‘Four mutations?!’ Percy gasped.

  This was the most Micky had ever had, and three had been caused by his second affinity! Nephthys now possessed just as many – and this was before she even got her new core repaired!

  Calming his racing hearts down, Percy studied the entries more carefully. He wasn’t very surprised to see Soul Predator among them – it appeared that all of his familiars would be born with it by default.

  Royal Lineage wasn’t unexpected either, but he hadn’t realized that it would manifest as a mutation. Its description was somewhat vague though. The “additional abilities” it spoke of probably referred to the production of royal jelly, the authority that Nephthys should be able to exert over the other Starry Wasps, and her ability to make more Starry Breeders and Princesses.

  As for the last two mutations… Shocked as he was, Percy wouldn’t say that they’d emerged entirely out of the blue. He’d long hypothesized that a familiar fashioned out of a divine soul would exhibit some unusual qualities. Even so, he hadn’t dared to imagine what exactly that would look like. Focusing on the first one, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

  ‘Endless inspiration?’

  Divine Spark’s description sounded an awful lot like what the Wiseman’s Murmurs did. Percy had felt guilty over wasting Nephthys’s entire stash. Even if some of the exotic resource had survived his fight with Deimos, it had most likely spilled out of the broken pyramid later, leaving the goddess with nothing to fall back to as she began her new life.

  Evidently, that wasn’t as big of a problem as he’d expected.

  ‘I suppose it makes sense. Wiseman’s Dust and its variations are just impurities that a demigod expels from their body during their ascension. It only stands to reason that whatever’s left should be of an even higher quality…’

  If he was right, Nephthys’s new mutation should be far more potent than the Murmurs, and hopefully last forever. For a mortal like him, having access to such a powerful effect his whole life would be a dream come true.

  Then again, it was still poor consolation to a goddess who had just lost everything. Once a lofty existence who had ascended to the Concept realm and lived for countless millennia, she had been forced to flee her home after failing to protect the vast majority of her people. She’d even given up her power and body to start over from near the bottom of the Colour realm, reborn as an Orange creature too short to reach Percy’s knees.

  He sighed.

  At least this was better than falling prey to the demonic infestation and drowning inside the black ocean on her home world. Besides, between the mutation, the beast affinity, and the Queen’s help, she’d recover her previous strength at record pace.

  Moving to the last entry on the list, Percy read the details of the Spectral Ark mutation that presumably housed the slumbering souls of the Amenthei. He had no idea what conditions the reincarnated goddess would need to meet in order to grant her subjects lives of their own, but their situation had seemingly stabilized.

  Thinking about the information some more, he wondered about something else. ‘It says that it can carry and preserve the souls of “others”. Does that apply to anyone besides those already inside?’

  That could prove useful one day. If it worked, Percy might obtain the means to house the souls of other potential familiars, allowing him to take his sweet time finding the right body for them. While he had barely succeeded this time, he was fully aware of how close Nephthys had come to dying.

  Had he been a few days – or even hours – late, or had the Queen failed to produce a salvageable royal egg in the nick of time, things could have gone down very differently. Percy would rather not be in a rush when dealing with such delicate matters.

  Leaving the mutations aside, there was more in Nephthys’s Status that he was curious about, but he should probably make sure that she was okay before considering anything else. Besides, he’d have to talk to her about some of it.

  ‘Nephthys? Are you in there?’ he asked through the connection.

  The response came a few seconds later in the form of a soft, feminine voice. It sounded lucid enough, if somewhat sluggish. ‘Percy…? Amut ha… kathar mahad?’

  ‘Right… the language barrier.’ He frowned.

  Evidently, the part of him residing inside Nephthys’s soul was too dormant to contribute any of his instinctual understanding of Remior’s language. Fortunately, he had several methods to deal with that.

  In theory, the ethereal cords should allow him to convey meaning directly – this was how he and Micky used to communicate before the crow reached Yellow and began learning the language. However, Nephthys clearly defaulted to her native tongue. Moving to wordless communication or a different language would take some getting used to.

  Another solution would be to double down on their connection by shoving a clone in her body or using his Soul-to-soul spell. Both approaches would involve him messing with her soul that had only barely stabilized, so he’d rather avoid them for the time being.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Left with no better choice, he went with the simplest and least intrusive solution. Taking his translation device out of his spatial seal, he pressed it to the side of his head, hooking it above and around his ear before speaking again. ‘Sorry, can you repeat that?’

  ‘I said… “Percy? Is that you?”’ the same voice replied, her words making sense this time.

  He smiled. ‘Sort of. I’ll explain later. How are you feeling?’

  The former goddess appeared to ponder over his question for a few moments. ‘Weak. I suppose that’s only to be expected. This body is so different from my old one…’

  Crawling around the mana-lit cavern, the Starry Princess stretched her limbs, clicked her mandibles and repeatedly unfolded and folded her wings, clearly trying to adjust to the changes.

  ‘It’s gone…!’ she muttered, a wave of relief spilling through their connection. ‘The Slumber… I feel truly sober for the first time in ages!’

  Percy nodded. This wasn’t surprising. The infestation should have stopped affecting Nephthys the moment they left her planet, though her mutilated soul had been too weak for her to enjoy her newfound freedom sooner. The Insomnia trait that she’d just acquired, coupled with her healthy new body had only sealed the deal.

  Happy as he was for her, Percy’s smile grew a little colder. ‘Your people… I’m not sur–’

  ‘I can feel them,’ Nephthys said, cutting him off. ‘I don’t know how to wake them up yet, but they are better off than they’ve been in a very long time. At least there’s hope now.’

  Percy turned back to the Queen who had observed them patiently the whole time.

  ‘Your Majesty… it appears that we have succeeded,’ he said through the other connection – the one that Micky had kept open with her.

  ‘So it would seem,’ she replied. ‘I’d like to speak to my new daughter in private later, but I’ll let you bring her up to speed first.’

  Percy bowed his head in gratitude, gesturing at the Starry Princess to follow him to the nearest wall of the cavern. Plopping down, he leaned back on a flat-ish chunk of a deep blue mineral, allowing himself to truly relax for the first time in a while. There was a lot that he and Nephthys had to go over, and even more for them to do in the foreseeable future, but the worst was hopefully behind them.

  Nephthys climbed atop a rocky protrusion next to him, her thin limbs making crisp sounds as they tapped against the uneven floor of the hive, until her compound eyes reached about as high as his shoulders.

  Over the next few minutes, Percy went over the most important matters, explaining what he understood about the goddess’s new body and its importance to Remior. Even if she had no intention of producing lots of Starry Breeders or ruling the hive, it would help their world massively if she was willing to give birth to at least a Starry Princess at some point.

  ‘I’ve no problem with that,’ Nephthys replied with a mental shrug. ‘You said that Starry Queens reproduce asexually? That’ll only make this less weird.’

  Percy nodded. ‘Are you sure about it? I won’t force you to do anything. It’s not your fault that we ended up in this mess.’

  The Starry Princess shook her head. ‘Percy, you were kind enough to invite me and my subjects here. We Amenthei are proud people – we refuse to live as parasites that only take and never give back. If Remior is to become our new home, then the least we can do is help at a critical time like this, when the survival of the whole planet is on the line.’

  ‘Alright. If you’re onboard, it’ll simplify everything,’ Percy replied, failing to suppress a smile. ‘We’ll have to talk to the Queen later about your role in the hive. I still don’t fully understand how everything works.’

  Percy hoped to accomplish a lot more than merely saving the Starry Wasps from extinction. As vile as Machaon’s crime was, it might have granted them a unique opportunity to revolutionize their world.

  If they properly leveraged all the tools at their disposal – the Moirais’ Decree and his boosting art included – it might be possible to optimize the hive’s internal operations, improving the wasps’ efficiency and output so that they could produce enough nectar for everyone on the planet.

  Obviously, that alone wouldn’t be enough to change the status quo. He doubted that the alchemists were equipped to handle the increased volume of nectar, so he would have to work with the Guild to change that too.

  Setting everything up would take time and effort from everyone – humans, Starry Wasps and the Amenthei goddess included – but Percy believed that they already possessed everything necessary to make this work.

  In any case, that was a project for later.

  ‘I think that it’s safer to wait until after you reach Yellow to repair your second core,’ he said, moving to a different topic.

  The Moirais’ Decree was the only one Nephthys had inherited. Due to Percy’s mind being dormant inside the familiar, she didn’t have access to Metatron’s or Phoebe’s, and even her second core required both life and mind mana again. The former was easy to accumulate thanks to the mushrooms, but gathering enough of the latter was bound to be trickier.

  While there were many ways to obtain mind mana, it would be simpler not to. Percy guessed that they could skip the requirement entirely if he temporarily placed another clone in Nephthys’s body. However, doing that would risk destabilizing her soul.

  ‘It shouldn’t be an issue after your evolution, though it means that you won’t manifest the new mutations until Green,’ he explained.

  Either way, the goddess’s first few advancements shouldn’t take that long. Micky had reached his first promotion after about a year of munching on Red goblins. Given how rich the environment here was, Nephthys should be done in a few months at the latest – especially if her mother managed to spare some royal jelly to feed her.

  The affinity-changing treasure in Percy’s seal would easily last for nearly three more years, giving him ample time to use it on the familiar and still get it delivered to Nesha and Elaine later. As for Nephthys’s second promotion, it should be done after another couple of years.

  The Starry Princess sent him something akin to a mental shrug back. ‘Do whatever you think is best. You understand your bloodline and abilities better than me.’

  With that settled, there was only one major item left on the agenda. Percy wanted to hear her opinion on his fusion with Micky. Not only did she have a direct stake in the matter – since the fate of Percy’s previous familiar could potentially become her own one day – he was also curious whether she could help him fix himself.

  After all, Nephthys was not only a former goddess, but also one that used to possess the mind affinity. If they got lucky, she might regain it later. Even if she didn’t, she might be able to offer some valuable insight on the matter.

  ‘The Lone Wanderer… what a peculiar name,’ Nephthys said after listening to his explanation.

  ‘What do you think? Is it possible to split us up again?’ Percy asked, some cautious optimism spilling into his voice.

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