Chapter 220 – Regulation

Percy allowed his thoughts to sink into the ethereal cord in his sternum, watching the live feed provided by Micky with bated breath, as the crow shared his senses with him.

His blood flow had greatly slowed, an oppressive feeling of numbness enveloping his body from beak to talon. Micky didn’t seem deterred in the slightest, however, already used to the weakness brought about by Hibernation. Instead, he focused his attention on fine-tuning the spell to the best of his ability. The beast mana travelling through the bird’s veins had halted almost entirely, massively lowering his expenditure. And that was merely the beginning!

In some places, the mana even flowed in reverse, swimming upstream through the crow’s arteries, fighting against the current of blood. All of those tiny rivulets stemmed from the roots of Micky’s mutated feathers – now dimmer than ever before, despite constantly being flooded with a ton of air mana from his abdomen. The beast mana headed straight into Micky’s core, carrying some traces of air mana with it!

Even more interesting was the fact that the air mana appeared to rapidly decrease throughout its journey. Only half of what Micky drew from his feathers ever reached his core, the rest of it consumed along the way. Unlike Percy’s Soul Conversion – which solely took place inside his first core – in Micky’s case, the spell’s effect seemed to span his whole body. Contrary to other affinities, the beast mana greedily chipped away at the air mana with every chance it got!

In the end, only about 20% of it got converted. Barely enough to qualify as a Crude spell on its own, though the additional component of Hibernation made it a great deal more impressive. Still, Micky clearly had his work cut out for him, his new spell having plenty of room for improvement. That said, this was already good enough for them to finally solve their issue for the time being.

The crow’s Status had noticed too, the entry having changed since the last time Percy checked it, a couple days ago.

‘Congratulations, buddy! Your spell has evolved: Wild Art: Hibernation – Crude -> Wild Art: Regulation – Refined!’

Admittedly, Percy felt a little silly reproducing the notifications for his familiar. But he didn’t want his pal to miss out on one of the most thrilling parts of practicing magic. While his Status had grown more comprehensive since incorporating Ea’s Decree – to the point it registered more than just spells for him – it still failed to properly extend all its features over to Micky.

‘Maybe next time I upgrade it…’ he sighed.

Oblivious to his thoughts, Micky allowed himself to relax, a wave of exhaustion oozing through the bond. It was accompanied by some lingering traces of hunger he hadn’t quite managed to quash. Still, it was all dwarfed by the sheer exhilaration and overwhelming pride the familiar felt over his accomplishment.

‘You can stop sending me mana now!’ Micky said.

‘Are you sure this is enough?’ Percy asked back, not entirely convinced.

Micky remained silent for a couple seconds, before sending a mental nod.

‘It won’t be pleasant, but I think I can go on for weeks like this, without having to eat much more than you guys.’

Percy exhaled in relief upon hearing that. While he’d been confident in his idea, it had all been theoretical until just now. And truth be told, they’d have needed a spell like this sooner or later, even if they’d never left the Grisly Bog. After all, Micky’s core would eventually advance again, his hunger growing right alongside it. The Fungal Spire was pretty much the only place on Remior where Micky would always be able to eat his fill. Until Violet, at least.

‘But now, he can mitigate it as long as his second core keeps up!’

Of course, this still wasn’t a permanent solution. Unfortunately, Micky’s second core was growing more slowly. It was bound to fall behind the other one eventually. Percy estimated it would reach Yellow before the first one hit Green, but he wasn’t sure it would get to Green before the first one reached Blue.

Well, at any rate, they should be good for the next few decades, at least. As Micky’s conversion rate continued to climb, he’d grow more comfortable too. Right now, he’d have to keep the spell active for several hours per day, not to mention dealing with the fatigue it left behind afterwards. However, he should eventually cut that time down massively. And they had many years to come up with something better, before the gap between his cores widened again.

‘Is Elaine still with you?’ Percy asked, changing the topic.

‘No. She left once I assured her I’d be ok. She should be back in the mansion soon, if not already. She said she wants to spend some more time with you and Nesha before we all leave.’

Percy nodded. His short ‘vacation’ was finally nearing its end. According to what Baldy had explained, their family should be receiving their petals within the next couple of hours!

‘I can’t believe it’s already been five years since Hermes’s message.’ Percy smiled.

So much had happened since that first time he ever heard a god speak. His growth aside, he’d somehow managed to piss that very same god off! Who’d have thought?! Not to mention his even more bizarre dealings with a different god – a foreign titan, no less!

Bidding Micky farewell, he closed the connection, heading to Baldy’s office. Getting there, he found the room quite crowded. In addition to his grandpa, Elaine and Nesha were also waiting for him. Galahad and Mordred were present too, likely waiting for their own petals.

Upon taking a seat next to Nesha, Percy caught Mordred tossing him a fleeting glance. He couldn’t make out his cousin’s expression through his blindfold, but he did notice traces of curiosity flickering within the young man’s soul. The two were essentially complete strangers, having never interacted much in the past.

Mordred’s presence was undeniable, however, making Percy inadvertently feel even more on edge than he had while facing Rambert, despite knowing his cousin wasn’t his enemy. If he hadn’t explicitly been told otherwise, he might have even guessed his family’s resident prodigy had awakened his domain ahead of time.

At any rate, Galahad didn’t seem to have spilled any of Percy’s secrets to his son. Annoyingly, it did mean Percy had to keep the blindfold on during the meeting though.

“Ahem. Now that we’re all here, I should explain what’s about to happen.” Archibald said, drawing everyone’s attention.

Nobody else spoke, waiting for him to continue.

“Every noble House was contacted by the Divine Root a few weeks after Hermes’s first message. We were given some more detailed information about how the petals are going to be disseminated. While today marks the official 5-year anniversary since the message, the lotus has already bloomed. Nearly a week ago, in fact. The petals are already being delivered, with some provinces getting theirs a little sooner than others. Ours will be handed to us by an emissary of the Divine Order – a demigod – later today.”

Everyone in the room drew a sharp breath upon hearing that. Elaine was the first to speak, however, voicing the question at the forefront of all their minds.

“They’re sending their demigods?! As errand boys?!”

Even Galahad seemed surprised at this. Percy wasn’t sure anyone here – Baldy included – had ever personally seen a White. Let alone a demigod, standing at a level above even the leaders of the Great Houses. Technically, the Order’s demigods were still considered mortals, though they were just a step beneath divinity. Supposedly, any of them had the potential to take that very step at any given moment. In other words, the person delivering them their petals today could just as easily be a god tomorrow!

‘Well, on paper.’ Percy smiled.

Obviously, it was a little more complicated than that. Only the tiniest fraction of demigods had ever managed to shed their mortal coil in Remior’s long history, despite each of them having a lifespan of tens of millennia. Either way, assigning them to such a menial chore was unprecedented. Insulting, even.

Archibald shrugged.

“They didn’t really have a choice. The last thing anybody wants is to see such a valuable treasure wasted. As Hermes has already mentioned, the petals only last a little over three weeks before withering. Even for Violets and Whites, that’s not necessarily enough time to reach the most remote Houses. Not to mention how inconvenient it is for a leader to leave his headquarters for months on end…”

A few others spoke up, firing more questions, though Percy tuned them out, his thoughts lingering on something else.

‘I hope the demigod doesn’t suspect anything about me…’

It would probably be fine, otherwise Archibald would have warned him already. These people weren’t personally involved in the search for him and Nesha. Nor would they be likely to bother with something so far beneath them. Still, Percy had plenty of secrets he didn’t want to leak, and he had no idea how perceptive such a lofty existence could be. Perhaps it would be safer for him to hide in his room until the emissary was gone. Just to be safe.

“I’m more surprised the gods haven’t decided to withhold the petals from everyone, to force us all to help them search for the culprits behind the Aurora Dew.” Mordred said, completely oblivious to the fact that those very culprits were sitting right next to him.

“What would be the point in that?” Galahad asked back. “The overwhelming majority of mortals would already gladly hand them over to the Order if they could. Besides, Hermes has already given us his word about the lotus. Going back on it would only tarnish his reputation.”

Mordred was about to reply, when somebody knocked on the door.

“Father, there is a high-profile visitor waiting in the main hall. He wishes to speak to you.” Uncle Gareth said.

Everyone in the room exchanged glances with one another. The demigod had arrived a little sooner than they were expecting.

“Is His Grace here for the petals?” Baldy asked as he hurriedly stood up, walking towards the door.

Gareth’s next words caught everyone by surprise, however.

“‘His Grace’?! Sure, he’s from the Divine Root alright, but why are you being so respectful towards him? He’s just a kid at Green. I think he said his name was Jason?”

Nesha grabbed Percy’s hand, clenching it tightly. It trembled, betraying her inner turmoil. At the same time, several pairs of eyes turned towards them, as Percy felt the blood drain from his face, his very breath growing cold inside his lungs.

‘Seriously?! NOW?! You must be fucking kidding me!’

It felt like a bad dream. Of course, he and Nesha had always known this day would come, but he’d hoped to get a few more months of freedom before their pursuers caught up to them. He certainly hadn’t expected this to happen mere hours before he finally got his petal! And after all the trouble he’d gone through to earn it, too!

But, perhaps, he should be grateful it had taken them this long in the first place. It would’ve been even worse a year ago, or earlier…

Baldy had frozen in his steps too. Turning towards his grandson, he placed his hand on Percy’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. The moment felt so damn fleeting, his heart racing in his chest. Grandson and grandpa exchanged a silent glance, conveying a thousand unspoken words with that gesture.

Percy wanted to pull his blindfold off so badly. To get one last look at his grandpa’s face. Elaine’s too. Who knew if he’d ever see either of them again?!

He was about to do it, when Nesha squeezed his hand even more tightly. Baldy did the same to his shoulder. Keeping the façade about his eyes up was important. Now, more than ever. Not that they didn’t trust Mordred, but their leeway for unnecessary risks had just been cut short...

Letting go, Baldy walked out of the office, as Percy turned towards Elaine for a fraction of a second. He didn’t utter a word, however. Neither did she, nor anybody else in the room. They couldn’t afford to delay any longer, nor implicate anyone more than they already had.

He and Nesha bolted out of the room, hoping Baldy would buy them enough time to get as far from this place as possible. One thought rang crystal clear in everyone’s mind.

Things were about to go to shit...