The Lone Wanderer-Chapter 206: Food

“I’m hungry.” Micky complained for the billionth time.

“Alright. I suppose we could all use a break.” Percy sighed.

At least, they’d already crossed the river a while ago, so the place didn’t stink of rot anymore, ruining their appetite. Walking over to the nearest tree with Nesha by his side, they sat on an exposed root. Next, he opened his spatial amulet, tossing a chunk of meat to his familiar. A poor replacement for a mana core – even a Red one – but they weren’t in any condition to hunt for live prey. Nor had they seen any in a while. Finally, he grabbed a loaf of bread, splitting it with Nesha.

“Gods, I miss Freddy’s Honey Rolls so damn much!” he groaned, nearly breaking a tooth on his stale meal. “If I could go back in time, I swear I’d kidnap him.”

“I think your buddy really dodged an arrow there.” Nesha chuckled. “I doubt he’d enjoy hiding from the Divine Root alongside us.”

Turning to Micky – who had already finished his own food – however, her smile faded.

“Say, what are we going to do about him? Our supplies will run out in a few days.”

Percy nodded. This was something he’d been thinking about for a while. He and Nesha would be fine, as they’d reach his family’s place by then. But Micky was a different story. There was a reason why beasts above Red were aggressive, dangerous and rare. Naturally, it was all caused by their insatiable appetite, as their bodies demanded a ridiculous amount of food and mana to survive.

This was obviously why they had left for the Fungal Spire in the first place – in addition to his own need for elixirs, of course. And the problem was even worse now, as the crow had evolved again, making the Whistling Woods an even poorer habitat for him.

“I suppose there’s only one solution.” he said. “Micky! Come over here!”

The bird acquiesced, waddling over clumsily. His injuries had improved a little since they left the Grisly Bog, though not as much as they would have if he had more food. Flying wasn’t impossible for him, though he still preferred walking for now.

In any case, the crow didn’t seem to care about his wounds much, reaching him and Nesha promptly, some excitement glinting in his silver eyes. Seeing him like that, a pang of pity gripped Percy’s chest. The poor thing probably thought he was going to get more food.

‘Well, he’s not entirely wrong.’

Though it wouldn’t be real food. Just a substitute, to quell his hunger. Hopefully.

“What is it?” the familiar asked.

“I’ll show you one of my spells. I’ll need you to start working on it as soon as possible. I think it’ll help with your hunger.” Percy explained.

Hearing that, Micky’s head drooped in disappointment. Though, to his credit, he didn’t complain. Clearly, he also wanted to do something about this.

Naturally, Percy was thinking of his Soul Conversion – or, well, a version of that suitable for Micky’s affinities. This hadn’t been an option for them back when they left for the Guild, for multiple reasons. Most importantly, the crow had lacked the cognitive ability to understand the process back then. Not to mention that they hadn’t even repaired his second core yet. And Percy hadn’t been able to spare any of his own soul mana for his familiar, as he’d also had his own injuries sapping at his reserves.

It wasn’t until recently that Percy even considered this approach, the books he had read in the Vault opening new doors for him. Though it hadn’t been a priority while Micky could still hunt in the Grisly Bog. They’d had other, more pressing concerns to worry about at the time.

“Will he be able to do this in the next few days though? Didn’t you spend months on it?” Nesha pointed out.

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But Percy shook his head.

“It took me several months to upgrade it to Refined. It would be nice if he can get there, but even a Crude variant would improve his situation. If he could convert 15~20% of his air mana, it would do wonders for his body’s needs.”

He was confident in that assessment, though there was something he’d left unsaid. It wouldn’t be easy, nor particularly pleasant for the bird. Due to the grade disparity between his two cores, as well as the low conversion rate at the start, Micky would have to spend several hours per day to sustain himself.

‘Then again, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The more practice he gets, the faster his efficiency will improve.’

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Over the next couple of hours, Percy demonstrated his Refined spell a few times, having Micky observe the mana flow between his cores. Additionally, he went a step further, sending his familiar a few images and thoughts through the cord, to better explain everything.

It wasn’t until they were back on the move that Micky started practicing the conversion himself, Percy paying him close attention. Initially, it didn’t go well. The crow was careful not to send too much of his mana to his beast core at once – as Percy had instructed – though the conversion lacked direction. Without Micky properly guiding the process, his core simply devoured the mana automatically, wasting nearly all of it.

‘I really hope he gets better at it soon…’ Percy thought.

***

The trio continued on their arduous journey for two more days, until they were well within the Whistling Woods. By now, they could hear the nostalgic tunes of the cones rattling in the wind, and Percy even started recognizing some of the scenery. They’d already reached their old haunts!

“So, we’re almost there I’m guessing?” Nesha asked after Percy pointed out the spot where Micky had advanced to Orange all those years ago.

“Yeah… We can reach my place in a few hours if we want. Though, I’d rather get Micky’s situation sorted first.”

Nesha nodded, letting him focus on his familiar. The crow had improved a lot over the past couple of days, his wounds having nearly closed. His conversion rate had also climbed steadily, and he even asked to be fed less frequently, which was a great sign that Percy’s plan had merit.

That said, the bird’s efficiency was still lower than they’d like. At this rate, Percy was afraid that Micky would struggle to survive off the scarce food here, even if he spent all day using his new spell. Of course, it was just a matter of time until Micky improved enough, but time was the one resource they were currently short of.

‘Hmmm… His lack of experience aside, the situation is the complete opposite of mine.’ Percy couldn’t help but notice.

In his case, his pure mana was a lot more malleable, almost as if it wanted to transform into something else. It was mostly his soul core’s ability to assimilate it that was lacking, making his job harder. For Micky, it was the other way around. His air mana felt a lot more rigid, as if it was too fixated in its own ways to bother changing into something else. Instead, it was Micky’s beast core that did all the heavy lifting, forcefully replacing the mana’s qualities with its own. Comparing the two of them, an idea suddenly flashed in Percy’s mind. If this worked, it might solve the problem.

‘Is this even possible?’

Percy couldn’t think of a reason why not. In any case, they had nothing to lose even if it failed. Calling Micky over, he explained what he had in mind, getting a nod back. Drawing some mana from both of his cores, Percy fused it, before pushing it through the cord.

As early as when they joined the Guild, he had learned that the ethereal cord only accepted soul mana. Still, while they’d never had much of a reason to try this, he was confident his teal mana in its incorporeal state would work just as well. It was functionally identical to soul mana, after all.

Sure enough, the fused mana soon flowed through the cord without much difficulty, reaching Micky.

“Try feeding that into your core.”

Micky did as he was told, under Percy’s supervision. Of course, neither of them expected this to work on the first try. The crow had never wielded this type of mana in his life, let alone having any experience using it to fuel his latest spell.

They couldn’t have been more wrong, however.

As if the two were made for one another, Micky’s beast core greedily absorbed the fused mana, converting it with even greater eagerness than ever before. On the other side, the mana itself was quite agreeable, happy to meld into its surroundings, to be restructured into a new type. Though it seemed to have a little more trouble doing so than Percy’s pure mana. Apparently, the portion made of soul mana held the substance back from its full potential.

‘Still, this is nearly double Micky’s previous efficiency…’ Percy grinned.

It would be a little annoying, as he’d have to keep fusing and sending his mana to Micky over the next few days, but it should buy the bird time to improve some more. It shouldn’t be long before he could sustain himself on his own.

“You look happy.” Nesha noticed. “Have you solved it?”

“We should be good for now.” Percy replied, before turning to Micky. “Just don’t slack on the spell. The sooner you stop relying on me, the better. And keep an eye out for people. This place is busier than the swamp.”

Only after he got a nod back from Micky did he and Nesha leave him behind – after dropping him a few doses of Aurora Dew to last him for a while of course. Next, they headed to his family’s mansion.

It was finally time to meet Elaine and Baldy again!