Percy listened to the girl talk to her father for a while, trying to piece together the situation from her words alone. Sadly, he couldn’t tap into her ears due to their weaker connection, so he couldn’t access the man’s side of the conversation.
Apparently, she was under the impression she had captured a kind of creature she referred to as a “spectral fiend”. Percy couldn’t 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 hadn’t even known soul-based entities existed out there, roaming the universe. He guessed they were relatively scarce, as that would explain why he’d never encountered any, but he did make a mental note to be more careful from now on.
‘So, these people are intentionally injuring themselves and leaking soul mana from their bodies, to lure the creatures and trap them in their cores…’
That still didn’t 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.
“No, I don’t think it has four heads...” she said with some disappointment evident in her voice. “Let me check again real quick.”
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.
“Er… I’m not sure what it is. It doesn’t have a defined appearance. It’s more of a blob. Maybe it’s damaged?” she wondered.
Percy would have rolled his eyes if he had any. Of course he was “damaged”! He was just a soul clone – a severed piece of his main body’s soul! Not to mention all the other crap he’d 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 she’d captured.
‘Wh-What?! Absorb me?! That’s not what I signed up for!’
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.
‘Wait! Whatever you’re doing, stop!!’ 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.
“You can speak?!” she asked in disbelief. “No, not you dad! The fiend – I know it’s crazy, but I think it just talked to me!”
Capitalizing on this, Percy hurriedly reached out again.
‘Yes! I’m not sure what these fiends are, but I’m not one of them! I’m a person like you, from a faraway place. I ended up in your body by… accident.’ he replied, choosing his words carefully.
“Nice try buddy, but I’m not buying it.” the girl said, dashing his hopes. “It’s saying it’s not a fiend, though it HAS to be lying, right? How else would I have captured it?”
It was annoying, but Percy had no idea how to explain himself. He hadn’t spotted any souls above Yellow back when he was observing this world. Clearly, they didn’t have any means of advancement, which meant they didn’t have any gods either. Suffice to say, they couldn’t produce any Decrees, so they wouldn’t know what a bloodline was.
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‘Look, I have no idea what your goal is, but it won’t work. You’ll just hurt both of us, as I’m NOT a fiend! Why don’t 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!’
“That’s not how it works...” she sighed. “We don’t 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 doesn’t matter how many times I do this, I’ll only end up with more of you.”
‘Yeah… I sincerely doubt that.’ Percy wanted to bang his head against the wall. His host was stubborn as a mule. Grasping at straws, he tried offering an alternative.
“Why don’t you get somebody else to capture the type you want then? Isn’t it possible to pass the fiend over to you?”
“It doesn’t work.” she shot the idea down. “People have tried it, but it always ends badly. You’re only supposed to absorb the type that naturally comes to you. Anything else is incompatible. Suffice to say, the trait I’ll get after absorbing you is also fixed.”
The implications were interesting. It appeared the people of this world all shared the soul affinity, but that didn’t 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 didn’t know what these traits did, but he could already imagine some were better than others, giving their owners an advantage over their peers.
‘I wonder if I can learn to absorb a fiend too with my main body…’
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 – especially given the circumstances – but he was also right inside her most vulnerable spot.
Spectral fiends were probably unable to fight back while trapped, as the natives’ technique seemed to compress and distort one’s body, robbing the creatures of their claws and fangs. That didn’t apply to him, however. He was pretty sure he could still form a teal dagger to rip the girl’s soul apart from within.
But he couldn’t 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.
‘Should I self-destruct?’
It would suck big time, but his main body would recover after a couple of months. Though he’d lose all his memories of this place.
Sadly, the girl didn’t 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.
‘Fuuuuucckkk!’ he screamed, as he forced himself to the core’s walls. ‘Stop this right now, or we’ll both get hurt!’ 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.
“Aaaahhh!! What are you doing?!” she shrieked.
Yet, she didn’t 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 wouldn’t be lethal, but fuck if they didn’t hurt!
Both parties stubbornly continued for several minutes, as Percy’s soul shrunk to about a third of its original size.
‘I can’t keep this up…’ 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.
“Ok…! I give up…! Just… stop this!” 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 didn’t even know if he’d survive the return trip .
‘Whatever… let’s just see what I’m dealing with here…’ he decided, pulling his Status up while still in contact with his host’s core. Though he ignored the usual suspects, focusing only on the important things.
Sol (Percival's clone)