Following his experiments with Nephthys, Percy returned to his hectic life of juggling his own projects with the growth of his alliance, all the while trying to squeeze out the occasional morsel of free time to spend with his girlfriend.
Days blurred into weeks and, at some point, the clone that he had deployed to Melodia asked him to send another wisp to the barren world, to grant Doh a second core. Thankfully, the possession didn’t take long, so Percy’s clone was back later that day, allowing him to use the cord elsewhere and return to his busy routine.
It wasn’t until a couple of months after that that Sol’s clone requested his help a second time, to possess one of those strange mantis-like beasts which could control entire swarms of spectral fiends as if they were their own mana.
The surprises didn’t end there – in fact, the clone’s message only marked the start of a long chain of shocking revelations.
The Mirror Lake was apparently not the actual Elemental Source of the soul affinity, but merely a front that some sort of colossal myriapede was hiding behind. The clone and his companions barely managed to convince said creature to spare them, while also having yet another spectral trait forced into their souls and learning a whole bunch of interesting facts about the universe.
The clone hadn’t gone into detail, so the original would have to wait for his counterpart to return. Unfortunately, that should still be a few months away, as the clone and the Melodians were currently busy trying to master the Basic Soul Control spell while training near the Broodmother’s actual body.
In any case, Percy had plenty of important things on his own end to worry about.
For nearly a year, he’d been so swamped with the daily arrival of allied nobles, that he hadn’t been able to leave the Fungal Spire. As a result, he’d had to postpone a certain trip that he’d been meaning to set out on. Fortunately, things were starting to slow down at last.
It wasn’t like his grandfather, Nesha and Orin had stopped trying to recruit new Houses into the alliance, nor had the interest for Percy’s gifts fizzled out. If anything, every new family that joined prompted two more to initiate negotiations. There were already nine or ten Houses in the coalition – Percy had trouble keeping track – but he had made it clear to everyone involved that he wasn’t going to continue wasting his time in the same impractical manner.
Everyone who hadn’t already received the Moirais’ Decree and Percy’s other blessings would still have a chance to acquire them in the future, but they would have to prove themselves first. They would also have to figure out a more efficient system to disseminate the new abilities, because waiting for small groups of nobles to slowly travel to the Guild was inefficient.
In theory, Percy could have possessed all the allied mages in under a week if they had been gathered at the same place. Sadly, there were all sorts of geopolitical considerations that prevented a noble family from deploying the entirety of their forces away from their territory.
Once they destroyed Machaon’s alliance, Percy’s side would essentially own the planet and have the freedom to move as they pleased, but that was obviously something that hadn’t happened yet.
That was not to say that Percy’s coalition was currently weak.
If he only considered the top-level combatants, they had probably already surpassed the Great Houses. With Archibald’s first core reaching White, as well as both of Elaine’s reaching Violet, Percy felt that they could already defeat the enemy patriarchs. Even the size of Percy’s army was likely greater by now, so it wouldn’t be long before they could simply march on the enemy stronghold and end this war.
The main thing holding them back was the fact that they would be the invading force this time, giving their opponents the home advantage and significantly raising the required power for a successful operation. Machaon’s troops had also started practicing Circulation sooner, so Percy would rather make sure that most of his soldiers could use the boosting art as well before attacking.
Percy’s alliance was definitely growing much faster than their rivals at all levels, so it was only a matter of months before their complete victory.
Leaving his future plans aside, he had finally made some time for a quick excursion away from the Fungal Spire. He was currently sitting on Micky’s neck as the oversized crow flew toward a certain canyon, and they weren’t alone. Nesha and Elaine were also busy on most days, but they had agreed to accompany them on this trip.
Elaine had recently finished merging her Bubbling Swamp Dress, Kraken’s Waltz and the Dance into a personalized version of the boosting art called Waltz of the Savage Gods – which was essentially the culmination of her fighting style and a spell on par with Percy’s Carnival, Micky’s Symbel, and Nesha’s Ballet. Combined with her recent artificial promotions, Percy’s cousin had grown extremely powerful, almost catching up to him again. On the off chance that they got ambushed by their enemies, her presence might make a difference.
Nesha wasn’t as strong on an individual level, partly because of her lower birth-grade and partly because Percy hadn’t prioritized giving her the Cradle yet, but that didn’t make her useless. Whenever she wasn’t directing House Etna’s enchanters on her ambitious project to expand the massive mana-gathering array to the entirety of the underground hive, she practiced spatial compression and continued to hone her own magiscript skills.
Percy had told her about his intention to construct a spaceship one day, so that they could travel across the universe even before attaining divinity. He also wouldn’t mind having somebody who could craft more spatial seals for him – so that he wouldn’t be entirely dependent on Metatron in the future.
Both of those projects were still decades away from completion, but Nesha could still help during this trip by compressing space in front of the giant crow and allowing the group to fly several times faster. What she was doing was really just an application of her old Twisted Dance spell that had already become a part of her boosting art, only scaled up to affect multiple people and over an extended period of time.
“It’s just the four of us, like the good old days,” Percy mused a couple of minutes into the trip. The rush of wind stifled his voice, so he used his domain to create a bubble of relative quiet around him and the women.
“Except that Micky wasn’t large enough to carry us the last time we travelled together,” Elaine pointed out, having apparently heard him despite the noise.
She was sitting further back, while Nesha was right behind Percy and hugging him mostly out of affection than for stability. Or maybe she was just using his broad chest as a windshield so that she could keep focusing on her spatial magic, but Percy preferred thinking that she wanted to cuddle.
“And the four of us only travelled together for a few months before Micky got captured, after which we spent the following decades trying to rescue him, only to disband the group completely after finally succeeding,” Nesha added, stabbing another hole into the nostalgic picture that Percy was trying to paint.
“Not to mention that this trip is going to be much shorter,” Micky piled on, making Percy regret opening his mouth. “At the rate we’re moving, we’ll be at the canyon and back in like… ten minutes.”
“Wow. Sorry for trying to lighten the mood,” Percy said with an eyeroll. “Anyway… are we sure that this is the correct direction?”
“Well… it’s been decades since I last hunted the ogres, but the scenery looks vaguely familiar, and I don’t think they would have relocated,” Elaine replied.
“It’s correct,” Nesha assured them, putting the debate to rest. “Also, it’s not going to be a quick trip. I suggest that we visit House Niobe after we’re done searching the ogres’ habitat. The canyon happens to be in their province, so it’s only polite to drop by and say hello. Coincidentally, they’re also our newest allies, so it might be a good idea to stay at their place for a couple of days and grant them new cores.”
Percy nodded, finding his girlfriend’s suggestion reasonable. Visiting allied families in person was another way to spread the Moirais’ Decree faster, though he preferred not to risk too many trips away from the Fungal Spire, as leaving the Guild often would give his enemies a chance to prepare an ambush. Still, making an exception every now and then shouldn’t be too dangerous – especially since House Niobe was already on their way.
He was far more excited about what he might find at the canyon. He still hadn’t figured out any better applications for the yellow moss, but he was really curious to see whether he would discover yet another interesting ingredient.
Was there really a pattern that the various tribes of demi-humans shared, or had the two sets of magical reagents he had found so far been a mere coincidence?