The Lone Wanderer

“I look like a bandit…” Percy groaned, glancing down at his mismatched outfit.

“You stink like one too.” Nesha said, pinching her nose as she inched further away from him.

“Hey, remind me again… Who was it that took all my spare clothes?” Percy asked in a faux-offended tone.

But the girl just shrugged unapologetically.

“Woohoo, I’m dressed as a commoner.” she said flatly. “What an upgrade.”

Percy shook his head, not seeing any point in continuing the argument. Though he did pick up the pace, eager to find some water to wash up. If his memory served him, they should be reaching River Glein in the next few hours. They could look for a good spot to camp there.

‘Found anything edible?’ he asked his familiar.

‘Rat…’ the crow replied.

The young man frowned at the prospect of eating rodent meat for the second day in a row. Sadly, there was only so much space in his amulet, so they had to ration their supplies for a rainy day. Still…

The duo walked in silence until nightfall, only stopping once the body of water came into view. Next, they spent a while longer travelling along the river, looking for a decent camping spot. It wasn’t easy as their surroundings were still mostly flatlands, but they did eventually stumble upon a semi-concealed place between a few large boulders. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do.

After drinking his fill, Percy scrubbed his clothes a few times until he was somewhat satisfied. Of course, he knew no amount of washing would ever completely rid him of the stench, but he hoped it wouldn’t be quite as nauseating over the remainder of their journey.

Once he was done, he set his alchemy tools up. Unfortunately, he had yet to condense tomorrow’s crystals and brew the corresponding elixirs. It was annoying he had to spend five hours every night doing this, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d only waste his previous efforts if he started skipping days.

‘I suppose I’ll be able to cut the time down some more if I keep practicing…’

After confirming with Micky that the coast was clear, Percy activated Synchronization. Next, he formed a blob of cyan between his palms before beginning the first of his daily chores. Surprisingly, Nesha didn’t slack off either while he worked. She lit a campfire, taking it upon herself to cook their dinner. Apparently, the crow had found a snake too, so their meal was quickly turning into a veritable buffet.

As soon as Percy was done, he drank his third set of Aurora Dew for the day, using his Whirlpool technique to cleanse both cores. Having mastered it some time ago, he could get the full benefit from the elixirs now. Micky and Nesha joined him too, consuming a dose each. Only after they were done did the humans finally pick their kebabs up, taking a bite. As for the crow… Well… He preferred his food raw.

“It tastes nice!” Percy exclaimed.

The girl didn’t reply, though he didn’t miss her lips curving slightly at the compliment. Evidently, she wasn’t that bad a cook. Still, knowing where the food had come from did dull his appetite somewhat, so he didn’t eat much in the end.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Nesha suddenly asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Home.” Percy replied. Then, he scratched his head. “Well, kinda…” he added vaguely.

By now, the group had almost entered the Camelot province, where his family was based. However, the young man wasn’t planning to return to the Avalon House’s mansion directly. While his home was probably the safest place to brew elixirs and send out his clones, he knew getting there wouldn’t be easy. After all, House Tantalus’s goons constantly patrolled the borders, looking for opportunities to hurt his family. Ｒ𝐀

That said, Percy still wanted to be close to his House, so that he could reach them more easily when the lotus bloomed. As a result, he figured it was best to settle somewhere within the province. And he’d picked the exact spot too.

“We’re going to Bogside town.”

Nesha raised an eyebrow, prompting him to explain.

“Returning to my family is currently not an option, so staying in a small town nearby is the next best place for the time being. We’ll just have to keep our heads low for a while.”

“Why that one specifically though? I’m sure the Camelot province has multiple.”

Percy nodded. Indeed, the western side had three of them, but Bogside town wasn’t among them. Instead, it was on the eastern side, being one of the two under their enemies’ control!

“The members of House Tantalus are currently roaming my family’s territories like sharks, eager to take a bite. But I doubt they’d look twice at a couple of commoners passing through their own side of the province. We’ll enter from the north and make our way to the town. We’ll hide there, right under their noses, looking for an opportunity to reach my House in the next two years.”

Nesha creased her brow at the explanation. She didn’t seem convinced.

“If the only issue is the blockade, there are other ways around it. We could circle the province and enter your family’s side from a different spot.”

“Indeed, we could.” Percy said, before grinning. “But I have another goal in Bogside town.”

“Which is?”

“Remember how I said we only have enough elixirs to last as two years?”

“Yes?” the girl tilted her head in confusion, apparently unsure what this had to do with anything.

“Well, we can’t return to the Guild anytime soon, so there’s only one other place where we could possibly restock on elixirs.”

Nesha’s eyes widened as she realized what he intended to do. Indeed, after the Alchemists’ Guild, the next best place to find a large amount of elixirs was a noble House’s warehouse!

After all, a family of that size had over 500 members, of which around 200 would receive elixirs regularly. Assuming they had enough in stock to last them a couple of years – which was the norm for his family at least – it meant their combined stash would last Percy and Nesha for over a decade!

And if he was going to raid a noble House’s storage, what better target than his family’s enemies – the very ones who murdered his parents?

“Have you lost your mind? How are we going to accomplish something like that?”

Percy shrugged.

“Well, I admit that’s the part I haven’t figured out yet…” he said with a sheepish grin plastered all over his face. “Still, we have two years to find a way!”

“You’re nuts…” the girl shook her head but didn’t say anything else.

There was actually one more reason why Percy had picked that particular town over the other. Now that Micky had advanced, they needed a good place for him to stay – a place where he’d have access to all the higher-grade food he now needed. And as it so happened, Bogside town was located right next to a dangerous swamp filled with Orange and Yellow beasts – the Grisly Bog.

Putting out the fire, Percy cleaned the camp up a little before finding a decent spot to sleep. Then, he reached out to his companions.

“Nesha. Micky. Can you two do me a favour and split tonight’s shifts between yourselves? I’ll make it up to you later.”

The two groaned at the prospect of staying up longer, but ultimately agreed. Naturally, Percy had a reason for voicing this request – and it wasn’t because of laziness. He needed to get a good rest, as he had something important to do the following day.

Their target was still a week away, but that wasn’t the only place Percy would be visiting in the near future. While it hadn’t been that long since his latest wasp clone got destroyed, the colossal amount of soul mana his familiar had harvested from the Starry Knight had been more than enough to fully heal his soul.

Now that his ventures inside the hive had been placed on hold, it was finally time for the young man to resume sending clones out of Remior.

“Let’s hope it’s a lucky one.”