The Lone Wanderer

“Oh? What gave me away?” the pentapus replied, its entire demeanour shifting.

Not a trace of mana leaked out, but Percy couldn’t help but feel a chill roll down his spine. It was as if a giant beast was staring at him, contemplating whether to squish him like an ant with a brush of its finger. While he’d long had a hunch about Ronnie’s identity, getting it confirmed by the titan himself shook him to his core.

Still, he tried his best to maintain his outward calm, not willing to show the ancient god any weakness he could pounce on. After all, he wasn’t here with his main body. Metatron clearly didn’t have all the power here, and they both knew it. Percy guessed the god could probably destroy his clone’s soul if he wanted, but he seriously doubted he could do anything to his real body back on Remior. If he could, he would have done it already.

“Besides the name, you mean?” Percy asked. “There were a bunch of clues. For one, I was surprised you invited me to the Vault but didn’t bother keeping an eye on me once I arrived. Unless you did. I admit you did a great job blending in with those mortals, but it wasn’t perfect. I’ve recently met a pretty powerful Blue core who failed to contain his aura half as well as you.”

“Huh, I suppose it’s been a while since I last spent some time among mortals.” Metatron chuckled, narrowing his eyes playfully. “It appears their control is even shoddier than I remembered.”

Following that, Percy watched the fake Blue star dissipate into nothing inside the titan’s body. There wasn’t anything else visible in his frame either, making Percy wonder if gods even had cores like mortals and he just couldn’t perceive them, or whether they no longer needed them. But Percy pressed down his curiosity, continuing.

“The mortals were my next clue. I’ve seen plenty of different races walk around the Vault, and they all had one thing in common… There were multiple of each species.”

Unlike all the other mortals, Metatron was unique in that he was the only pentapus Percy had encountered since coming here. That had struck him as quite odd.

“Clever. Indeed, by the time the Vault expanded enough to sustain the lives of mortals, my home world had already been destroyed, my species having gone extinct eons ago. I’m the last one.” Metatron spoke in a sombre tone.

Though Percy was convinced the titan cared more about his inability to sire children for his sick experiments than the actual demise of his people.

“What do you want from me?” Percy decided to ask bluntly.

“What else?” Metatron shrugged. “I don’t know which remote corner of the universe you come from, but I’m sure you understand just how special your bloodline is by now.”

“So what? Do you want to steal it from me or something? I’m sure I can’t mate with any of the people here.”

Metatron chuckled.

“You’re a smart kid, Percy. Both for figuring my identity out, and for coming here with a clone. Had you brought your real body, I’d have been disappointed. You see, I prefer working with smart people. But no, I don’t have the ability to steal your bloodline. Nobody does, as far as I know.”

Percy nodded, all of this being in-line with what he knew. Of course, it was possible the titan was lying, but he doubted this was the case. After all, if it was that easy to steal somebody’s bloodline, the gods wouldn’t be relying on random mutations and countless generations of mortals to cultivate bloodlines to their liking. Not here, and not on Remior.

“Then what else is there?”

“While I admit I’m not above taking something by force when possible, there are many other ways to get what I want – and not all of them are bad for you. You see, I want to collaborate with you.”

This time it was Percy’s turn to laugh.

“Collaborate with me? A titan, working with a mortal? I wasn’t even born the last time you blinked, and I’ll be gone by the next one. How would this even go?”

Metatron shrugged.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“What does mortality or divinity have to do with this? You can do something I can’t. Something valuable – and I want that. Hell, you’d be more useful to me than half the gods in my service.” 𝐑

Percy fell in thought, contemplating the titan’s words. If Metatron was being honest, it could indeed be extremely beneficial for him. He could end up treated as a god, receiving all the benefits the rulers of the Vault had access to. And why not? Would it really cost Metatron too much to give him some knowledge and resources, in exchange for using his bloodline? There was definitely a way for both of them to profit.

“Can you help me ascend to godhood?” Percy asked, focusing on his most important goal.

Anybody else would have laughed at this question. Despite all his achievements, whether it was his growing strength, his second core or the Aurora Dew, he had barely taken a step towards this ultimate goal – the pinnacle of magic. Percy might be able to grow further than he would have as a normal Red-born, but he was still behind those like Archibald or Elaine, let alone the chosen ones recruited by the Divine Order. Could Metatron give him what he really wanted?

“Impossible.” the titan said, dashing his hopes. “Together, we can achieve many things. Unimaginable things. The Decree you’ve snatched from the Moirais is but one of them. With my guidance, we can get treasures you can barely even dream of…”

“But it won’t be enough.” Percy completed his sentence for him.

“No. It won’t be.” Metatron nodded. “If you were a Yellow-born, or hell, even an Orange-born, there might have been a chance. We could have used all sorts of tricks to stretch your lifespan and accelerate your advancement for you to barely reach the thresholds. But frankly, I doubt all the resources in the universe are enough to turn a Red-born into a god.”

Silence persisted for several minutes. Percy didn’t speak, and Metatron didn’t rush him either. For a second there, the young man even forgot he was standing face-to-face against a possibly hostile titan, seeking to exploit him. Only the god’s words rang in his head, as well as the grim realization they had delivered.

Ever since he discovered his bloodline, Percy had harboured hope of breaking through the suffocating shackles of his fate. And everything he had experienced since had watered and germinated that hope, helping it flourish. But something about Metatron’s verdict sounded final. This was a man who stood at the pinnacle of all existence! A researcher famous across the cosmos for his power and wisdom! And he believed that Percy didn’t stand a chance of achieving his dream!n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Why the long face, kid? Do you know how few people ever ascend to godhood? I didn’t say you cannot reach Violet, or even White. Those goals are far more realistic – with my help. You’ll be showered with resources for millennia, and you’ll live a long life of luxury and wealth. Is that not enough?”

“No. It’s not. I plan to find a way to reach godhood, with or without your help.” Percy said, lifting his head to look the titan in the eyes defiantly. “But that’s beside the point. I don’t blame you that I was born at Red. Still, how can I trust you?”

“Obviously, you can’t.” Metatron casually said. “Trust is something to be earned. I don’t expect you to decide right now. You aren’t close to the end of your lifespan, are you?” he asked, Percy shaking his head in return.

“Good. Then, from now on, I’ll demonstrate my good will towards you. You are allowed to visit the Vault with your clones whenever you want. I’ve registered you as a user, so you can even undertake the challenges and purchase resources. However, until you accept my offer and join the Vault with your main body, you will be treated as a mortal, and you’ll have to earn every single credit on your own.”

Percy’s eyes widened at the titan’s generosity. This was all he wanted! He could keep coming here without risking his life or his freedom, learning the Vault’s secrets a little at a time!

“How will the system even recognize me every time I come here with a new body?”

Metatron shrugged.

“Normally, it relies on various vital signs such as retina scans and fingerprint scans to identify you. Obviously, none of that is applicable in your case, so I have personally worked tirelessly over the past year to incorporate a new set of identification features into it. These ones rely on your soul. You’ll be able to sign into the cube with any body. Your user ID is ‘WANDERER’.”

Percy’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly quashed his rising enthusiasm, remembering who he was talking to.

“Why are you doing this? What’s in it for you?”

“I already told you. It’s a sign of good will. Besides, the rewards you can earn from the Vault as a mortal are peanuts compared to what the two of us can get by working together. The sooner you realize that, the sooner we can move on to the really interesting things.”

“That can’t be all.” Percy insisted. Perhaps pushing the titan was ill-advised, but he couldn’t shake the thought that Metatron was leaving something out.

“Hahaha! Smart indeed. That’s right – even with this lesser arrangement, I have plenty to gain.” the pentapus admitted. “You see. Before today, I didn’t even know beasts could receive the Moirais’ Decree. I wonder what affinity this creature will unlock?”

Percy’s eyes widened as he realized what had happened. In his rush to return to the Vault, he had delivered Metatron yet another valuable specimen! And he would continue to do so, every single time he visited.

‘Shit. What happens if I use Circulation inside the challenges? Or if I show him Crystallization?’

Metatron didn’t really need him to agree to his terms to milk his ability for everything it was worth. He merely had to wait for Percy to hand him all his trump cards of his own volition, one spell at a time.

If he wasn’t careful, he might inadvertently give Metatron the power to take over the entire universe…