The Lone Wanderer

Chapter 585 – Wrapping up

Percy was hovering a few dozen metres above a giant unit cell, suspended in the air by his willpower. The enchantment only contained a couple dozen runes. It wasn’t very complex given his current magiscript skills, though handling so many symbols at the same time would have been an insurmountable challenge a mere half decade ago.

Not having to form the colossal runes out of his own mana certainly made his job easier – especially because his capacity wasn’t even remotely sufficient while hiding his boosting art from his coworkers. Each symbol was wider than a small house, so the entire enchantment spanned an area over fifty metres across – and it would have been even larger if there hadn’t been so many overlapping runes.

The unit cell he was currently flying over had been cast out of a tough metal that glistened with a fiery orange light. Over ninety-five percent of the construct had already solidified in place, with only a small section near the bottom missing.

Percy nodded at his subordinates on the ground, prompting them to pour the molten material into the grooves that they’d dug in the dirt. Due to its inclination towards the fire affinity, the metal had a much higher melting point than other minerals, but heating it up to the correct temperature still wasn’t very difficult for a group of Green and Yellow mages. The other materials that they’d used in the colossal array had their own peculiarities, though it was nothing that Percy and his men couldn’t handle.

Not wanting to miss his chance, Percy poured some of his mana into the giant unit cell, spreading it evenly across the metallic lines. At the same time, he allowed the full brunt of a Violet’s domain to unfold – at least as much of his willpower as he could spare without falling out of the sky – forcing the enchantment to activate.

Unlike the other unit cells that Percy had connected to the network over the past few months, this one was linked to neighbours on both sides – it was the final piece to complete the mountain-spanning array.

As soon as he breathed life into the final set of runes, Percy felt their influence spilling over to the adjacent enchantments and vice versa. Every part of the formation synergized with the rest, an immeasurably thick current of willpower and meaning rushing around the Fungal Spire to amplify the effect of every single unit cell.

Percy nodded in satisfaction as his eyes traced the distant symbols, confirming that his masterpiece worked as intended.

Each enchantment sported a different colour, alternating between over twenty variants. He had forged them out of all kinds of minerals abundant in the hive, so that he wouldn’t exhaust any specific material – in case he needed it for some future project.

The mana-gathering runes were simple enough, and could work with most metals, though the ones with an inclination towards a certain affinity would exert a slightly stronger influence on ambient mana with a similar bias. This was the second reason why Percy had opted to use a variety of materials – to ensure that the overall effect of the array was neutral. According to the books that he had read, an enchantment this massive could easily affect the weather in the region if he introduced a large imbalance in the ambient mana.

‘Finally… it’s done.’ He exhaled, wiping the sweat off his forehead as he gently descended to the ground.

His subordinates were cheering and patting each other on the back, clearly just as happy as him to have completed their arduous task. That said, none of them approached Percy to include him in their celebrations.

It couldn’t be helped. While Percy had arguably done a lot for the Guild and even Remior as a whole, a few months were hardly enough to bridge the gulf separating him from the average person. In the eyes of his subordinates, he had been a dangerous criminal until recently – an unscrupulous monster dozens of times more powerful than he had any right to be, with inhuman eyes and no need for sleep.

It would take more than a few months for people to start treating him as one of their own, but the ambitious magiscript project and his recent alchemy course had definitely made for a great start. Besides, it didn’t really matter. Percy had never been the most social person, but he still had plenty of friends that appreciated him for who he was. Even if most people on Remior only saw him as a benevolent monster, Percy was bound to win over those who mattered in due time.

Bidding his subordinates farewell, he decided to patrol the mountain one last time to ensure that there weren’t any major flaws in the enchantment that he had missed. Taking off, he flew closer to the ground this time, scanning the metallic symbols carefully for defects.

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As he travelled along the magical circle, he noticed that the mana density in his surroundings had already started to change. The difference was still barely perceptible, partly because of the scale of the enchantment, and partly because of the less potent runes that Percy had chosen for the job.

It would be weeks – if not months – before the area reached its new equilibrium. Even so, Percy was confident that the colourful motes flying inside the circle were slightly more numerous than they had been before.

Many of the vibrant particles would always spill out of the enchantment – even after it achieved its full power – and some would inevitably be consumed by the runes themselves so that they could function. However, the ambient mana in the settlement should still be thicker after all was said and done.

‘The effect will be weaker inside the hive, but there’s nothing I can do about that at the moment…’ he thought with a helpless frown.

The influence of the enchantment would naturally be more apparent on the surface. If he wanted to further improve the environment of the Starry Wasps, Percy would have to draw several concentric rings no smaller than the one that he had just completed, forming a three-dimensional boundary around the underground hive.

Unfortunately, that was a far more ambitious project. Even if he borrowed manpower from the Guild, it would be years until he finished. Getting the insects to help with the runes would also be much harder than the humans, even with the royal wasps directing them, so Percy wasn’t going to bother with this anytime soon.

Perhaps the Alchemists’ Guild might collaborate with House Etna in the future – after the Great House was done incorporating the Vault’s magiscript into their craft – or Percy might revisit the idea if he found a way to work on it faster.

As things stood, he had better uses for his time.

Once he was certain that the giant network was in a good enough condition to survive for centuries with minimal external maintenance, he made his way back to his residence in the settlement.

He was done with the alchemy course too, having given the final lecture two days earlier. Unfortunately, nobody but Percy could register the new principles in their Status, even if they mastered them. This might change once Phoebe upgraded her Decree, though that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Even if the alchemists had registered the knowledge, they didn’t have a mutation to funnel their understanding into their eyes to assist them in their endeavours.

That said, many of Percy’s students had still reported some direct improvements to their craft. After being exposed to his teachings and gaining access to new cauldrons, most senior alchemists had managed to break through their previous bottlenecks.

This included the elders who had all seen their brewing yield climb by at least two percent. It might not sound like much but, at their level, the seasoned Violets typically needed centuries to experience even the slightest increase.

The others had reported even more dramatic changes. Orin’s yield had apparently increased by three percentage points, with some of the younger alchemists having achieved four. It wasn’t like they were more talented than the Violets. If anything, Paracelsus and his ilk had probably benefitted more from Percy’s lectures than anyone else. However, improvements greatly slowed down as one’s brewing yield increased.

‘Two percent is impressive without my mutation or Wild Art,’ Percy thought.

In fact, when he stopped to consider his own situation, the fact that his recent spell upgrade had boosted his yield from sixty-one to a whopping sixty-four percent only spoke volumes as to the potency of Sovereign’s Encroachment.

He shrugged. Either way, he no longer had any matters tying him to the Guild, so he could finally focus on himself. That said, he still had no intention of moving out of the Fungal Spire, as it made for an excellent base of operations.

Here, he had access to all the nectar, royal jelly, alchemical reagents or magical minerals that he might need, in addition to unlimited manpower from the Guild. He even had plenty of disposable test subjects in case he needed something to experiment on – in the form of the Starry Wasps.

If that wasn’t enough, the Fungal Spire was also one of Remior’s central trading hubs, as well as its most important and fortified location. The ambient mana made it easier to practice one’s magic too, and Percy could get some privacy inside the hive or his house in the settlement. Finally, his familiar couldn’t leave this place, so he figured that it was better to stay by her side.

‘I suppose that this is my kingdom now – as much as it is Nephthys’s,’ he realized with a grin.

It was a crazy thing to admit – especially since it had never been his intention to claim sole ownership of the mountain. However, his fate had essentially been set in stone the very moment he had shoved that piece of his soul into the royal egg.

The Fungal Spire would essentially remain Percy’s property until his familiar produced a new Starry Princess whose survival wasn’t tied to his own – something that was still a long time away. Even then, it was debatable whether he would lose access to the hive entirely.

‘I’d better make sure to take care of it properly then,’ he decided, the weight of responsibility feeling heavier than ever on his shoulders.

Reaching his residence, he found Orin waiting for him in his living room, sitting on a couch. Percy had obviously given his mentor access to his home months ago, as there was nobody in the Guild he trusted more, and he no longer had that many secrets from the old alchemist.

As for why Orin was here right now?

Well… Percy had expected to complete the giant formation today, so he’d invited the man to his house. He needed somebody to watch over him as he attempted something exceedingly dangerous.

Tonight, he was finally going to absorb his fourth spectral fiend.