The Decree – assuming that the natives’ strange ability truly was one – hadn’t appeared in Percy’s Status yet, but that was in line with his expectations. His host’s fire affinity wasn’t anything special either, nor did the boy seem to possess anything else of note.

Percy would consider fixing the child’s second core if the situation called for it. Having learned from his blunder on Melodia, he had cultivated a ton of green mushrooms inside the Valley, carrying enough for a single person.

That didn’t mean he was running a charity, however.

His seals had a limited capacity – especially in their thrice-divided state – and he couldn’t replenish the ingredients as easily without access to an endless army of Green and Yellow beasts. He was more than happy to help an orphaned Red-born like Enki, or somebody fighting for their life like Micky, Gabe or Sol, but he didn’t think his current host fell into either category. As a Green-born, he was unlikely to need more power, and even if he did, his people might be willing to get him the life mana.

‘For now, let’s just see what I’m dealing with…’

Feeling his surroundings, Percy quickly realized he was lying face-down, the ground covered in barbed plants. The traumatic memories of the demonic jungle flashed through his mind, causing him to inhale sharply.

Opening his eyes, he exhaled in relief upon seeing that the mundane flora didn’t resemble the insidious vines that had ravaged Torui village in the slightest. It was just regular-looking bushes – dry and full of tiny thorns. They prickled every inch of exposed skin, stabbing at his host’s palms, forearms, feet… and even his face.

‘Damn, these things look really sharp. Had the boy been human, his body would have been torn to shreds already.’

Luckily, Duwa’s skin was too hard for the thorns to pierce through. It appeared the hostile planet wasn’t done harassing them just yet, however. Pushing himself up, Percy felt the plants give way under him, crumbling more easily than he would have expected. The kid was too heavy. Was he wearing enchanted clothes or something?

Percy frowned.

‘No, it’s not just the fabric. It’s everything…’

Walking a couple of steps, Percy carved a pair of narrow lines through the bushes, their brittle branches snapping against his knees. His body must’ve weighed as much as a carriage. Picking a broken stem from the ground, he played with it for a few seconds, noting that it was heavier than a bucket of water. Dropping it, he saw it land way faster than it was supposed to.

‘Is it the gravity here? It’s several times stronger than Remior’s!’

Many of the planets Percy visited varied in that regard, but the difference was rarely worth mentioning. It seemed to be a pattern – worlds harbouring life often shared similar properties. Or rather, it was probably the opposite – life required certain conditions to prosper.

Well, this place was clearly an outlier.

Percy could still move around with ease, of course. Anything else would have been strange, given his host’s grade. But he couldn’t help but wonder how their Red-borns survived.

‘I guess their bodies are just built different from ours.’

Much like the Atlanteans could endure the crushing pressure of their abyssal kingdom, Duwa’s people had clearly evolved to handle the immense gravity of their planet, irrespective of grade.

Eager to confirm his guess, Percy examined his host’s hand, even pinching the dark brown skin at a couple of spots. Really strange. At first, he thought the kid’s body was made of stone, but that wasn’t quite right. It was flesh – just thicker and harder than he was used to. It consisted of several rough flakes too wide to be described as “scales”, but too small to be called “plates”, joined together in irregular patterns. They resembled a cracked patch of dirt that hadn’t drunk a drop of water in years. Even the tiniest movement made all sorts of grating sounds that the boy seemed completely unbothered by.

Duwa was injured lightly here and there, some caked blood that looked no different from a human’s marring his forearms and lower legs, a series of tiny scabs lining his knuckles.

‘Mister?’ a youthful voice reverberated through Percy’s mind, accompanied by a wave of exhaustion rippling through his soul. ‘Thank you for saving my life, but are you planning to stand here all day, staring at my hands?’

Percy chuckled upon being reminded that he wasn’t alone.

‘What’s the story, kid? How did you end up dying?’ he asked, though he didn’t stop examining himself, or his surroundings.

The boy was wearing a set of yellow training robes – at least that was what Percy assumed they were. The fabric felt as thick and hard as his host’s skin, though it wasn’t in great condition either – it was full of holes and loose strings. Percy couldn’t help but wonder how his host’s clothes had ended up in that state, as he didn’t think the thorned plants he had woken up on could have sliced through them.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The tattered leggings hung about halfway down Duwa’s shins, the sleeves not quite reaching his elbows. The right panel of his tunic was pressed over the left by a green belt wider than the boy’s fist. The ground wasn’t flat. Percy was standing on a sloped surface, the brownish-yellow plants stretching as far as the eye could see, their thorns’ tips glinting under the gentle sunlight. Percy struggled to see past the peak of the hill he was on, but he spotted countless similar hills of various heights in the distance behind him.

Two suns glared at him ominously, like a pair of crimson eyes. The largest one was already at its apex, the other not far from it. Unsurprisingly, it was rather hot, though the sky was quite dark for the time of day it was. It appeared the local stars radiated more heat than light. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel-fire.net

‘I guess I pushed myself too hard,’ the boy replied, oblivious to Percy’s thoughts. Next, he rubbed his head in embarrassment, Percy not feeling a single hair on his host’s rough scalp. ‘But it’s not like I can help it. I’ve already delayed my advancement by nearly seven seasons. It’s a disgrace to my people… I won’t be able to face my father until I earn Obatala’s Approval.’

Duwa’s words were somewhat vague, but they still corroborated many of Percy’s earlier guesses.

‘Is it too late to do that after you reach Blue?’

he asked, seeking confirmation.

The boy nodded.

‘It’s not just “too late”. It’s against the law to advance without it – and for good reason. How dare we mortals waste a titan’s efforts out of laziness?’

‘A bit harsh, isn’t it?’ Percy asked, raising an eyebrow.

The sentiment, he could get behind. Every Decree was a priceless commodity. If this one had to be obtained at Green, then it was clearly in these people’s best interest to make damn sure they earned it at Green. Had Percy been in their shoes, he wouldn’t have wanted to advance without it either.

Still, forcing them to do it was a bit much. What if somebody simply lacked the talent to meet whatever the Decree’s requirements were? Were they supposed to spend their whole life stuck at the same grade? Even if they neared the end of their lifespan?

Duwa shook his head.

‘It’s only fair. Throughout our history, the number of fools who have complained about this arrangement could be counted on the fingers of one hand…’

Hearing that, Percy instinctively glanced at his host’s hand again, counting his digits. Only four. But the boy continued.

‘After all, only Orange-borns or higher live long enough to reach Green or Blue in the first place. Advancing without the Approval would not only amount to spitting in Obatala’s face, but also tossing our heaven-given grades in the garbage. It would be disrespectful toward our Red-born brethren who don’t even have the option. Millions of them would have sacrificed anything for the same opportunities that the rest of us have. And that is doubly true for a Green-born like me.’

Percy nodded, appreciating the boy’s sincerity and sense of duty. Though he did feel like pushing back against the narrative a little.

‘It’s even harder for you though, isn’t it?’ he asked. ‘You’re just a kid. You’ve only had your core for a few years, yet they expect you to accomplish something that even adults several times your age routinely struggle with.’

Duwa quietly listened to Percy, not disputing anything he said. Only when he was done did the boy clench his fists, a spark of pride setting his soul ablaze.

‘Indeed. But that is my responsibility as a Favoured One of Gallimus. I was born with more than most, so I have to give just as much in return. To be the shield that protects our people from harm. And to aspire for Obatala’s heights. To stand shoulder to shoulder with the titan one day, and thank him for His grace, with my chin held high.’

Percy whistled in amusement. The kid was pretty hardcore, but he didn’t dislike it. He couldn’t help but compare Duwa to the Green-borns at home. His current host had more honour and virtue in his pinkie than that entitled bastard, Acton, had had in his entire body.

On Remior, the Holy Children were pampered, perpetually guarded by a large group of henchmen, and even allowed to commit atrocities with impunity. They spent their whole lives thinking the planet belonged to them, expecting everyone else to treat them like royalty.

Meanwhile, it seemed that the “Favoured Ones” on Gallimus showed kindness to their weaker brethren, putting their gifts in service of their society. No. It wasn’t just the Green-borns who acted like this. Based on Duwa’s words, everyone treated even their Red-borns with dignity.

Percy sighed, wondering for a second what it would have been like to grow up here.

But he shook the pointless thoughts out of his head. The time when he used to lament his lower birth-grade was something he had already left behind. His bloodline was a hundred times more valuable than a Green core. Even if it wasn’t, Percy would make it so.

‘I’ll be honest with you, Duwa… Obatala’s Approval is the reason I came to this place. I didn’t know what it was called at the time, but I might have not even looked for somebody to possess if it hadn’t been for it. I hope you can let me stay with you until you earn it,’ he said, having no intention of deceiving the child.

‘I understand. You are free to remain here until I complete my training,’ the boy replied, not hesitating for even a moment.

‘Are you sure you’re okay with giving an outsider access to something so valuable? I don’t even know what impact my presence will have on you. For all we know, we might both fail to get it in the end. I’m not going to hold the fact that I saved your life against you.’

Duwa insisted, however.

‘Obatala has taught us to be grateful to our benefactors. If I were to selfishly push you away, I wouldn’t deserve his Approval.’

Percy chuckled.

‘Something tells me that your titan wasn’t thinking of outsiders when he made that rule up. Aren’t you worried about leaking the ability to other races? You should be more careful about trusting strangers.’

The boy shook his head.

‘I haven’t agreed to your request lightly. Even knowing the risks, I stand by my decision. Should you choose to betray my trust one day, it will simply be my responsibility to rectify my mistake. Perhaps, you’re the one who should think twice before stabbing a Green-born in the back.’

The corner of Percy’s lips curled upwards as he found himself on the receiving end of the thinly veiled threat for a change. So amused was he by the child’s courage and honesty, that he didn’t feel like telling Duwa about the Green-borns he’d already killed.

In any case, he’d already passed the Moirais’ Decree to the child – which was already compensation enough for the arguably lesser Decree he would be receiving in return. If the boy ended up missing out on Obatala’s Approval because of him, he’d just give him the mushrooms too.

‘Good. Then I look forward to your success.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep