The Lone Wanderer-Chapter 212: Homecoming (6) – Micky

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‘I wish Percy was here…’ Micky lamented as he stuffed his face with the fifth goblin core.

While the Whistling Woods were a nostalgic place for both of them, it was especially so for him. After all, some of his earliest memories were of him and Percy hunting here together. From back when he was little more than a young, dumb chick. A single Red core, no spells, nor any shred of intelligence worth mentioning. Every single kill had been hard-earned. A constant struggle between life and death. And the food had been so fulfilling too, each meal more than enough to fill his belly.

Nowadays? Not so much… The place even looked different than it did in the past. To him at least. The same trees that used to tower over him like colossal pillars of aged wood had shrunk many-a-time. Even the thickest branches on their crowns had difficulty supporting his current weight. If it wasn’t for the melodic tune of the cones sounding the same as they swayed in the wind, he might have thought this was another forest entirely.

‘Should I look for more goblins?’ he wondered.

Both their flesh and their cores tasted just like he remembered them, though they hardly qualified as snacks right now. In the end, he shook his head, knowing it wouldn’t be worth the effort. He’d burn through more stamina searching for the next group than he’d get back after consuming them.

His best bet was to master the new spell, like Percy had instructed him to. Flying to the largest tree he could find, he sat upon the sturdiest-looking branch. It creaked and groaned as it bent but, luckily, it didn’t snap. Adjusting himself slightly to better conceal himself within the dense canopy, he turned his focus inwards. Next, he pulled another sliver of air mana into his first core, beginning the conversion process anew.

The efficiency was abysmal as usual. And it didn’t help his stomach was constantly grumbling at him either. Sure, Percy sent him a morsel of fused mana whenever he had the chance, but those moments were a little scarcer than he would have liked. Though it couldn’t be helped – Micky understood his partner was busy spending time with his family today.

Micky had intentionally downplayed the sheer extent of his hunger too, to avoid worrying Percy and Nesha. The truth was, he’d never had it nearly this bad before. It was like his very body was about to start eating itself. The beast mana violently thrashed against his blood vessels, gnawing at their walls, desperately trying to break his own flesh down to sustain him.

‘It doesn’t matter. I need to get through this on my own. I can’t keep relying on him forever…’ he thought, his eyes glinting with determination.

Back when Micky was younger, he hadn’t put much thought into this. But he knew better now. Percy always based his decisions on what was best for him. That had been the case when they travelled to the Fungal Spire, as well as the Grisly Bog. Sure, Percy had had his own reasons for going there too, but a huge part had been about finding a good place for Micky to live in. To hide in. To hunt in. To thrive in. Even going behind the Divine Order to sell the Aurora Dew had largely been to earn the money for Micky’s second core.

The thought of having somebody looking after him warmed his heart up, but also stabbed it full of guilt. The last thing he wanted was to be a burden, dragging his companions down. Restricting their every move. Forcing them to keep accommodating him. No. He had to figure this out.

‘Yet, it’s easier said than done.’

He couldn’t be certain, but he didn’t think his efficiency had improved at all today. At this rate, it would be weeks until he managed to reach an acceptable level. Assuming he didn’t starve before then.

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‘I guess my air mana can’t compare with Percy’s fused mana. It contains the pure affinity after all…’

Micky actually understood a little about how affinity fusion worked. Percy had explained it to him in detail, back when he was trying to help him fuse his own mana types. It wasn’t until after he reached Yellow that they understood it wouldn’t work like that for him. Their current theory was that his mutations were his version of affinity fusion.

The thought caused him to instinctively halt the conversion process, a new idea taking root in his tired mind. Tossing his plumage a glance, his gaze landed on the dark green feathers decorating it. Supposedly, those were the very spots where his two mana types met and combined.

‘Hmm… How does that even work? Was it a one-time thing that happened when I evolved? Or is my body continuously doing it passively?’

Micky never bothered to think this deeply about his magic. Percy was better at this sort of thing than him. But perhaps, this was exactly the kind of mindset he needed to rid himself of, if he wanted to stop being a burden. So far, all of his spells he’d either stumbled upon by accident thanks to his mutation, or been taught by Percy how to use them. And he saw how much trouble Percy had run into, trying to elevate his spells to the Masterful tier.

‘I’ll never get far if I wait for him to do all my work for me…’

Micky had often been reminded that he was a unique existence. In all likelihood, there was nobody else in the universe with the same combination of affinities as him. It made him strong and unpredictable, sure, but it also meant he had to be more proactive if he was to ever tap into his potential. Making his mind up, he activated Mana Sense, concentrating on his feathers. He had a hunch he was onto something…

‘Huh? There’s definitely some mana flowing there!’ he noticed after a couple minutes.

He’d never paid much attention to this. Especially since beast mana had a natural tendency of circulating around his body to begin with. However, his feathers were drawing a little more than normal. And there was a faint trickle – barely perceptible – coming from his abdomen too.

‘I guess both of my theories are correct. The bulk of it must’ve happened when I evolved, but the feathers are still constantly drawing mana to sustain themselves.’

Thinking of something, he pulled some more mana from his second core, about to hack at the conversion spell once more. Only this time, instead of moving the mana directly to his sternum, he took a detour, steering it to his plumage. Soon, his feathers lit up, as a coat of mana enveloped them. This was essentially the same process as his Acceleration spell, after all. But Micky didn’t try to fly, nor did he withdraw his mana. Instead, he allowed it to remain there, soaking his feathers as he contemplated his next move.

‘I could just use Circulation to move the beast mana to my sternum. But that would only burn my stamina faster than I can replenish it…’

Circulation essentially sped his blood flow up, consuming his energy at a rapid pace in exchange for a boost in strength. What if he did the opposite?

Figuring he had little to lose, he tried to manually reverse the flow, actively fighting against his body’s instincts. It was actually even harder to execute than his boosting art. It just felt so wrong. Within mere moments, a wave of numbness overcame him, as if a million ants had been poured inside his veins, crawling through his very flesh. At the same time, he felt profoundly weak, a sense of vertigo slamming into his head.

Micky was about to stop, but he hesitated. It was working! The beast mana wasn’t quite flowing in reverse, but it had slowed down a little. The difference wasn’t huge, but this might allow him to better conserve his strength!

Of course, he had still failed at his original goal. He couldn’t see any mana flowing from his feathers to his core, so he hadn’t managed to improve the conversion process just yet. That said, he was confident that was still possible, with some more effort. At the very least, his new breakthrough should buy him some more precious time.

Curious to see whether his efforts had been recognized by Percy’s Status, he reached out to him through their connection, explaining the situation, asking him to check for him. Of course, he still glossed over how dire his circumstances were, not seeing a need to worry him just yet.

Sure enough, the response came back swiftly, Percy even making the effort to give Micky the experience every person on Remior was privy to.

‘Congratulations! You have mastered a new spell: Wild Art: Hibernation – Crude!’