Chapter 24: Mixcoatl

Percy felt his features twist into a grimace.Once more, Micky reached for the kik’lit. With a trembling grip, he moved it to his beak, exhaling a soft breath into the instrument. . He tried again but his fingers shook, unable to close the holes properly. His lungs hurt with every attempt too. After a few more failures, he let his arm fall, the intricate piece of bone rolling half a circle away.

Percy could already guess the answer.

Micky nodded.

The young man pondered over the implications. This certainly explained the bad blood between the two sides. Still…

SIGH

The two remained silent for a while. Eventually, Percy spoke again.

Back in the arena, he’d caught a glimpse of Mixi-coco-whatever’s core. The guy was at Yellow – the same grade as them. Sure, Micky was injured badly… but maybe if he was more skilled…

Micky said.

Percy was shocked.

Micky replied.

Micky closed his eyes, softly tapping the back of his head against the wall.

Percy raised one of their eyebrows. He didn’t know how long a year was on Huehue, but he figured that should be plenty of time for Micky to have advanced at least once, yet he hadn’t. Who would waste precious resources on prisoners? The wardens on the other hand…

Micky chuckled, but it sounded hollow.

Micky raised an eyebrow.

Micky said, clenching his free fists.

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Percy was at a loss for words.

Micky said, the skin by the base of his beak curling a touch upwards.

***

They stood in the arena… . Whatever the outcome of the match, Percy knew his adventure on Huehue was about to end. The horrific wound now extended all the way to Micky’s chest, his flesh barely held together by the lower pair of arms and as much mana as he could spare. His legs wobbled. Even making it out of the long corridor had been a challenge.

Percy thought the gate in front of them might have opened, but it was hard to say for sure through their blurry vision. It wasn’t until Micky’s opponent stood just a few yards away that they could make out his mocking expression. Their only consolation was that the ringing in their skull made it impossible to hear the crowd’s jeers.

Micky nodded.

Both combatants took a deep breath, standing still for a couple moments. Percy felt power flood through their mana channels, though it hurt this time. Wherever it passed, muscles tore and bones creaked, as blood gushed out of their chest like a river.

Bright cyan lines lit up on their opponent’s skin as well, as the two sides summoned their weapons. Micky clenched the ill-shapen rods tightly in his free hands, one threatening to crumble already. Mixcoatl had an easier time, leisurely assuming a loose battle stance, only bothering to lift one of his four javelins to point at their throat.

Micky dashed forward.

Not that he could afford to move much, but waiting would only make things worse. The twin rods closed into Mixcoatl’s face from either side like a pincer. But the attack was too slow. Too telegraphed. . With a swirl of his javelin, the warden sliced both staves in half, kicking Micky squarely in the chest. Sёarch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

CRACK

Multiple bones broke as his ribcage caved in. Percy felt a wet cough escape their beak as they were sent flying back, skidding and rolling, before sliding on the dirty sand over a long distance. Luckily, their core hadn’t shattered under Mixcoatl’s foot, but mana still leaked out of their pores as Micky struggled to keep the technique going.

Seeing this, the warden also allowed the glowing lines to fade away. Apparently, he deemed it unnecessary to exert the effort. Just like that, Micky had been defeated again, this time without Mixcoatl even having to resort to the full Dance!

Percy felt his soul untangle from his host’s. The makeshift patches he’d hastily fashioned out of soul mana were rapidly coming undone as his connection to Micky grew more distant. Over the last couple of days, he’d almost forgotten how precarious the condition of their soul was. Like two broken vases, joined together with spit and wishes, it was even more fragile than their physical form. The tether to his main body was already pulling him, trying to pry him out of Huehue.

Micky had lived a shitty life… and he’d died an even shittier death…

He prodded his mana again, tightening the patches, trying to restore his connection to Micky – their connection to the battered body. His buddy’s bitter thoughts seeped through him once more, as he barely managed to open their eyes in time to see Mixcoatl looming over them.

The warden’s beak moved, but Percy couldn’t register the words. Then the man lifted his foot and stomped their knee. Just like that, one of the patches Percy had fixed with so much effort instantly fizzled out, a part of Micky’s soul shattering with it.

It was pointless. Even if he clutched onto their fading life for a moment longer, the end would be the same. There was no way Micky could fight back. So, Percy stopped trying to hold on to their life. Instead, he did something crazier. He didn’t have his soul core with him, but this was still mana. His main body had bestowed it to him to use it as he pleased. It was filled with will.

The young man allowed many of the patches to disperse, the mana to fall in line. There wasn’t much of it left. His main body had charged him up with a few refills before sending him off, but most was already gone. Some had been absorbed, trying to mend their broken souls. A lot had just leaked out or drifted away.

Mixcoatl was a full grade higher than him, but he wouldn’t see this coming. The fool had even disabled the Dance.

Commanding the mana with all his might, Percy gathered it into one of his lower hands, one of the two still keeping their organs from spilling out of the wound. The young man had spent countless hours practicing this spell, but he wasn’t happy with it. It had to be sharper. . Tougher too. He’d only get one shot, and he to waste it!

The warden lifted his foot again, crushing the other knee. It didn’t matter – . Percy had already drained all the mana from their lower body, allowing half of Micky’s remaining soul to crumble away. Then, Mixcoatl switched to the arms. Luckily, he only bothered with the upper ones – the ones sprawled out on the sand by his sides – not the one Percy needed. Two seconds later, they were also shattered. With a savage glint in his eyes, the warden raised his javelin, finally done torturing his prey. He pointed the tip at their neck, ready to end this.

It was now or never.

Percy summoned as much strength as he could and flicked his hand towards the warden’s chest. His movement was slow… Mixcoatl had reacted before the young man even let go of the mana. The warden stabbed Micky’s throat with a javelin, the other three crossed in the projectile’s path. Percy wasn’t sure if the warden could see it. He should be able to – if he was using Mana Sense. Either way, his hand’s motion had betrayed the dagger’s trajectory.

But it didn’t matter.

The bastard should have dodged instead! The last thing Percy saw as his vision faded to black were Mixcoatl’s eyes glazed over, as he plopped down, deader than dead.

[Congratulations! You have mastered a new spell: Parting Gift – Crude!]