Chapter 87: Advancement
Percy tried – and failed – to get some more sleep following his clone’s return. His insomnia was largely a symptom of his stress. He couldn’t help but glance around the room every few seconds, fully expecting to see Metatron standing there, smirking at him.
Only when the sun rose did Percy finally shake off his rampant paranoia. Of course, logic had told him hours ago he’d most likely be alright, but it wasn’t until the warm rays snuck past the curtains, gently caressing his face, that he managed to put his worry to rest.
Though, the new Decree hadn’t been the only thing keeping him awake. There was more – some of it even being good news! While he’d been exhausted after another day of brewing, he was always a little reinvigorated whenever a clone returned. The missing soul fragments tended to fill him with energy as they settled in their rightful place.
And to top it all off, today was special in more ways than one.
‘It’s finally happening!’ Percy struggled to contain his bubbling enthusiasm.
Through an amusing stroke of luck, the end of his trip had coincided with another important development. The first strands of Orange had appeared in Percy’s second core the day before!
Estimating that around 12 hours had passed since the last dose, he sat cross-legged on the bed, before stretching his arm to grab a gemstone vial from the nightstand.
POP… PTUI
Naturally, Percy didn’t miss a beat, uncorking it and spitting out the lid with a single motion, gulping its contents down before the cork even landed on the floor. And as soon as the elixir settled in his stomach, he drew some mana from his abdomen, swirling the two substances together with practiced ease. Only when the deattuned beast mana finished bonding to his own did he begin circulating them back and forth to his second core.