensory domain between the tiny gaps in the Blue’s equipment, eventually managing to detect a second mana core hidden within the person’s flesh. It was currently empty and actively suppressed, but Percy was experienced enough to recognize its Blue grade and life affinity, causing the corners of his borrowed lips to curl up.
‘I may have solved your problem, but you’ll have to live with these people for a few years,’ he told Tiberius, eliciting a wave of suspicious surprise.
Not bothering to explain, he made his way toward the Gallimians, drawing their attention when he was about a hundred metres away from them and clearly heading straight for their group.
In theory, the fact that Percy had happened to befriend a child on their planet didn’t guarantee that their gods would be kind to him. Had these people been Atlanteans, Percy certainly wouldn’t have dared to approach them just because of his fleeting friendship with Enki.
However, the things that his then-host had shared about his people’s beliefs gave Percy a good feeling about them. Instead of lording their power over their weaker brethren, Gallimian Green-borns risked their lives to grow stronger so that they could protect everyone.
Percy’s host in particular had been earnest to a fault – the boy had nearly died due to his unwillingness to violate the rules of his training – and Percy doubted that the young man had changed much in the decade that had followed their meeting.
‘I also seem to recall him saying something about making sure they repay their benefactors.’
Introducing himself to the group wasn’t completely risk-free, but compared to all the other choices that Percy and Micky had made during this trip, this seemed like a relatively minor gamble. After all, they were still protected by the Sapphire Pavilion’s rules.
Reaching the Gallimians, Percy drew apprehensive glances from everyone, including his target, though nobody did anything to stop him. Their goddess was also eyeing him curiously, clearly wondering what had given a lone mortal of a different race the courage to approach. Still, she didn’t seem worried that Tiberius was capable of harming anyone under her care.
Stopping before the male Blue, Percy slowly and calmly extended his hand. The Gallimian didn’t take it, creasing his brow in confusion.
“Your name is Duwa, isn’t it?” Percy asked.
The man’s gaze narrowed. It also looked like the space station’s enchantments had translated Percy’s words properly, even without him or the Gallimian wearing a bulky apparatus like the long-necked people. Good. This would hopefully make everything simpler.
“Who are you?” the Blue asked back, still hesitant to shake a stranger’s hand.
Percy couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Come on, man. You once spent like a dozen seasons braving the elements and fighting monsters with your bare hands… and you did all of that as a child. Are you seriously afraid of a little handshake?”
The Gallimian’s pupils wavered with shock as even his companions audibly gasped. Clearly, nobody had expected a random mortal from some unknown faction to know so much about their planet’s harsh climate, nor the trials that they had to endure to qualify for their most prized Decree.
The goddess seemed about to break her silence at last, but Duwa beat her to the punch, finally grabbing Tiberius’ hand.
Percy allowed a thin spectral tendril to worm its way from his wisp, through the few remaining cracks in his host’s soul and to the surface of his right palm. Pulling a sliver of phantom mana from his main body, he connected with the Gallimian’s soul. Naturally, he’d been cautious enough to conceal the movements of the tendril between chunks of his host’s soul, to keep his actions hidden from prying eyes.
Duwa visibly trembled as he felt the intrusion, but he didn’t pull his hand away. ‘Percy? Is that you?’
Percy replied with a mental smile. ‘How have you been, kid? I knew we’d meet again one day, but I didn’t expect that to happen this soon.’