The Lone Wanderer

Chapter 608 – Journey to the depths

Peeking his host’s head out of the water, Percy was greeted by a scene that wouldn’t have been out of place on Remior. The sky was blue and mostly clear, with only a few white clouds scattered here and there. A single yellow sun appeared to illuminate this world – at least at this time of the day – though it was possible that other stars were hiding behind the planet at the moment.

It wasn’t very windy either, the waves short and moving slowly as the ocean was caressed by a gentle breeze. A faint purplish hue differentiated this sea from the one that Percy and Micky had once spent months flying over, but everything else was about the same.

Not in a rush to dive back into the abyss, Percy decided to spend a couple of days swimming across the surface, travelling in the same direction as the waves to cover more water.

His friend kept himself busy too, splitting his time between playing around with the new spell and attaching reversal runes to other enchantments that they hadn’t thought to augment like that in the past.

Most of Micky’s experiments proved useless, with only the mana-gathering runes producing a somewhat interesting mana-repelling effect. Percy couldn’t think of an application for it right off the top of his head – the enchantment was too weak to be used in a fight – but he was sure that they’d come up with something sooner or later.

‘I think we’ve seen enough,’ Micky said about half a week later, clearly having grown just as sick of runecrafting as he had of the bland scenery.

Percy nodded. He hadn’t spotted any birds or signs of land since reaching the surface. That didn’t necessarily mean that there weren’t any, as he and Micky had barely explored a tiny part of the planet, but he was starting to grow increasingly convinced that the red regions in the depths of the ocean were the only interesting places on an otherwise generic world.

He and Micky had encountered several pods of the same fake Blue beasts that had inspired their latest spell, however. Apparently, the creatures were fairly common here, and quite possibly one of the main reasons why other animals avoided swimming this high.

While it was entirely possible that the smarter beasts could see through the ruse of the gentle giants, they didn’t have much incentive to attack them. Given their size and numbers, the fake Blues should be strong enough to overpower anything below Yellow with ease, despite not possessing a shred of magic.

Stronger predators wouldn’t be interested in meat that contained so little mana, no matter how abundant it was. If Percy also considered the scarcity of other types of prey and the red material near the surface of the ocean, it wasn’t hard to see why it was so peaceful.

‘It’s funny how a bunch of creatures this weak could have such a profound impact on the entire ecosystem,’ he mused. ‘But yeah… I think you’re right. It’s time to search for the even larger beasts at the other end of the spectrum.’

Unless the local fauna had developed a way to fake the fluctuations of their souls as well, the quasi-divine beasts were bound to be as real and dangerous as advertised.

Not wasting any time – their host didn’t have much left anyway – Percy dove back into the water, heading straight towards the illusionary pyre at the edge of his consciousness that he had placed a few days prior using Ludwick’s Compass.

He wasn’t overly attached to that particular mark. He simply knew that it was guaranteed to lead him to the outskirts of a red region, but he was more than happy to enter a different one if he found any on the way.

‘Do you think our new spell will work on the creatures below?’ Micky asked.

The Huehuan had yet to dissolve the enchantment inside their host’s sternum. Maintaining such a simple unit cell was practically effortless for them by now, so they were still projecting the aura of a Blue beast outwards.

‘No harm in trying,’ Percy replied with a shrug. ‘Keep in mind that our host is too small to pass as a genuine Blue, but beasts at Green or lower aren’t exactly known for their intelligence. No offense.’

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

‘Hey!’ Micky exclaimed in a faux-offended tone, causing Percy to chuckle.

Either way, it would be nice to get a feel for how effective Intimidation was. It might even let them reach their destination sooner if it spared them from a fight or two. However, Percy made a mental note to stop his friend when they entered the red region.

A quasi-divine beast was absolutely smart enough to see through their façade. Even if it didn’t, presenting themselves as a Blue would accomplish nothing but stir the creature’s appetite, so it was in their best interest to avoid appearing too conspicuous. In fact, it would be prudent to draw some concealment runes inside their abdomen to hide their second core entirely when they got closer.

The journey lasted about a day, proving mostly uneventful.

The concentration of the strange material steadily rose along the way, illuminating the chaotic battlefield as the number of beasts devouring one another rose with it. Most of the creatures steered clear of Percy and Micky, suggesting that their new trick was quite effective against the dim-witted animals.

Eventually, they reached the outskirts of a red region. Percy wasn’t sure whether it was the same one that he had marked, since the illusionary pyre was still quite far from his location, but it didn’t really matter. He dropped another mark for good measure before entering.

This time, he headed in the direction where the mysterious substance was thickest. The itchiness in his host’s gills returned with a vengeance, growing more unpleasant by the minute. It wasn’t long until every breath was genuinely painful, suggesting that even the relatively powerful reptile that Percy and Micky had possessed wouldn’t last here indefinitely. At some point, even their scales, claws and fangs started to itch, much like they had done whenever they’d consumed an animal with a tough enough exterior.

‘I guess we’re deep enough for our host to start benefitting,’

Micky pointed out.They weren’t the only ones in the area. While this place was admittedly more peaceful and far less populated than the dark expanse separating the red regions, the beasts they did see were all at Green like them. Furthermore, their scales shone brightly – some even more so than Percy’s host – indicating that the creatures had absorbed more of the mysterious substance.

Just as Percy was beginning to wonder why nothing dared to stir trouble, he spotted a strange shadow speeding towards his host from the left, looking like it was about to attack.

It was some kind of squid, though its tentacles were covered in the same crimson scales as everything else. Some were long, curved and pointy – sticking outwards like barbs or hooks meant for ripping its prey apart. It moved by squeezing its body and letting its many limbs expand, before whipping them back forcefully to propel itself forward. Its gaping maw looked especially unsettling, covered with several rows of thin fangs spiralling inwards.

Thinking on his webbed hindpaws, Percy pulled out an invisible Harvester, gripping it tightly in his clawed forepaws, ready to slice the invading creature in half. For better or worse, the monstrous squid simply swam around his host, continuing its path unimpeded.

‘Phew…’ Percy tried to exhale, only to remember that the reptile didn’t even have lungs. ‘That bastard scared me for a second there.’

‘Why are you so jumpy? It’s just a Green beast,’ Micky chastised him, rolling their eyes.

The Huehuan wasn’t wrong about that. Either of them could have effortlessly squashed the creature into mincemeat with their domain back on Remior – not to mention that their current host wasn’t any smaller than the squid, on top of being infinitely more disposable than their real bodies.

In Percy’s defence, anyone in their right mind would have found a misshapen alien squid popping out of nowhere frightening. That thing was the stuff of nightmares, and the ominous glow of this ocean hadn’t made it any better.

‘Why aren’t the beasts here attacking each other?’ Percy asked his friend, eager to jump to a less embarrassing topic.

‘How should I know? I suppose this place is some kind of training ground,’ the Huehuan speculated.

Percy nodded. Micky’s guess was more or less the same as his. As far as he could tell, the stronger beasts delved as far into the red region as they could handle, absorbing the substance and reinforcing their scales so that they could survive the chaotic battlefield in the outskirts more easily.

There seemed to be some unspoken understanding between them that this wasn’t a good place to hunt each other. Or maybe they just didn’t want to break their teeth trying to bite through the shell of a beast that had absorbed as much of the weird material as them.

Either way, they appeared to be safe for now, so Percy decided to keep going. He had to grit his fangs as the itchiness across his borrowed body and the pain in his gills climbed to a new high, but he didn’t let that stop him.

From the moment he and Micky had set out on this mission to the depths, they’d known that their host wouldn’t survive the trip. Even if it somehow managed to endure the agonizing tempering of the strange substance, the demigod that probably awaited at the end of this journey was unlikely to spare them.

Of course, that would only matter once they reached that point – something that was questionable given what happened next. It felt as if the sea itself started tugging at their host’s side, trying to steer the reptile off-course.