This wasn’t how a fiend’s absorption was supposed to go. Percy hadn’t always been an expert on the topic, but after successfully going through the process more times than anyone else in the universe, he did know a thing or two about it.
Normally, a soul affinity user would force the creature into their core before slowly grinding it down and scattering its remains across their soul. Any prior traits would resist the acquisition of the new one, resulting in an increasingly painful process, the intensity of which ultimately depended on the number of previously absorbed fiends.
Giving into the pain and passing out before the ordeal was over would waste one’s efforts, forcing them to start over. While acquiring his previous four traits, Percy had received each notification at the very end, after successfully persisting through the entirety of the torturous experience.
This time, the steps had clearly been jumbled up, seemingly occurring in reverse.
The pieces of its body that the Spectral Broodmother had forcefully injected Percy with had automatically integrated themselves into his soul, immediately giving him the trait, despite the fact that he was merely a clone without a mana core of his own.
The ease by which he had acquired his new ability had given him hope that he could skip paying its painful toll – which was especially important now that he had maxed out his capacity and a new fiend would supposedly kill him. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed as soon as his previous traits began to stir.
Tiny spider-like legs sprouted along the surface of his wisp, bending in every direction. The flailing limbs of the Argalios that Percy had lured inside the depths of the Grisly Bog were soon joined by the thin hairs of the Nyctovios that he had absorbed years later, as well as the shifting grooves of the Symbolon and the wriggling appendages of the Amorphos.
Similar transformations occurred inside his friends’ souls, though Percy was too preoccupied with everyone’s impending demise to pay attention to the strange spectral features that the Melodians’ traits had granted them.
‘Damn! Is this it for us?’ Micky cursed. ‘All that back and forth just for the Broodmother to kill us all in the most painful way imaginable?!’
Percy tried to remain calm, telling himself that the Elemental Source understood its own nature well enough to not give someone a trait they couldn’t handle.
His soul shifted for the fifth time, its surface rolling and twisting over itself as its wrinkles and creases formed lots of small triquetras – exactly like the shape that the myriapede had assumed the moment it had emerged from the ground.
Percy’s traits hadn’t started clawing at each other yet, but he already had his figurative hands full with preserving the spectral tendrils linking him to his host. He just about managed to hold onto the stitches before his cord could violently yank him back to Remior. The last thing Percy needed was to abandon the Melodians during this critical moment and undergo the painful experience while flying through the soul plane and fending off a swarm of fiends.
Right as the four sets of incorporeal appendages were getting ready to pounce on one another and rip Percy apart from within, a series of soothing pulses rippled out from the triquetras, calming everything down. It helped, but not as much as Percy would have liked. He guessed that the Broodmother was relying on its authority over its spawn to smooth the process out and allow him to acquire a trait that he had no business absorbing.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any true fiends inside Percy’s soul. The ethereal creatures had been ground to powder a long time ago, so the spectral features about to wage war within his wisp were merely the lingering instincts that he had inherited along with his traits, as well as a manifestation of his finite capacity. Bracing himself, Percy could only watch as the traits finally attacked one another, plunging him in a world of agony.
His friends luckily possessed one fewer fiend, making their situation more tolerable. Better still, the Command trait appeared to have greatly slowed down the chaos, causing the other features to lash out somewhat lethargically. Percy estimated that the pain was significantly worse than his third trait but not as bad as his fourth.
“It’s fine,” he said through gritted teeth, trying to console himself as much as his companions. “We can handle it.”
Sol and Doh said nothing, but he could tell from their determined expressions that they agreed.
Having survived worse, Percy wasn’t as worried about the absorption as he was about the circumstances surrounding it. They’d been given little warning to mentally prepare themselves, and still had to use their domains as they suffered, to keep themselves from sinking into the lake and drowning.
If that wasn’t problematic enough, Percy was pretty sure that they would only get one shot at this. They’d technically acquired the trait already, so he doubted that aborting the absorption process and starting over was an option. If anybody passed out, the traits would likely rip them apart in their sleep.
Knowing that Sol had already fainted once during the acquisition of her previous trait, Percy was most concerned about her. Ignoring his own pain, he kept a figurative eye on his host’s condition, ready to intervene the moment he felt her consciousness slipping or her eyelids drooping.
Fortunately, his fears proved unnecessary.
After what felt like forever, the traits finally calmed down, accepting the newcomer in their ranks. Percy’s suffering admittedly lasted a little longer than the Melodians’ – probably due to his higher number of traits – but seeing his friends exhale in relief gave him the push he needed to press on.
Once the pain finally stopped, he and Sol lifted their head weakly, giving the enormous myriapede an annoyed look.
“You could have warned us… allowed us to do this on solid ground at least… or one person at a time…” Doh said.
The soul mana inside their bodies swelled and deflated leisurely in a manner that reminded Percy of a shrug. ‘It sounds like I have just saved everyone a lot of trouble. I was under the impression that you mortals value your limited time a lot more than those such as I. Now, please… if you would be so kind, I would like the one with the five traits to bind yourself as you have promised.’
Percy sighed, not in the mood to argue with the creature. Activating Kerfyl’s Decree, he forced the previously agreed terms onto his soul, grimacing as the weight of the contract pressed against him. He didn’t like it, but it was necessary if he wanted the Broodmother to let him leave.
“It’s done,” he said.
Pulling his Status up, he hoped that its latest addition would improve his sour mood.
___
Spectral traits [9/?]:
· [Beacon] – Allows one to broadcast their location to their soulmate.
· [Clarity] – Allows one to focus on a given task more easily.
· [Multitasking] – Allows one to perform multiple independent tasks more easily.
· [Command] – Boosts one’s proclivity in directing any entity that can be perceived as a subordinate.
· [Weaving] – Boosts one’s proclivity in manipulating one-dimensional structures.
· [Insomnia] – Eliminates the need for sleep.
· [Scribing] – Boosts one’s proclivity in expressing meaning onto any written medium.
· [Mimicry] – Boosts one’s awareness of their physical appearance, as well as their ability to maintain or modify it.
· [Command] – Boosts one’s proclivity in directing any entity that can be perceived as a subordinate.
___
Suffice to say, the trait section of Percy’s page was thoroughly broken. Again. For one, he had never seen Phoebe’s Decree list the same entry twice. One copy obviously belonged to Sol, though his Status would have normally consolidated them into a single line. The Decree was also clearly struggling to compute his new trait capacity.
With any luck, both of those issues would resolve themselves once he returned to Remior and gave the Decree a chance to recalibrate, but there was no need to wait that long when he was standing before the universe’s foremost expert in spectral traits.
Reading his thoughts, the myriapede helpfully volunteered an explanation without having to be asked. ‘I used my authority to bypass your limit and grant you Command, but I cannot give you any other traits. Do not attempt to absorb any until you find another way to expand your capacity. You have done that once already, so I trust that you have some ideas.’
Percy nodded, thinking of another problem. “You haven’t given us the trait as a way to control or spy on us, have you?”
‘That is not how it works,’ the Broodmother assured him. ‘Command only enhances your ability to direct your existing subordinates. It does not force anyone to act against their will, nor does it extend the range of one’s senses. My spawn follow those who possess my trait out of respect toward me, while the Green beasts obey the Blues due to the natural hierarchy that exists within their species.’
Percy had more questions about the trait, but he could experiment with it in his own time. For now, there were two other things that he needed to take care of. Registering Basic Soul Control would take several months, but the Broodmother had already agreed to let him practice close to its body, so that shouldn’t be a problem. However, he had to talk to the ring wraith about something else first.
‘Zoris… did you also experience the vision earlier?’
‘I did,’ the former deity affirmed.
‘The way that planet transformed into a giant monster… do you know anything about it?’ Percy couldn’t help but ask.
The disembodied god sighed through their connection. ‘I didn’t want to throw too much high-level information at you this early, but I suppose you’ll need to know a couple of things about the Concept realm and what lies beyond it if you’re going to keep getting involved with peak factions and Elemental Sources.’