After overcoming the dizziness of the trip – at least it helped he was expecting it this time – Percy stood up, examining his surroundings. Lots of people were looking at him curiously again. Though he seemed to have been transported to a different location.
‘As I thought, it’s random each time…’
That flew in the face of their idea to sneak Gabe out through a portal. Not that they’d placed much hope in that plan to begin with.
More importantly, Percy noticed something else that gave him pause. These people were all shorter than him – other than the horned ones. Strange. Coming here in the body of a Red beast, he would have expected to barely reach their knees.
‘Don’t tell me these parrots are large animals?’
His heart skipped a beat at the implications. This was huge! Red beasts were essentially regular animals, mostly untouched by magic. They could still use Mana Sense, and possibly Circulation too, but their affinity had yet to start influencing their bodies at a deeper level.
That was why Red beasts had the greatest size disparity of all grades. One could be as small as a mouse, or as large as an elephant. It wasn’t until core advancements came into play that this began to change. The smallest creatures grew the most from each evolution, first to the size of a fox at Orange, then to about the size of a human at Yellow, and so on.
As for animals that were already bigger than that to begin with, they still grew larger and stronger with each promotion, but not by nearly as much. Supposedly, the two ends of the spectrum met up at some point between Green and Blue, when the smaller creatures managed to catch up, closing the gap.
However, Percy wasn’t thinking about the higher grades right now. The fact that his host was already about as large as a Yellow beast while only at Red was an amazing stroke of luck. Of course, it didn’t mean he was anywhere near as strong as a Yellow. Even an Orange opponent would probably be difficult to contend with. Still, Percy was willing to bet they’d have a massive advantage in the Red challenges.
He picked up the loose coconuts that had fallen out of the sack, glaring at one of the green folks who tried to snatch one. The guy was actually at Orange, but he barely reached the parrot’s waist. That seemed to deal quite a blow to his self-esteem, as he begrudgingly let go of the exotic fruit a moment later.
‘Yeah. Didn’t think so.’
Placing his palm on the ground, Percy then tried to log himself into the cube. Naturally, the unintelligible squeaks of his host struggled to convey the message, but a blue circle still lit up around the talon a couple seconds later, turning silver right afterwards.
The cube seemed to understand what he wanted too, as a small hole opened up, the translation device popping out. It looked quite small to his current perspective, not to mention how the parrot didn’t have any ears to hook it around, though it still stuck to the side of Percy’s face without any issues.
“Authorization pending. Please input user ID.”
Percy wanted to roll his eyes, but the bird’s eyeballs appeared fixed in place. Clearly, the cube had already recognized him, otherwise it wouldn’t have given him the device. Asking for his ID at this point was just needless bureaucracy…
“Authorization granted. Welcome back to the Vault, Percy.” the cube replied, though the second sentence was spoken in Metatron’s voice, sending a chill down his spine.
Picking the sack again, Percy carried it to a less crowded spot, seeking some privacy. He didn’t really care what the Vault’s mortals saw – he doubted any of them had the balls to cause him any trouble. That said, he didn’t exactly want to garner any unnecessary attention either.
“Cube. Can I speak to Metatron?” he asked once he was alone.
“Evaluating request…”
While he’d rather not make a habit of interacting with the titan frequently, he had been playing with an idea in his mind since his last visit. It was risky, though it would get him more value from these trips if it worked.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Evaluation complete. Request denied. User does not meet the minimum requirements. ‘Contacting a god of the Vault’ is listed on the restricted section for White grade or above. ‘Contacting a titan of the Vault’ is listed in the restricted section for Concept realm or above. ‘Contacting the founder’ is not listed on any reward list.”
Percy was unfazed by the flurry of messages, having expected them. But he also expected the amendment that should come any second now. After all, there was no way Metatron would leave him without the means of accepting his deal.
“NOTIFICATION: User has been granted special authorization to contact Metatron. Proceed?”
It wasn’t until about five minutes later that another portal opened up right next to him, a familiar pentapus slithering right out.
“Nice to see you again, Percy. Though I must admit, it feels like yesterday when we last spoke. Don’t tell me you’ve come around so quickly?” the titan greeted.
“No. I’m not ready to accept your terms just yet. I was hoping to propose a deal of my own instead.” Percy replied, trying to maintain his composure.
Though he couldn’t help but swallow a lump as the titan scanned him from head to toe.
“Only a Red beast this time?”
“I can’t help it. Those are some tough challenges you’ve implemented. I’ll need to ease my way through them.”
“Let’s hear it then.” Metatron nodded. “Though I would caution you to not summon me again for anything not directly related to my offer. I’m a busy man, Percy.” he added in a more severe tone, making him shudder.
“I want you to give me enough life mana for the Morais’ Decree every time I visit the Vault with a new body.”
Metatron blinked a few times, staring at Percy in incredulity.
“I’m still waiting to hear the other half of this so called ‘deal’.”
“In return… I’ll do my best to leave my hosts intact before I leave.” Percy shrugged.
Yet, the words barely had the chance to leave his mouth, when a suffocating pressure descended on him, forcing him down on his knees. His bones creaked and his joints ached in protest, as the parrot hid in the very recesses of his mind, cowering in terror.
“Have you lost your mind?!” Metatron asked, his tone cold as ice. “Did my easy-going demeanour give you the impression that I’ll stand to be blackmailed by a mortal?!”
The titan spoke slowly, each word slamming at Percy with the weight of a battering ram, pressing him against the ground. He knew the god was holding back too, otherwise he would have long reduced him to a sticky puddle.
“I’m… not… blackmailing… anyone…” he spat, each word a struggle.
Creasing his brow, the titan eased the pressure on him somewhat, letting him breathe. It wasn’t until a few seconds later that Percy managed to speak again.
“I’m only asking for proper compensation for the things I’m already giving you.”
“Last time I checked, letting you come and go as you please, and to participate in the challenges is plenty of compensation.”
“That’s how you get me to keep coming back.” Percy flashed the titan a defiant look. “However, I’m under no obligation to leave my hosts intact when I leave. This is just a courtesy you expect of me. All I’m asking is that I get a little something back in return.”
“That’s not a ‘little something’. Do you have any idea how much life mana it costs to repair the Moirais’ Decree? Of course you do. You’ve seen it before.”
But Percy wasn’t quite ready to give up just yet.
“Please. We both know you fix the bodies and give them their new cores the moment I leave. After all, they’re your precious test subjects. I’m just asking you to do it earlier, so that I can use them too. In return, I’ll go out of my way to keep the bodies in a good condition.”
Metatron finally withdrew the rest of his pressure, his eyes narrowing.
“This still sounds like blackmail to me. Why should I agree to this? If you want to earn more things from the Vault, you just have to accept my terms.”
“It’ll cost you nothing. And it’s only fair. I’m giving you an endless supply of bodies with one of the most powerful Decrees in the universe. All I ask is a chance to play around with them for a few days beforehand. If you really want to convince me to collaborate with you, this will go a long way.”
Metatron appeared to think for a couple minutes. Percy didn’t rush him, knowing he’d already pushed the titan way more than any mortal should ever dare to.
“Very well. But I’m warning you. If you try to pull another stunt in the future, I’ll revoke your access to the Vault entirely. Your bloodline is valuable alright, but I’m not going to humiliate myself grovelling at a mortal’s feet.”
“I’m guessing you won’t be lending me a Ring of Sacrilege then? What if I ask nicely?” Percy chuckled, half-joking. Emphasis on the ‘half’, though.
“You wish. But I might consider trading you a ring for another, should you get lucky enough to find one. Or something else of equal value.” Metatron laughed too, his voice trailing off as he vanished through another portal.
Once the god was gone, Percy allowed himself to grin. Voicing his farfetched demands to the titan had been a bold move, but the payoff was immense. That said, he didn’t plan on pushing his luck again anytime soon. As for what Metatron had said on the way out, he didn’t pay it much heed.
‘Something else of equal value to a Ring of Sacrilege? As if they grow on trees…’
Shaking his head, he spoke to the system.
“Cube. I want my body healed up completely.”
“Evaluating request…”
“Evaluation complete. Request denied. User does not meet the minimum requirements. ‘Healing via divine mana’ is listed in the restricted section for Yellow grade or above.”
It wasn’t until a minute later the cube corrected itself.
“NOTIFICATION: User has been granted special authorization to receive a god’s life mana. Proceed?”
“Do it.” he said, not even caring if anybody saw this. The big dog was already in the know.
“Accumulating life mana. Healing begins in 6 rits.”