The Lone Wanderer

Chapter 668 – Kerfyl’s Decree

‘Kerfyl’s Decree – Acquired by reading Kerfyl’s tome from cover to cover. Can be activated to establish a spectral contract between two willing parties. Infringing upon its terms will result in the destruction of one’s soul. This Decree can be discarded at will. Note 1: Kerfyl’s tome is stored in Maradion and is ninety-seven pages long. A translation device is provided to help with the acquisition process. Wait times for Decree acquisition may still vary, depending on demand. Note 2: The penalty for breaking the contract may be weakened up to severe, non-lethal injuries after mutual agreement from both parties. Note 3: The contract may be amended or voided entirely upon mutual agreement from both parties. Note 4: The terms of the contract are enforced by the combined strength of the contractees’ souls, and will even work on mages in the Concept realm.’

There were many things to like about this Decree. It wouldn’t be as immediately helpful to Percy as some of the other options, but he still expected to use it extensively during his travels due to the nature of his bloodline.

His clones often had to strike deals with strangers, and Percy currently had very few tools in his arsenal to ensure that his hosts didn’t stab him in the back. Granted, he typically proposed fair terms that a sensible person wouldn’t have many reasons to renege on, and Percy could also use his Parasitic Connection spell to force a misbehaving host into compliance, but his methods were flawed in more ways than he would have liked.

For one, Percy had no way to ensure that his hosts continued to abide by their agreements after he left their bodies. Whether or not they would keep his existence secret from their factions currently depended solely on their goodwill.

With Kerfyl’s Decree, he would never have to worry about any of that. He would be able to negotiate and setup a binding deal with his hosts before he even healed them. It was also one of the few active-type Decrees on the list that would be just as effective after he reached the Concept realm. The fact that it could be discarded without help from a titan was another welcome bonus.

If there was one thing that Percy didn’t like about it, it was that it could be acquired in Maradion. While it would save him the hassle of travelling to a distant planet, it would also rob him of the opportunity to mark another of the Void Hand’s worlds. Alas, one couldn’t have everything, and Percy felt that the positives of this Decree greatly outweighed its negatives.

‘I like it,’ Micky agreed. ‘It feels a little weak compared to the ability to charge up a Tenth Circle spell or create an army of Seventh Circle soldiers, but it’s the sort of thing that we won’t be able to easily replicate by simply growing stronger.’

Not everyone in the small group was happy with this decision, however.

‘Are you kidding me? I can see why you’d want it, but this thing will be entirely useless for me in the Vault,’ Kassorith protested.

‘Did you have something better in mind?’ Percy asked with a mental shrug.

The Thess’kalan appeared to consider it for a few seconds. ‘How about we forget about active- and mental-type Decrees for now and pick two more free-types? If they help us win the next fight, it’ll not only put the Void Decree back on the table, but we’ll earn even more rewards to spend on whatever you want.’

Percy couldn’t help but scoff. ‘That’s quite convenient for you, isn’t it? The most useful combat Decrees are Jolthoria’s or Efenat’s – which you’ll get to keep even if we lose the fight. But if that happens, me and Micky will get squat.’

Kassorith mentally shook his head. ‘It doesn’t have to be like that. One of the options can be Emah-Nuub’s Decree – which the two of you will probably get to keep – and a couple of mindsets can help a lot in the fight. If you’re willing to reconsider using Circulation, we’ll win the battle for sure, and we’ll all earn way more than we lost. Metatron won’t have any complaints about that.’

Percy fell silent for a while. His host had raised a couple of good points. With his boosting art and two more Decrees, they would have a very good chance of beating not just the two-cored Maradorian, but even the remaining opponents. That would earn them four more prizes, allowing them to pick everything they wanted and more.

However, that would come at the cost of strengthening both the Void Hand and the Vault of Magic way more than he had intended. What if they still lost despite revealing all their cards? Even if they won, the Void Decree might end up not working properly on him.

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Percy wasn’t one to shy away from a gamble, but that also depended on whether he was willing to pay the price, and whether the gains justified the costs. Sometimes, it was wiser to cut one’s losses and live to fight another day.

Besides, with Kerfyl’s Decree at his disposal, he would have a much easier time finding another host to participate in the void tournament with. His main issue at the moment was that possessing any of the alliance’s mortals would expose the Moirais’ Decree, yet that was nothing that a well-drafted soul contract couldn’t fix.

‘I think we’re sticking with this,’ he reiterated, moving to claim the prize from the terminal.

Kassorith wasn’t having it. Trying to wrench control of his body from Percy, he caused his hand to freeze in the air right as his finger was about to tap the button.

‘Not happening! I’m not wasting my prize on something useless!’ the Thess’kalan insisted.

‘Your prize?’ Percy snapped back, feeling the urge to laugh. ‘Let me remind you that our collaboration was never meant to be a democratic one. We’ve already tried that on Thess’kala, and you ruined it by stabbing me in the back. Twice, even. Insuring myself against assholes like you is precisely why I want Kerfyl’s Decree.’

There hadn’t been much friction between him and Kassorith up until this point, largely because they had always managed to find common ground during their stay on Marador Prime. However, Percy didn’t consider himself obligated to tend to Kassorith’s wishes.

The opportunistic bastard had yet to even face any negative consequences for the stunt he’d tried to pull the last time around. As far as Percy was concerned, Kassorith should be thanking his lucky stars that he got to enter yet another tournament that he wasn’t qualified for, earning one mouth-watering reward after another.

Stirring up the fiends slumbering inside his soul, Percy fashioned his wisp into a series of claws, using them to tighten his grip on his host’s body. Forcefully possessing Kassorith had been harder on the scaled man’s home world, but Percy had grown much more skilled with his Spectral Art after accumulating another decade of experience. The fact that he currently had access to a far stronger domain certainly didn’t hurt.

Seizing control of the Thess’kalan’s hand, he finalized his selection, putting the debate to rest. He could tell that Kassorith wasn’t happy about that in the slightest, but there was nothing he could do.

The scaled man knew that falling out with Percy wouldn’t end well for him. Sure, Percy would also have to worry about souring his relationship with Metatron, but he had several ways to appease the titan. He could try convincing the pentapus that Kassorith had turned against him first, or he could simply compensate him with something more valuable than a two-cored Blue.

Meanwhile, Kassorith would die here and now.

The Thess’kalan’s face was still locked into a grimace half an hour later, when Nawko arrived to escort him to his prize. The female Maradorian naturally asked him about it, forcing Kassorith to pretend that he was just unhappy about his next opponent.

Oblivious to the real reason behind the participant’s sour mood, Nawko shared a few words of encouragement before leading him to a building full of short-range teleportation platforms.

Percy soon found himself in a different building. Thanks to the watery abyss that remained visible through the transparent floor, he knew that he was still in Maradion. However, the new building was covered in potent enchantments that were clearly designed to prevent mortals from leaving.

‘I guess this is a part of the city where they don’t want the tournament’s participants to roam freely,’ Micky said.

‘Probably,’ Percy agreed.

Nawko led them up through several flights of stairs, bringing them to the top-most floor of a ten-story library.

“Tap your badge against the gate to enter. I don’t know how fast of a reader you are, but going through the tome should still take you a few hours, so I’ll check up on you tonight,” the female attendant said. “Will you be claiming another Decree before your next fight?”

“I will,” Percy replied using his host’s voice. “I haven’t decided which one yet, but it’s going to be one of the mental-type Decrees.”

Nawko nodded. “Then, make sure not to waste too much time reading the book. If I’m not mistaken, all of the available mental-type Decrees have to be acquired on other planets, and you don’t have that many days before the match.”

With that, the Maradorian left Kassorith alone.

Percy followed the attendant’s instructions, entering a small, cozy room. It contained nothing but a simple – yet well-maintained – wooden desk, a chair that Kassorith would have trouble sitting on due to his physiology, a single book that Percy assumed was the promised tome, and an enchanted piece of metal that reminded him slightly of the Vault’s translation devices.

Slithering up to the table, Percy picked both objects up. Sticking the machine to the side of his host’s head, he opened the book to the first page and commenced the arduous process of reading through what appeared to be the titan’s autobiography.

Through his connection to Kassorith, he noticed that the Thess’kalan had temporarily placed the previous unpleasantness behind him, and was also focusing intently on the text. Kerfyl’s Decree wasn’t one that the scaled man had wanted, but there was no reason for him not to acquire it now that things had reached this point.

Since neither of them knew whether they would both have to read the book for that to happen, Kassorith clearly didn’t intend to leave it up to chance.