The Lone Wanderer

Chapter 670 – Mental-type Decrees (2)

‘Falazar’s Decree – Acquired by leaving a bouquet of flowers at the tomb of Falazar’s first wife, located atop Mount Wad, on planet Feteos. This Decree is bundled with Falazar’s Quest, which produces missions meant to catalyse the user’s growth. Note 1: The roundtrip to Feteos 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 2: This Decree can detect and list a user’s bloodline, blessings, mutations, spells, and Decrees, but not mindsets or spectral traits. Note 3: The missions produced by Falazar’s Quest vary greatly from user to user, and are always innately beneficial. Falazar’s Quest will magically amplify their rewards – usually by providing additional inspiration. Note 4: Unwanted missions may be abandoned, but discarding several in a row introduces progressively longer wait times as a penalty.’

‘Wow… this one’s genuinely good,’ Percy said.

He didn’t know what exactly these missions would look like. Would they be as generic as “practice your soul magic for a thousand hours”? Or would they be tailored to more specific aspects of the user’s personality and circumstances – such as “infiltrate the void tournament again” or “steal a Ring of Sacrilege from Metatron”?

Percy wasn’t exactly a fan of a Decree dictating his every action, but the description made clear that he was free to discard any mission he didn’t like. At worst, he could treat Falazar’s Quest as a source of ideas. At best, it would grant him additional rewards for tasks that he would have completed anyway.

‘We still don’t know how much this will accelerate our growth,’ Micky cautioned. ‘The benefits could easily end up worse than Hakkae’s Supremacy.’

‘Agreed,’ Percy said. ‘Let’s put an asterisk on it for now. We’ll revisit it if we don’t find anything better.’

Ideally, he would love to come back and grab all of these mental-type Decrees one day, but he still wasn’t sure whether there was a limit to the number of Decrees that his Status could devour. Until he confirmed that there was no opportunity cost to acquiring as many as possible, he intended to be cautious. Not to mention that his current situation only allowed him to select and bring back a single prize.

The next Decree was less exciting.

‘Nisaba’s Decree – Acquired by recalling one’s earliest memory while prostrating before the statue of Nisaba on Oll. This Decree grants its user perfect recollection. This Decree is bundled with Nisaba’s Whisper, which allows the user to project any memory of their choosing for others to watch and listen to. Note 1: 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 2: This Decree can detect and list a user’s bloodline, blessings, mutations, mindsets, spectral traits, spells, and Decrees.’

‘Oll? I didn’t realize that one of the founding factions was both willing and able to share their mental-type Decree with outsiders,’ Percy said.

Then again, Nisaba’s Decree was embarrassingly bad. While its ability to track its user’s skillset was admittedly the most comprehensive of any single mental-type Decree he had encountered, its auxiliary features left much to be desired. Percy and Micky had already developed perfect recollection after their fusion, so they weren’t interested in that.

The ability to share their memories with others wasn’t entirely useless, as Percy wouldn’t mind having a convenient way of showing his adventures to his friends and family. However, he could do something similar with his Soul-to-soul spell.

All things considered, this Decree was probably the worst one on the list. In hindsight, that was probably why the Ollorians were willing to offer it to their allies in the first place.

On the other hand, an opportunity to visit a founding faction would have been enough of a reason for Percy to consider it regardless, but this was a planet that he’d already marked.

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‘It’s for the best,’ Micky said. ‘We wouldn’t want a mental-type Decree from a founding faction anyway. They all have a strong presence in the tournament, and they might be able to spy on the rest of our Status if we grant them access.’

‘You might want to reconsider that statement,’ Kassorith interjected. ‘The last option is also from a founding faction, but this one’s actually good.’

‘Ningirima’s Decree – Acquired by catching seven hundred and thirty-three drifting leaves in the Amborian Forest on Zath’maan. This Decree is bundled with Ningirima’s Mercy, which grants its user resistance to demonic infestations. Note 1: The roundtrip to Zath’maan 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 2: This Decree can detect and list a user’s bloodline, blessings, mutations, mindsets, spells, and Decrees, but not spectral traits.’

Percy frowned. ‘Zath’maan? Which founding faction does that planet belong to?’

‘Ah, right. I almost forgot that you’re not too familiar with the alliance,’ Kassorith said, before explaining. ‘Zath’maan is the name of both the faction and their main planet. Remember how there was originally a fifth founding faction?’

‘The one that got wiped out?’ Percy asked.

Kassorith nodded through their connection. ‘I didn’t know that their planet was still around, to be honest.’

‘That’s not a problem then,’ Percy replied with a mental shrug. ‘Our issue with the founding factions is that they might be able to spy on us through the Decree, but it doesn’t seem like we’ll have to worry about that in this case. Even if there are survivors somewhere, they probably have more important things to worry about than the tournament.’

‘That’s actually a bit suspicious, don’t you think?’ Micky asked. ‘If their world hasn’t been destroyed, and the Void Hand still controls it, then how come there aren’t any Zathmanians left in the alliance?’

‘Zath’maani,’ Kassorith corrected. ‘But yes. That part isn’t exactly a secret. The Zath’maani suffered heavy losses from an enemy faction, but it was the rest of our alliance that finished them off. Our leaders probably decided that there was no longer a reason to keep them around, and that it would be simpler to just get rid of them and seize control of their resources. I’ve told you before – there’s no love between our factions. Just cold practicality.’

The Thess’kalan’s words sent a chill through Percy’s soul, reminding him once again that keeping his boosting art from the Void Hand was the right call, even if it meant giving up on his third mana core.

‘Ishkuria didn’t seem so bad,’ Micky said.

‘Most people aren’t. Not on an individual level,’ Kassorith admitted. ‘But our leaders do whatever they deem necessary for the benefit of their factions. Of course, it’s also possible that we only saw Ishkuria’s nice side because she wanted something from us, and because she didn’t want to piss the entire alliance off by messing with a contestant more aggressively than she already did.’

‘Whatever the case may be, this truly sounds like a very useful Decree,’ Percy pointed out, steering the conversation back to the matter at hand.

Just like with the other options, he had no way of knowing how effective Ningirima’s Mercy would be at resisting corruption, but this was a rather unique and desirable effect regardless. Now that he had Metatron’s purification runes at his disposal, Percy wasn’t entirely powerless against infestations, but the first special event had made the inadequacy of his enchantments painfully clear.

If he wanted to fight back against not just regular infestations, but even the Cardinal Devils, he would need all the help that he could get – and this Decree certainly qualified.

Were there other ways to accomplish something similar?

Sure. Percy was planning to grab a suitable blessing as soon as he found the right Ring of Sacrilege, and he hadn’t given up on fine-tuning his enchantments. However, Marnok’s time was swiftly running out – if the poor sailor hadn’t been infected already. Percy would have to do anything and everything in his power to prepare if he wished to return to Robari within the next millennium.

‘If we’re lucky, it might give us more than just the resistance,’ Micky speculated.

Percy echoed his friend’s optimism. There was a non-zero chance of Ningirima’s Mercy interacting favourably with the Sage’s Pond or Obatala’s Approval, granting him and Micky a way of detecting corruption or even suppressing it with their domain.

Percy turned his attention to his host. ‘Are you planning to fight us over this one too?’

Kassorith surprised him by metaphorically shaking his head. ‘We don’t have to worry about demonic infestations in the Vault, so Hakkae’s Decree or Falazar’s Decree might have been better for me. However, the benefits they grant can be obtained in other ways, while resistance to corruption is much harder to come by. I don’t intend to remain a mortal forever, and demonic infestations are everyone’s problem.’

‘It’s settled then,’ Percy replied, a surge of anticipation rising in his wisp.

Having reached a consensus for a change, the trio finalized their choice through the terminal.