The Lone Wanderer
Chapter 342: Zoris

Chapter 342: Zoris

Percy was about to speak, to brief Doh and Latt on what he’d discovered about the ring, when Zoris stopped him.

‘Were you seriously going to talk to them again? With your mouth? Like a caveman? You’re telling me you regularly jump across bodies, possessing people entire worlds away, but you don’t know about basic soul communication?’

‘Soul communication? Like the connection between me, you and Sol?’ Percy asked, ignoring the god’s insults.

He got a mental nod back.

‘You mean… it’s possible to do that even without my bloodline?’ Percy asked again.

‘Well, not from afar, since no mortal should be capable of freely abandoning their body, and even gods with a soul affinity like me wouldn’t be able to enter another person’s. But you can establish a temporary link with anybody through skin-to-skin contact.’

Percy frowned, feeling a strange mixture of excitement and regret. This was something he hadn’t even considered to test before. His bond with his hosts and Micky was so convenient… They could freely share thoughts and images with one another, allowing for quick and discreet communication. But he’d always simply assumed this was a feature of his bloodline, not something that could be accomplished without it.

If only he’d known this before… It would have been handy on so many occasions. Whenever he was trying to describe a complex enchantment to Nesha, or when he was trying to share his insight on Circulation with the girls, or when he was briefing his companions on his clones’ travels. Hell, Orin’s lessons would have been so much easier to digest too.

He sighed.

Walking up to Doh and Latt, he asked them to place a hand on each of his shoulders. Zoris did explain how this was meant to work but, honestly, he didn’t have to. Now that he’d planted the idea in Percy’s mind, it wasn’t hard for him to figure it out by himself.

‘Normally, it takes some practice to learn, even for a soul user. But I doubt that will be necessary for you.’

Percy nodded. He was already used to severing chunks of his soul and moving them around his host’s bodies. It was a bit like discovering a new muscle group that others didn’t even know they had. His control wasn’t as precise inside his main body as it was with the wisps he sent out, but it shouldn’t take him long to get better at that too.

In any case, this was good enough for now. Allowing his wisp to stretch to Sol’s shoulders, he moved it as close to her skin as possible. It was harder to extend it outside her body, and the others didn’t seem to have as much awareness of their souls as him, so they couldn’t copy his action.

Drawing some mana from Sol’s cores, he allowed it to accumulate in her shoulders, forming a bridge between everyone’s souls. Just like that, he felt two more people connect with him.

[Congratulations! You have mastered a new spell: Soul-to-soul – Crude!]

Next, he took a few minutes to bring everyone up to speed on Svarog’s tale. He explained what the Rings of Sacrilege were, before moving on to the information that Zoris had shared.

It was a bit funny actually, watching their expressions jump from curiosity to surprise and elation… even horror at times. By the end, the poor Melodians were staring at the ring with a blend of caution and respect. Not that he blamed them – since the object contained the remnant will of an ancient god. One that had very likely predated their entire civilization, and even saved their ancestors once.

Of course, Percy’s ‘lecture’ hadn’t gone without its hiccups either. At one point, they’d been interrupted by a small herd of beasts, forcing them to take a few minutes to eliminate the pests. After that, Latt had even let slip of Metatron’s name, much to Percy’s dismay. Unlike Percy and – to a lesser extent – Sol, the other Melodians didn’t have much experience keeping their thoughts and emotions from spilling through the bond, so it was no wonder the Yellow-born had failed to keep the information to himself.

Alas, the damage was small. It turned out, Zoris didn’t even know about Metatron or the Vault. Apparently, the artificial world hadn’t been created yet during his time. And it wasn’t like the fallen god had the means – or even the intention – of reaching out to the callous titan. His best bet was probably to remain on Melodia, hiding in a corner of the universe void of divine politics – just like he had done until now.

‘Girl, I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s up with your trait? I recognize everyone else’s, but not yours. Did you absorb some new kind of fiend?’

‘I got it from Percy.’ Sol said, having mostly remained quiet up to that point. ‘I was trying to absorb a fiend when he entered my body. It doesn’t do much, other than letting me call him back to Melodia… Sometimes. Although, I guess that’s plenty, everything considered.’

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

‘How curious…’

The god fell silent, seemingly pondering over her words, but that didn’t last long.

‘Lord Zoris…’

The former god sent a mental shrug back.

‘It’s not that complicated a story. I’m still not entirely sure why that asshole did this to me, to be honest. I was Svarog’s rival, and we did fight several times over various resources in the past, but that’s just part of being a god. It was never personal. The worst thing I ever did to him was when I won a rather precious treasure the two of us were competing for… But that’s still no reason to hunt me down like an animal and do this to me. I guess he snapped when his family got murdered, causing him to go on a rampage against anybody who’d ever looked at him funny.’

He chuckled, but it was hollow. Even now, it seemed that Zoris had trouble accepting the stupidity of it all.

‘Anyway, I was “lucky” that he got besieged by a bunch of angry gods. Well, they were more greedy than angry, I suppose. Falling into their hands wouldn’t have been much better for me. Fortunately, I was able to slip away amidst the chaos, drifting through space for countless years. Eventually, I felt the Mirror Lake’s calling. That’s actually the funniest part of the story. I’ve searched for this place my whole life, only to fail like countless others before me… To think I’d only find it after being reduced to this…’

Percy’s heart clenched as he felt the undisguised bitterness in the god’s soul. That said, he wouldn’t mind getting Nesha to examine the truthfulness of his words if he got the chance. It was entirely possible the man was lying to their faces to elicit their sympathy, or to conceal something important. At least, he didn’t feel confident in seeing through the acting skills of such an ancient being.

‘For all I know, this might be the one who butchered Svarog’s mortal family, only to turn around and play the victim now that he got punished…’

In any case, the others seemed more willing to take him on his word.

‘Whatever circumstances brought you to us, I must thank you on behalf of my people.’ Doh said, bowing politely. ‘Regardless of your motivations, the fact that you taught us how to absorb the spectral fiends is the only reason we are alive today.’

‘Save your gratitude, kid.’ Zoris said. ‘I never much cared about your people. I wouldn’t have even risked showing myself to your ancestors if I hadn’t been confident I could escape from them. I only shared the technique with them because I wanted them to cut the fiends’ numbers down. Their population is increasing too fast, and it’ll be a problem for me sooner or later. Sadly, it was only ever meant to be a temporary solution. At first, your people did absorb many of the fiends around the planet, improving the situation… But you eventually attracted even more of them by injuring your souls and inviting them in. You’ve only bought me a millennium or two at best. Today, I was planning to ask you to start actively destroying the fiends for me, but I didn’t expect to stumble upon a monster faster than a Green-born…’

And there it was. The confirmation of Percy’s earlier guess. Openly collaborating with the Melodians would have potentially allowed them to cleanse the planet of both the beasts and the spectral fiends. But Zoris would have risked getting captured by them, only to be treated as a precious heirloom to be passed down among their Green-borns and Yellow-borns forever.

‘So, what’s your goal anyway?’ he asked, still unsure about the former god’s intentions. ‘Do you just want to survive for as long as possible by yourself until the fiends eat you? Doesn’t sound like much of a life.’

This time, Zoris’s soul flared up with genuine irritation though.

‘As if! What kind of loser would settle for such a pathetic existence? I’ll have you know, one doesn’t become a god by giving up at the first setback! I’ve never stopped looking for a way to restore myself to my former glory!’

‘You mean… it’s possible to reverse Svarog’s Decree?!’

‘Who knows?! Nobody thought a Decree like that could exist, until that bastard went ahead and proved everyone wrong! This is what it means to push the frontier of magic farther – to fight against what is possible! That is the hallmark of a true titan – not those pathetic copycats who merely create new variants of the same old, same old!’ he replied, his voice oozing with fanatical passion.

Now that, Percy could relate to. At the end of the day, wasn’t he the same? Everyone told him it was impossible for him to attain divinity, yet he’d sooner die than accept that grim forecast.

But Zoris wasn’t done.

‘Anyway, I couldn’t exactly reveal myself to another god to ask for help, so I figured studying the Mirror Lake was as good a bet as any. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since I landed here. Sadly, my research has yet to yield any results. It doesn’t help that I can’t even manipulate mana properly… Ah, what I’d give to have even a shitty, mortal, mana core again… No offense.’

Percy frowned.

‘I definitely sympathise with the not giving up part, but have you considered trying something different? You don’t even have that much time left, by your own admission.’

‘What other option do I have?’ the god scoffed. ‘These people can’t even advance to Blue. Hell, none of them even has a life affinity. What are the odds of them helping a god rebuild his body? As for the fiends… Well, I’m not looking forward to this place getting overrun, but I suppose I’d just leave if things started looking dangerous, searching for another place to continue my research.’

Hearing Zoris’s words, Percy briefly considered offering to help him. But even if Zoris hadn’t been a complete stranger, he didn’t know if he could turn him into a familiar. The god wasn’t just a disembodied soul – he was a Ring of Sacrilege, the product of a Decree. Could he even break him free of that state?

‘It might be something to consider in the future.’

This wouldn’t just be an act of kindness. Turning a former god into a familiar might bring him all sorts of benefits, so he wouldn’t rule it out completely. But he’d rather get the blessing first, and verify that Zoris was trustworthy before even floating the idea.

For now, everyone’s motivations were about as clear as they could be – at least until he brought the ring to Nesha. Percy knew he couldn’t stay on Melodia much longer, so it was time to decide who would keep the ring, and under what terms…