The Lone Wanderer

Chapter 636 – Penitent

‘Penitent’s Decree – Acquired by personally scooping and ingesting a handful of blood from an enchanted fountain on Oll. Allows one to shed small pieces of their soul to infuse into their bloodstream, producing spiritual blood. Note 1: The name is a direct translation of the ancient Ollorian word for “penitent”. Note 2: The roundtrip to Oll is estimated to take half a Maradorian day, so participants are advised to ensure that they have enough time before their next match. Failure to return in time will result in a loss. Note 3: Shedding a piece of one’s soul is extremely painful and may require several days to heal naturally. Users without the soul affinity may find this ability impractical. Note 4: Several applications of spiritual blood have been discovered over countless years, and new ones are found every few millennia. Please refer to the attached documents for specifics.’

This… was one of the longest descriptions on the list, giving Percy a lot to unpack, starting from the Decree’s very name.

It was pretty clear that “penitent” wasn’t the titan’s actual name, but rather an adjective that had been used to describe them, translated from that deity’s original tongue to whatever language the Void Hand used nowadays.

Percy didn’t think that this was another collaborative Decree, so it probably meant that it wasn’t the first that this particular titan had cast. Either that, or the god was a bit of an eccentric who had no interest in slapping their name on their masterpiece like every other titan in the universe tended to do.

‘And he’s an Ollorian,’ Micky pointed out. ‘Aren’t they one of the founding factions? The disfigured people?’

Percy nodded. ‘Penitent…’ he thought, turning his attention to his host. ‘What do you think? Could it be the same titan who cast their ancestral Decree? Maybe they adopted this monicker out of regret for what they did to their people?’

Kassorith shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I suppose that it fits, but that would make this titan quite an interesting figure.’

The scaled man didn’t elaborate, yet his meaning was clear. Titans who produced multiple Decrees were already rare, but casting multiple free-type Decrees was practically unheard of.

The whole alliance only had a couple dozen of them in total, and they were considered a peak faction. There might be fewer than a hundred free-type Decrees across the entire universe, so it would be quite ridiculous for a single person to have produced two of them.

The “penitent’s” handiwork might not be as impressive as that of the Moirai triplets, but the lone titan had achieved everything by themselves, unlike the famous sisters. Sure, the Ollorian deity’s first Decree had been riddled with flaws, but it was still one of the most powerful that Percy had ever heard of. Furthermore, the titan had cast it a very long time ago, before the alliance came to be, back when their faction had still been a lesser spring.

‘Are you sure you want to mess around with anything the Ollorians have created though?’ Micky asked again, sounding concerned. ‘Especially that person?’

‘Not really,’ Percy admitted with a frown. ‘But I’m sure that the description would have mentioned any drawbacks like those of their other Decree. It also sounds like it synergizes quite well with my affinity.’

The fact that they would acquire the Decree by consuming physical blood was somewhat worrying. Percy didn’t want to pick a Decree that would only affect Kassorith’s body, though he felt that the odds of that were low. The “penitent” sounded like a titan with a soul affinity, and their Decree appeared to ultimately attach itself to a person’s soul.

Other than that, spiritual blood seemed like an interesting resource that would open many new doors for Percy. Especially since he should be able to produce it much faster than others.

Sadly, he couldn’t mend his wisps if they got injured, as his bloodline merely slowed down their decay. However, his clones could still borrow phantom mana from his main body to heal their hosts’ souls.

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Since Kassorith would also acquire the Decree, he would be able to infuse his blood between rounds with Percy’s assistance, giving them as much spiritual blood as they wanted.

Percy would rather not reveal his own mana during the actual fights, as that would expose him. It was only at Yellow, so what little he could send through the cord wouldn’t make much of a difference in a battle between Sixth and Seventh Circle mages anyway.

However, subtly using it to mend Kassorith’s soul during their downtime shouldn’t be an issue. On the off chance that somebody questioned the Thess’kalan’s rapid recovery or production of the new resource, they would just have to blame everything on his bloodline again.

As for what spiritual blood actually did?

Well… Percy had only skimmed through the auxiliary documents earlier, so he went through them more carefully this time. As far as he could tell, its applications could be grouped together into four main categories – each interesting to him for a different reason.

Their combined effect wouldn’t necessarily boost Kassorith’s strength in the next round more than a powerful mindset, but they were all things that Percy wouldn’t be able to accomplish without the Penitent’s Decree, and their scope extended far beyond the competition.

All things considered, it was easily the best option available to him at the moment. He felt that he had a good chance of acquiring it permanently, and that it would serve him well in both the tournament and the long-term.

‘What do you think?’ he asked the others after discussing the potential benefits with them for several minutes.

‘Its impact on our next couple of fights won’t be massive, but the same is true for the other options,’ Kassorith conceded. ‘I’m not looking forward to ripping chunks out of my soul, though it sounds like a good match for my bloodline. And yours I suppose.’

‘I’m also sold,’ Micky concurred, sounding more enthusiastic than the Thess’kalan. ‘The fact that they’re still discovering new applications for it is promising. We’ll also get to mark the Ollorians’ planet, which is a welcome bonus.’

Percy nodded. This was something that he hadn’t considered, yet the Huehuan was right. With this, they would have two of the founding worlds marked, allowing them to revisit them at will. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to try and mark the other two as well. Maybe some of the other factions too.

‘Actually, the Void Hand is bound to own a few Elemental Sources and Rings of Sacrilege. It might even be worth picking a shitty Decree later if it gives me an excuse to travel to those worlds,’ he realized.

In hindsight, it was a little strange that Metatron hadn’t brought this topic up. Then again, his spies had probably already told him where the resources were held. He just didn’t want to share the information with Percy until he accepted his terms. Unlike the Void Decree that the titan hoped to directly get his tentacles on through Kassorith, he had nothing to gain by sending Percy to an Elemental Source.

‘Well… screw him. I can look into this on my own. I don’t even have to take any huge risks – just lay the groundwork so that I can return when I’m much stronger.’

A problem for later. Right now, Percy and his companions had already agreed to claim the Penitent’s Decree, and they should have more than enough time left before their next match to do that.

About an hour after submitting their choice through the terminal, they were greeted by the same attendant who had guided them around earlier. She informed them that she’d been assigned as their handler for the remainder of the tournament, so she would be the one responsible for procuring any resources they requested or escorting them to special sites.

After realizing that he would be seeing a lot more of the female Maradorian over the coming weeks, Percy finally did what he should have honestly done sooner and asked for her name.

Introducing herself as Nawko, the humanoid frog led his host to the building they had passed through upon getting beamed down from the space station. Apparently, the structure was some sort of interstellar teleportation hub, offering access to some of the Void Hand’s most important planets.

Percy was somewhat shocked by how easily these people could travel across the stars, though he probably shouldn’t be. Couldn’t he do the same using Metatron’s Decree? It would have been strange if a peak faction couldn’t match that.

Stepping onto the enchanted platform, they were sent to a ruined cathedral, its roof half collapsed. The natives hadn’t even bothered to sweep the broken tiles off the floor, Kassorith’s tail carving deep grooves through the centimetre-thick layer of dust as he slithered toward the exit.

Leaving the dilapidated building, they found themselves in an even more dilapidated city. The streets were cracked and coated in filth, the surrounding structures looking old and worn. The whole place stank of illness, the very air polluted as the sky was covered in dark clouds.

For a second, Percy couldn’t help but question whether their guide had brought them to the wrong planet. While Nawko did admittedly wrinkle her amphibian snout in disgust, her expression remained otherwise flat.

There was no mistake, this shithole was Oll – the home of the Ollorians, one of the most powerful factions in the universe and a founding member of the Void Hand.