The Lone Wanderer

“Like… It’s not bad… but could you try again… maybe making the edges a little straighter this time?” Percy asked after Nesha handed him the misshapen slab of stone.

Over the past week, they’d split up their tasks, with him focusing on repairing the decrepit hut into something liveable. He wasn’t a carpenter, but he could lift a lot of weight, so patching the ceiling with a few planks hadn’t taken him too long. Whether the roof was properly sealed remained to be seen – they’d only know once it rained.

As for Nesha, he had asked her to build him his stone forge. The idea was that she could get some practice using her space mana, learning how to shape it and cut things with it, while also getting him the equipment he needed for his new venture. Though the results weren’t exactly ideal…

“Why? Isn’t this good enough?” she frowned. “It’s the best I’ve managed all week.”

“Well, I’d rather the charcoal stays inside the forge.” Percy replied, pointing at the gap between the poorly-attached stones. “I haven’t even finished fixing the house. I don’t want to see it burn down just yet…”

Nesha exhaled in defeat before manifesting some more of her mana, trying again on another piece. It was the last one she hadn’t ruined, so they’d have to go fetch some more if she messed up again.

Of course, both of them knew a space affinity could be used for a lot more than merely slicing things apart. Heck, Metatron’s Decree was the perfect case study of the heights one could reach with it. While Nesha was as far from a titaness as one could be, learning to form some smaller portals or crafting spatial amulets wasn’t out of the question.

‘When I do manage to get into the Vault again, I should try bringing back the runes for it.’ he decided.

Percy had grown to love his magical trinket. The sheer convenience of carrying a crate’s worth of items on him at all times was something he wouldn’t give up for the world. Though he did lament its relatively limited capacity. According to Nesha, it was already close to the maximum any enchanters on Remior could craft. Perhaps, the very best ones might be able to make slightly larger amulets, but only the Great Houses had access to those people.

Once he was satisfied with his work, he took a break for a few hours, letting Nesha continue with her own end of the project. There was something else he wanted to do today.

‘It’s time for a new clone.’ he grinned.

It was true he was a little tired from working on the roof all morning, but he’d grown much more proficient at using his bloodline by now. The last one he’d sent to Torui village had only taken him a few hours to prepare.

More importantly, Percy intended to send his clones out more frequently now. After all, Micky was hunting Orange and Yellow beasts in the swamp all day long, providing him with a ton of soul mana, letting him mend his soul faster than ever before. He also had to spend much less time brewing elixirs than during his gig with Nesha, so he could more easily tolerate the disturbance.

‘About once a week sounds good.’

Percy expected it would take him multiple attempts until he found a good candidate to send to the Vault, but there was always the chance he might find something else of value in the process.

***

It was dark outside by the time he was done. As always, his soul hurt a lot right after severing the clone, but at least he didn’t pass out anymore. Tossing Nesha a glance, he saw her still working on the forge, a few more discarded chunks of stone lying next to her than the last time he checked. Evidently, she’d gone out to bring more at some point.

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‘There’s plenty of room for improvement. Though she seems to have taken my advice seriously…’

Nesha had stopped procrastinating as much, spending a lot more time honing her magic. Percy was planning to teach her Circulation too at some point, though she’d need several years of physical exercise to strengthen her body enough for it.

‘Let’s leave that for later. It’s probably better to not push her too hard all at once…’

Leaving the hut to get some fresh air, Percy walked over to one of the shops, hoping it was still open. It wasn’t – not exactly – but he did catch the owner taking some trash out of the door.

“Hi there!” he greeted the shopkeeper, a Yellow core seemingly in his early thirties.

“Oh, hi!” the man said. “You must be the new guy I’ve heard about. I was told you’re trying to build a forge in your new house?”

Percy nodded.

“Yes. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. You’re Mr. Dylan, right? I was hoping to buy some pig iron from you to get myself started.”

“Well, I don’t have much to sell. There isn’t a mine nearby, nor do we have a local blacksmith. We import all our tools from Greyquarry town to the north.”

Percy frowned. That was the second town under House Tantalus’s jurisdiction. He and Nesha had ignored it on the way here, as they needed the Grisly Bog for Micky to stay in. Apparently, this was going to make his life a little more complicated.

“Is it impossible to get some imported?”

“Look, I’ve only got seven ingots in stock – you can have those for two silver.” the man took pity on him after seeing his disappointed expression. “I do have some friends over there, so I might be able to work out a long-term solution for you, but we’ll have to see the quality of your work first.”

Percy nodded. It was only fair. He doubted he could compete with Sengo anytime soon, but he was confident he could cook something of acceptable quality for the locals after a few attempts.

After completing the exchange, he bid the man farewell, carrying the stack of ingots back home. Each of the bars was a little larger than his foot, the entire set weighing hundreds of kilos. Even with his two Orange cores, the metal was heavy.

‘It can’t be helped. I can’t use Circulation in the middle of the town…’ he sighed.

Suddenly, he stopped, seeing a young girl approaching him. She couldn’t have been older than ten. She was wearing simple linen clothes, her dark hair tied up in two short pigtails. Percy had no idea why her parents allowed her to roam the town so late – weren’t they afraid of something happening? Then again, it was probably safe. Outsiders like him and Nesha rarely visited, House Tantalus’s territory not being the most welcoming place. Carefully placing the ingots on the ground, he turned to her, to see what she wanted.

“Mister! Do you want to buy this for a silver?” she spoke in a chirpy voice.

Percy looked down at the object she was holding. It was a small, hollowed piece of wood, with multiple holes lining its side. The main body of the object was oblong, though there was a narrower tube branching out on one side. An ocarina. It was crudely made, the holes not perfectly circular, with a few misplaced scratches or other dents throughout the instrument.

“Did you make this yourself?” Percy asked, getting a nod back.

If anybody else had tried to sell him this, he would have probably laughed them off. The misshapen instrument couldn’t be worth more than three coppers, let alone a silver. Still, seeing the child looking at him expectantly, his eyes couldn’t help but soften.

“Oh well… Freddy always told me to get myself a hobby… This is as good a time as any, I suppose.” he chuckled.

Handing the girl the requested amount, he received his new ocarina in return. While he’d already filled his schedule with all sorts of things such as forging tools for the locals, practicing his own magic, mentoring Nesha, sending clones and brewing elixirs, he’d promised himself to not overdo it as much as he had back in the Guild. Leaving some leisure time aside was good for his mental health.

Tossing the ocarina in his pocket, he picked the ingots again before finally returning home. Originally, he had wanted to visit Micky in the swamp too, but it was already getting late. He’d have to leave it for tomorrow.

Entering his new abode, he found Nesha sleeping on the floor. They didn’t have beds yet, but they’d spent weeks camping out anyway, so they weren’t too bothered. Still, his attention was drawn to the forge in a corner of the room. It was made of several pieces of stone, cut in a way such that they slotted into one another without needing any adhesive.

Percy was proud of the design, having come up with it himself. However, it wasn’t his design he was currently admiring. The pieces had slid into each other better this time, not leaving much of a gap between them. There was still some, but it was too narrow to let anything pass through. Nesha had clearly busted her ass until she got it right.

Grinning, the young man placed the ingots on the floor before going to sleep himself.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll get started.’