(Book 3 Complete!) The Lone Wanderer: A World-hopping LitRPG Adventure

Waves hurled themselves against the rocks below, each one breaking apart in a crash of white foam. Just beyond the spray, Percy sat cross-legged at the cliff's edge. If he'd let his legs dangle, the sea would've washed over his feet every second or third wave. As it was, only the cool mist reached him – sharp bursts of brine that salted his lips and left crusted traces in his hair. He ignored that, as well as the irritating sting of the numerous cuts still marring his soul, and the dense grey fog surrounding him.

'Should I switch back to phantom mana?'

He'd used Soul Conversion again, turning all his pure mana into soul mana in the hopes of maximizing his output. Had he stuck with the fused resource, the volume would have decreased, but the fiends might have found the gourmet meal more appealing or something.

Unable to decide, Percy had alternated between the two types of mana with each fresh attempt. He and Micky had stayed here for a couple days already, Percy having tried to lure the creature several times – without much success.

He shook his head.

'No… this is fine. It worked for me the first time, didn't it? I just need to be patient.'

Some failures were only to be expected, really. They weren't in the Thirsty Valley anymore, so Percy's output was back to a twentieth of what it used to be under the influence of Kronos's Decree. On top of that, Micky didn't have access to any powerful souls to break down for him.

In some ways, Percy was even less prepared for this attempt than he'd been in the Grisly Bog. Sure, his grade was higher and his boosting art stronger, so he wasn't as worried that the creature would elude him forever, but he understood it might take a few more tries.

Sighing, he began the process anew.

'You seem to be looking forward to your new trait,' Zoris suddenly said, causing Percy to raise an eyebrow.

The god rarely spoke unprompted, often remaining silent for entire weeks or even months. Sometimes, Percy almost forgot that he had such an ancient entity wrapped around his finger. Not that he was very surprised by the god's behaviour. Deities lived for eons – to them, a few months passed in the blink of an eye. This was especially the case for Zoris, who had spent Phoebe-knew how long in isolation, never interacting with another soul.

'Shouldn't I be?' Percy asked back. 'The other two have served me well so far.'

'Well, you should… but I don't think you appreciate just how painful absorbing it is going to be. I've seen people give up halfway through the procedure, deciding that two traits were enough for them, after all.'

Percy chuckled, thinking the god was joking. But Zoris wasn't laughing.

'Wait, you're serious? Are you telling me there are genuinely people out there who would let this opportunity go to waste just to avoid hurting for a few minutes?'

'Like I said, I don't think you fully appreciate just how painful this is going to be. Having three fiends wreaking havoc inside your soul is very different from just two.'

Percy swallowed hard, choosing to believe Zoris. Of all the painful things he had endured over the years, absorbing his second fiend had easily topped the list. If the former god insisted this would be even worse, Percy didn't doubt it.

Still, he wasn't going to back down.

'Is it definitely safe?' Percy asked.

'It is. Either you grit your teeth and make it to the end, getting your third trait, or you pass out from the pain and have to start over. At least, I've never seen anyone with the blessing get permanently injured from just three fiends. Don't even think about getting a fourth though.'

Percy nodded, latching onto something the god had said.

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'You speak as if you've seen many people with multiple traits. But soul affinities should be rare outside Melodia, and the Melodians don't have any gods or blessings…'

The former god sent him the mental equivalent of a shrug.

'I've lived for a very long time and travelled far. Soul users are rare, but they exist. Not many make it to godhood, yet the ones who do will often sire hundreds or even thousands of kids. Inevitably, a few of them inherit both the affinity and the concept.'

Zoris's words only made Percy more curious, but he held himself back, thinking that what he wanted to ask might be too personal. Noticing his unease, the god chuckled.

'You don't need to walk on eggshells around me, Percy. My skin is thicker than most,' he joked. 'To answer your unspoken question, I've fathered plenty of kids myself. So many, in fact, that I never even bothered to count them. I've personally guided some of the most promising ones into obtaining their traits…' he added, his voice trailing off.

Zoris sighed before continuing.

'You know… I hadn't given this much thought before meeting you, but I now realize that I wasn't a good father.'

'How so?' Percy asked just to be polite, though the answer was abundantly clear, given how the former god had even talked about his children.

'I didn't mistreat them, but I did disregard them – or even neglect them. At least the ones I didn't see as talented. Not that you aren't plenty gifted yourself, but spending so much time with you reminded me that I never did that with my kids. I didn't ask them about their dreams or aspirations… I never bothered to… you know… be a father to them…'

Hearing the sorrow in the god's voice, Percy wasn't sure how to console him.

'Do you think any of them might still be around?'

'No. My world was only a lesser spring, and none of my children was a Green-born. We did have a few friends among the greater springs, but they tend to be quite tight-lipped about their secrets – especially the ones pertaining to their faster advancement speed.'

'What about their descendants?' Percy asked. 'One of your great-great-great-grandkids might have made it to godhood or something. Maybe your world became a greater spring after you left.'

'My world was destroyed, Percy. Long before I got turned into a ring.'

'Oh…'

'"Oh" indeed…' Zoris mentally shook his head. 'You don't have to cheer me up. These are things I've already made peace with. Just… I do wish I could go back in time and do things differently… I've written so many of my Red-born and Orange-born children off without even giving them a chance. I only saw my sons and daughters as potential assets – loyal people that could strengthen my world. I judged them based on things they couldn't control, such as their birth-grades or their affinities… And look at me now – I'm a ring! I'm stuck at an even lower starting point than any of them, yet I haven't given up on myself, despite having been so quick to abandon my children.'

Feeling the god's guilt through their connection, Percy knew there was nothing either of them could do about that. The man's family was long gone, so he wouldn't even be able to apologize to them. Left with no other choice, Percy tried to change the topic.

'Do all the large factions know about spectral traits?'

'Some do. Since soul users only make up a tiny fraction of the population, there aren't as many people experimenting with such obscure uses of the affinity. Even fewer would do something as crazy as trapping a fiend in their core and grinding it down. But someone did discover this at some point, and the secret eventually spread through wars, trades and espionage… All of this happened before I was born, mind you…'

Percy frowned, noticing a discrepancy.

'There are hundreds of greater springs that have managed to hold on to the secrets of their advancement, but they couldn't keep the information about the spectral traits to themselves?'

'It's not the same. The former is the kind of thing that elevates the entire world, allowing them to produce more gods – it's the very key to their power and status, so they can't afford to leak it. The latter is something that only a sliver of the population cares about – soul affinity users. Rather than thinking about their planet, they are better off banding with other soul users across the universe and working together to develop new techniques to give them an edge over their rivals. The scope of the secret is different, as are the motivations around guarding it.'

'Did nobody ever find a way for people without a soul affinity to absorb a fiend?' Percy asked.

This was something that had been bothering him. He would have loved a method to grant Nesha, Elaine and Micky their own traits. Right now, they only shared Percy's, and only as long as his clones inhabited their bodies.

'I don't think it's possible. Having a soul core is paramount, because the way you absorb the fiend is related to the way the organ converts ambient mana into your own, but also to the resistance to your own mana type that it grants you. I know you are used to achieving the impossible, but I wouldn't risk experimenting with your friend's lives if I was in your shoes.'

Percy fell silent, contemplating the god's words. Though he didn't get the chance to think about them for too long. A silver object glinted in the distance, its faint glow barely piercing through the dull grey fog surrounding Percy as his lips curled upwards.

It was finally here…

His third spectral fiend.