The Lone Wanderer

‘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.