Not every free-type Decree was as absurdly powerful as those that Percy had learned about before, yet they were still considered infinitely more valuable than any other category.
Even if their effect was subtle, they had the advantage of permanently empowering soone at no cost. Every other category – be they active-, bloodline-, or ntal-type Decrees – would consu a limited slot. Even other abilities like bloodlines, blessings, spectral traits, or mindsets were always weighed against the opportunity cost of obtaining sothing better.
anwhile, free-type Decrees were widely considered to be the holy grail of magic, since their benefits stacked with almost no limits. In theory, if a peak faction like the Moirai or the Void Hand obtained a thousand new free-type Decrees, they might be able to conquer the universe simply by virtue of their mages accumulating countless incrental boosts.
Along with comprehending the illusory concept of alchemy, finding new ways for gods to acquire more rare affinities, or getting more mortals to the Concept realm, amassing lots of free-type Decrees could be considered another “win condition” that could break the stalemate between peak factions.
Sadly for everyone involved, these Decrees were the toughest to cast by far.
Producing new titans took a lot of ti, space, and resources. The strongest greater springs already possessed hundreds or even thousands of tis as many Decrees as the average lesser spring, but only a tiny fraction fell within this elusive category.
To add insult to injury, the nine that Percy could claim from the tournant were markedly worse than the four ancestral Decrees of the founding factions. Still, that didn’t stop him from drooling as he went through the list.
‘Jolthoria’s Decree – Acquired by reciting the incantation engraved on a giant boulder. The words appear different to each person, depending on their affinity, bloodline, personality, and other unknown characteristics. Accepting the words copies them across one’s bones. Reciting them again while casting a spell improves its potency and may impart it with new properties. Note 1: Requires an internal skeleton that accounts for at least four percent of a being’s body weight. Note 2: Participants are advised to write the incantation down for future reference, as the Decree does not grant automatic morization.’
This was already a decent one, as it could potentially strengthen all of Kassorith’s spells. Of course, it was obviously weaker than the Ollorians’ ancestral Decree, which empowered their magic without requiring an incantation to be morized or spoken. Then again, that Decree had co with its own share of downsides. Besides, the two could probably be stacked for an even stronger boost.
‘I guess we’re skipping this one,’ Percy thought with a frown.
Despite its drawbacks, he would have loved to claim it, but he understood that it wasn’t for him. If it engraved itself onto the user’s bones, he was unlikely to carry it back to his main body. Kassorith didn’t seem happy to discard an otherwise useable Decree simply because it didn’t suit Percy, but he clearly knew better than to try and talk him into a suboptimal decision.
They would still have to carefully read all nine entries later, since their strongest opponents in the tournant were likely to possess all of these Decrees, but Percy skimd through the list for now, focusing solely on the ones that directly concerned him – of which there appeared to only be three.
‘Asathanad’s Decree – Branded by praying before Asathanad’s statue. Allows the Branded to cooperate with other Branded perfectly, without any specialized training or communication. Note 1: Branding one’s soul is extrely painful.’
This one sounded like sothing that Percy and his host could both acquire, though it was admittedly less exciting than the previous one. It reminded him a little of the bloodline that Fel – the Holy Child that Elaine had killed – had once possessed.
The Green-born’s ability allowed mbers of his House to communicate ntally, much like what Percy could accomplish with his clones and familiars, facilitating efficient cooperation. The Decree was even better, since it directly bypassed the need to practice beforehand.
‘This would have been handy before our fusion,’ Micky said, sending a wave of irritation through Percy’s wisp.
Learning to fight together had taken them years of practice, but all of that effort had been rendered obsolete by the advent of their Extre spell. Or well… that might not be entirely accurate. Perhaps they would have never managed to create their Ultimate Art if not for that training.
Regardless, Percy was disinclined to select it. He was now capable of turning his familiars into aspects which were practically extensions of his body, mind, and soul, and he rarely worked with other people.
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Being able to cooperate seamlessly with Archibald or Elaine might help in the coming war, but they would need to also have the Decree for that. Percy could get around it by possessing and coordinating with them through his clones, though that sounded like too niche of a situation to invest so heavily in.
‘I guess this would be a great Decree for the alliance to have when fighting a large-scale battle against the Moirai or a Cardinal Devil, but it’s not really my cup of tea,’ Percy concluded.
It might not be entirely useless in the tournant, as it could smoothen out the kinks in his and Kassorith’s teamwork, but he didn’t think they were that bad at it as things stood. Spending a reward on this would be wasteful.
The next Decree was more interesting.
‘Emah-Nuub’s Decree – Acquired by donating money to seven holess children in Karaf-Thanat, the capital city of Ren-Alib. Allows one to freely construct their own mindsets without mind mana. Note 1: The roundtrip to Karaf-Thanat is estimated to take half a Maradorian day, so participants are advised to ensure that they have enough ti before their next match. Failure to return in ti will result in a loss. Note 2: If finding seven holess children proves difficult, contact the local authorities. They are responsible for maintaining the conditions for Decree acquisition. Note 3: Setting the mindsets up will not require mind mana, but maintaining and using them still exerts a ntal toll, so the user cannot support more mindsets than usual. Note 4: User is still advised to seek guidance from a mindset expert for optimal results.’
Percy wasn’t sure what to think about this.
He wasn’t a fan of a Decree that required an eternal supply of holess children to obtain, but he understood that there was nothing he could do to change that. Even if he rescued the current batch, the locals would just replace them, so there was no point in ruining his participation in the tournant and sending a group of children to the Vault just to feel better.
When it ca to the actual effect of the Decree, however, he was more than willing to consider it. It was listed as a free-type – not a ntal-type – so he probably didn’t have to worry about his Status trying to assimilate it, yet it sounded like it would still be planted into his mind, aning that there was a good chance he would be able to bring it to his main body.
‘Hmmm… I wonder whether seven children will be enough for both of us,’ Kassorith interjected. ‘Having to search for fourteen might be problematic. Especially if they’re monitoring us closely.’
Percy nodded. Claiming this one would be a risk, though they should probably decide if they even wanted it before worrying about the specifics. Going over the description once more, he had to admit that he was interested.
Percy had already learned a few things about mindsets from Phoebe and Nephthys, so he was painfully aware that he’d been underutilizing one of his greatest assets: his mind.
Unlike spectral traits, mindsets didn’t require their user to possess a mind affinity. It was possible to commission sobody with the correct mana type to set them up. After that, they would rely extract a ntal toll to maintain and use.
Of course, if the owner also happened to possess a mind affinity, they could pay part of that toll with mind mana, allowing them to wield more – and more potent – mindsets.
The two mindsets that Percy already possessed didn’t cost much energy to maintain, though they weren’t all that powerful either. Shimring Constellations rely rearranged his and Micky’s mories, so it actually cost nothing. Ludwick’s Compass only tired him while morizing the routes to his marks. After that, rembering the stored locations wasn’t an issue – unless he tried to mark way more planets than he had.
An example of an expensive mindset would be one that improved Percy’s reaction speed or heightened his awareness during a fight. He’d been thinking of setting sothing like that up for a while, so that he could finally start taking advantage of his unused ntal capacity.
The problem was that Phoebe was difficult to contact, Nephthys no longer had access to mind mana, and Percy was hesitant to trust a random Green or Blue who happened to have a mind affinity.
Emah-Nuub’s Decree would completely solve that problem. It would allow him to skip the cost of creating mindsets entirely, and he could just ask his familiar to guide him through the process. Even better, he wouldn’t need to commission a mind mage whenever he wanted to modify, remove, or replace his mindsets.
‘If I had this right after our fusion, I wouldn’t have needed Phoebe’s help…’ Percy realized with a sigh.
The Decree would also help them in the tournant. Percy was still connected to his main body and, by extension, Nephthys, so he could ask the reincarnated goddess for a few tips to give a couple of useable mindsets to his host.
The only question was whether this would be a wise choice in the long run.
‘Permanently having a way of setting up my own mindsets will be imnsely useful… but it’s ultimately just a matter of convenience, isn’t it?’
The description had made it abundantly clear that the Decree wouldn’t help Percy fuel the mindsets after creating them, aning that he would still be limited to the sa capacity as before. In other words, he wouldn’t be any stronger than he would have been by receiving, say, Phoebe’s help to create them.
Right now, Percy sadly lacked the ans to acquire mindsets by himself, but would that always be the case?
Sure, having to always keep a trustworthy mind mage by his side wouldn’t be ideal, and getting a few mindsets for the tournant would be nice. Was either of those things worth committing to a Decree though?
‘Maybe,’ he thought with a shrug.
If he didn’t find anything better, it honestly wouldn’t be a bad choice. Even if he did, it might be worth revisiting it in case they ended up with more than four rewards.
After consulting with his companions and agreeing to keep this one under consideration, Percy moved on to the third Decree that he had shortlisted earlier, reading its description more carefully.
The more he studied it, the more the corners of his borrowed lips curled up. Any thought of claiming Emah-Nuub’s Decree evaporated like snow under the midday sun as Percy grew increasingly certain that he had found sothing even better.
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