《Clone Warrior》


 The Gift and The Curse

    "Son, you know the consequences of an uncut awakening gem? You could be gifted or you could be cursed, or both. It''s better to just save up more for a genuine gem from the Mages Guild." Father Orkan said, his robes brown from the constant washing it had endured. His church was even worse than his garb, for it was rundown and should a breeze flow through it, collapse of the structure would be imminent.


    "Father, you know that I have no choice. My dad has passed and my mother''s illness requires ever more coin to abate, this gem is the only thing left by my father and the only chance I have of bringing in sufficient money." Alex said, his sick mother had recently consumed the last vestiges of medicine left by his father. His only chance of saving his mother now was to become awakened.


    "I know, son, I know. It''s just....you have a full life ahead of you, maybe it''s time for your mother to rest." Father Orkan said, his eyes gentle and his voice light.


    "...No." Alex said as he closed the fist of the priest over the uncut gem. "I will not abandon my mother as long as she has a chance to recover."


    "It has been years, what chances are there left for her." The old man turned his back to Alex, heading towards a basin filled with water of Mercy. "Your father tried for over a decade, and he is wiser and stronger, and still he has not found a cure."


    Alex stayed silent and observed as the priest shattered the gem into pieces, He sprayed them over the basin and watched as the water began to glow a blinding white.


    The teen blinked his eyes, surprised to see the old man holding a cup and the basin empty.


    "Drink, and you shall experience the gift of Mercy." Then the priest hesitated. "Or the curse of Skorn."


    Alex took the goblet from the hands of Father Orkon, and gazed into the eyes of the man. He had an answer to all his troubles, and the awakening was the first letter of the response.


    "The Empress''s own alchemist is rumoured to have developed a recipe for a Panacea. I will need every resource I can muster to gather the ingredients required." Alex said, and with a long heavy sigh he gulped down the water. Then¡­


    He knew no more.


    ~~~~~


    His eyes fluttered open to a normal sight, his bedroom ceiling that was littered with patchwork coverings over the holes that had accumulated over the years. Turning his head, Alex saw that the room where his mother resided was lit.


    ...Hold on, what did he do yesterday? He can''t remember going to bed.


    Shaking off the weird void in his memory, Alex strode to the room, ready to uncover whoever let the candles to be lit for the entire fucking night. He only had a few silver coins saved up, every copper would need to be spent strategically, not on candles that barely had any function for a woman in a coma.


    Though, when it turned out to be Father Orkon standing vigil over his mother''s resting place, maybe it wasn''t all that bad. Alex gulped as he saw the old man''s back through the worn priest garb he wore.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    It was rumour that Father Orkon was a paladin back in the day, fighting right alongside his father agaisn''t Skorn''s horde outside the tall city walls. And the scars that spanned across his back like valleys? They confirmed them and more.


    Alex gathered up his courage and spoke up. It would not do if a man was left alone with his unaware mother, regardless of their occupation.


    "Greetings Father, it''s good to see you here." Alex said, scratching at his stubble. "But I''m rather curious, why are you here?"


    The old man turned swiftly, knocking over the wooden stool he sat on. The man gave Alex a scrutinising eye and when he had his fill, he sighed in relief before capturing Alex''s eyes into his.


    "I''ve been taking care of your mother for half a day, son. And you''ve been unconscious for the whole duration, do you remember why?" The priest came over and checked him over. Alex avoided with futility as the experienced hands of the priest probed his body in search of damage.


    And what''s this about him being knocked out for half a day? He was plenty sure the last thing he did was¡­.he really didn''t know. Maybe he had fought some of the kids down the street and hit his head? No, that''s implausible considering he had already fucked them up just a day prior for disrespecting his parents.


    The priest does have a point, there is something fishy going on with his head.


    "Nah, I don''t remember anything. Did someone jump on me, Father Orkon? If they did, I must thank you, and give me their names so I can have some revenge." Alex cracked his knuckles.


    "I''m afraid you have done it to yourself. You came to me earlier today for an awakening ritual with an uncut gem." The priest grabbed the fallen stool and sat on it. He motioned for him to sit on the one opposite of him.


    "And?" Alex said, not surprised that he had finally made the decision to awaken with that shoddy gem. If he remembered correctly, his father found it after a simultaneous Dungeon Fall and Gifting. He had it hidden away until he could get it cut, most likely wanting to give it to him so he could awaken normally.


    His plans were cut short when he was found dead with a sabretooth tusk stuck in his face. Alex shook his head and refocused on the now.


    "And when you drank from the goblet, you started spasming uncontrollably. I had thought at that moment that you were a dead boy, but you returned to normal a few minutes later. Still as unconscious as a sleeping man though." Father Orkon scratched his beard, his eyes firmly studying Alex''s.


    "Does that mean...that I''m awakened now?" Alex tried hard to stop himself from sounding too hopeful, hope had a way of hurting him.


    "Perhaps, but we can check." The priest said. "Close your eyes and listen to my voice, son."


    Alex complied and breathed in deeply.


    "Every awakened has an intrinsic knowledge of their Gift or Curse, they only have to spend a thought to bring it up to the forefront of their mind." The priest said. "For you, it will take considerable effort since it is your first time."


    "This knowledge is like an extra limb grafted into your soul, and I want you to feel it like you feel where your hands are. I want you to know this knowledge like you know that your legs are crossed without even seeing them." Father Orkon said.


    Alex focused on his body, how he knew with exact precision where his arms were, how his legs were crossed, how he felt his lungs constricted against his ribcage.


    And just at the tip of his mental tongue, he could feel another limb, a very very numb and sleepy limb. But it was there, and with every drop of will he had, made it twitch.


    [Name: Alex Hunter / Age: 16 / Species: Human]


    [Class: Unformed / Physical Status: Healthy / Magical Status: Null.]


    [General Skills: (0/15)]


    [Gifts and Curses:


    {Cloner}


    {Mana Null}


    (2/2)]


    "I got it! I got it¡­.I..got it?" Alex looked down at the bottom of the page that had appeared in hand. There, with the glaring red of Skorn was the curse {Mana Null}.


    Of course, hope always had a way to hurthimeven more.


    At least he got the Gift.

 Me, Myself and I

    [{Cloner}: Create a clone of yourself, carrying the same skills and attributes of the original copy. All experience gained, whether skill or class related, will transfer on cancellation or death of the clone.


    Cost per clone: Halve mana capacity, physical(Stamina) upkeep.]


    [{Mana Null}: You can not possess mana]


    Alex brought the page up again, the brief elation and anger that he could muster for the Gift and the Curse had long withered away. Being worked up because of something he couldn''t possibly control was not useful.


    Still, couldn''t mother Mercy have sent him a clean gem from her rock up there in her heaven? He thought that the giant planet occupying the horizon would respond to his plea but it stayed ever steady in the sky, the sole protector of humanity from the evil of her brother red planet Skorn.


    He was thinking of this too much, gods or not, he should not be hoping for a miracle to happen, the last time he had done that his father turned out to be dead. It''s better to just move on and work on what you have.


    First off, he can''t use mana skills, so he should forget ever getting into the Mages guild or getting a mana related class, the problem with that is that almost every skill used mana, only passives didn''t use mana considering they have no upkeep.


    That''s what the priest told him with those eyes filled with pity.


    Alex stopped himself from becoming angry. It was natural to pity the unfortunate, just a natural reaction.


    Ok, back on track. Second, though he hadn''t told Father Orkon about his {Cloner} ability, he still inferred that it was probably a really really powerful Gift. If it wasn''t coupled with {Mana Null}.


    Nonetheless, {Cloner} would carry him through his journey regardless of the curse.


    And third and the most important point was that he could stay with his mother now. His original plan was to go out at night and try to get lucky enough to hire a caretaker permanently, but that would have led to a lot of sleepless nights and would limit him if anything happened to his mother while he was away.


    Now though? He would earn experience and coin at his mother''s side.


    "It isn''t all that bad isn''t it mom?" He said and smiled. He removed his eyes from the two deities in the sky and put the rough curtain back on the window.


    He quietly moved the stools back into their position at the back wall and looked around the room for anything to clean.


    As always it was neat and organised, she liked it that way. Satisfied he plopped down on the blankets on the ground besides his mother''s own bed and instantly fell asleep, it was an exhausting day after all.


    ~~~~~


    His father''s room was barren, with the light Genesis - the morning sun - highlighting the sheer lack of anything personal. Alex loathed using his father''s room since his passing, yet he knew that the man wouldn''t have cared and would have encouraged it considering he wished to use it to train.


    He chuckled, his Dad always wanted him to continue in his footsteps.


    Anyhow, this was the only room in his small home that wasn''t open to the outside apart from the skylight. Perfect for someone wishing to keep a secret.


    Alex sat down on the ground and went into a similar state as he had done yesterday. According to Father Orkon, if he considered the page as a limb like his arm, Gifts and Skills were like the fingers of said arm.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    So if he just stretches that metaphorical limb...he should be able...to get it...


    "Come on¡­" He pushed his sixth sense or whatever its fucking called trying to. Just. Pull. A. Finger.


    A cracking sound echoed through the room, Alex immediately opened his eyes to witness as two shadow hands came out of his stomach. He watched with a wide mouth as the ghost hands grappled into his abdomen then pulled with a feather light touch to reveal a head.


    A head was coming out of his stomach. Fighting the urge to scream, he continued watching as the shadow hands pulled out a whole body that now stood in front of him.


    ''It'' looked like him, the shadow creature had transformed itself to look like him! His back was already against the wall and he was afraid of now making a run for it, except his mom was going to be in danger if he left.


    He, no, the creature raised its head and regarded him with a raised brow at him.


    Calm down Alex, I''m not going to eat you nor will I hurt mom ok?" The thing said, as it scratched its auburn hair. It was also naked. Even his private parts and the beauty mark on his left thigh matched.


    "You can speak?!" Alex said, as he allowed himself some space from the wall. His heart was still beating fast from the scare.


    "I''m you, well I''m a perfect copy of you. I''ve got all the things you have and all the speaky bits." The clone laughed. "And before you get to thinking, you are not me. You are special, I''m not, even if we are the same in every conceivable way."


    "If you are me, how do you know that?" Alex said, finally curious enough to get close and inspect every inch of the clone. The embarrassment he would have expected feeling was not there, because he was clearly looking at his body. He was looking at himself.


    "I just know it, don''t tell me how, I don''t know why." The clone said before looking at the rack of wooden training rapier his dad had. "Now are we going to train or do you want to keep checking yourself out?"


    "Sorry, it''s just weird to hear my own voice, it doesn''t match my internal hearing." Alex scratched his stubble and sat down on the ground again. "Let me test out the limit of clones I can make."


    The second time around the shadowy clone took only a couple of seconds to exit his body, and now he had two of himself in front of him. Of course, they started to inspect each with curiosity, naked.


    Gods he was grateful for the lack of windows in this room.


    Other than the weird interplay happening between the clones, he felt slightly winded like he had run for a couple minutes. It was slightly odd since even after a minute he didn''t feel any better.


    Shrugging that off, he made the third clone and got himself a feeling of burning. It''s like he ran from the north gate to the south gate, thrice. His leg bone was hurting, his toes were on fire and he started spontaneously sweating.


    Alex couldn''t even get enough air to his lungs to feel comfortable.


    "Alex, I feel a bit winded. It seems like I took your former physical state." The third clone said.


    "Alright yeah I don''t think that''s going to be a problem, this tiredness is just too much." Alex said while he forced a sentence in the book to appear.


    [Class: Unformed / Physical Status: Exhausted / Magical Status: Null.]


    Alright, he definitely will not use more than two clones right now. It felt horrible every second that passed, especially when it continued without going away.


    "Well, just cancel me Alex, the other two will fulfill what you want to do." The third clone said, and Alex nodded to him as he focused on twitching the fingers of his metaphorical arm.


    The clone turned to smoke and merged with his stomach. Alex sighed, glad to not experience that again. He checked his status again.


    [Class: Unformed / Physical Status: Slightly Winded / Magical Status: Null.]


    "Boss, I think we had enough fun checking each other out, why don''t we start training." The first clone said and the other one nodded.


    "Yeah, just remember what we want to get. [Physical Conditioning] is one of the few easily accessible general skills a warrior needs according to Father Orkan." Alex said while heading towards the door. "Once you get that skill, get the [Swordsmanship] skill. Then alternate between training the two."


    "Don''t worry boss, you can trust in yourself a bit more." The first clone said and the other chuckled.


    Alex shook his head and exited the room, he needed to prepare some necessities for his mother before he would need to visit Doctor Wo for new medicines.


    While simultaneously gaining experience.


    Alex smiled and refrained from saying anything to jinx himself.

 Dungeon Fall

    "So how do we do this?" C said. Since they couldn''t say clone one and clone two all the time, they had decided to just shorten it to B for the first clone and C for the second clone.


    "We don''t really have any weights around here, unless we use ourselves as weights. Kind of a bummer that we can''t go outside, dad always liked to harp on the benefits of running." B smiled.


    "In the end he didn''t run fast enough." C grimaced and silence returned to the room.


    "Push ups, sit ups and all the other stuff with ups in it. We do that until we get the skill or until Genesis reaches its zenith." B said and got on the ground to do pull ups.


    "Fair enough." C followed the other clone in his push ups.


    It took longer than they thought, probably because they were a boy who did not exit his home regularly nor play with the other kids outside. Their mother took too much attention for little Alex to go play.


    They came out stronger because of it, for he knew that those would never be as motivated nor as determined as him.


    Still it took Genesis to get three fourths of its way to its zenith and lots of sweat to finally get the skill [Physical Conditioning].


    B grasped at his heart as it tried to launch out of his chest, his body was hurt all over and he. was. thirsty.


    But by seeing what had appeared at the end of his book, all of the fatigue was almost completely washed away.


    [Skill Requirements Met. Physical Conditioning skill now available to insert.


    Physical Conditioning: Your body an ore, your will a hammer and exercise your forge. Every level of this skill will grant a minimal increase in strength, agility, flexibility and general fitness.]


    He followed his instincts and ripped the page from the back and put it into his status. It then seamlessly merged with his status and he now had [Physical Conditioning, Level 1]


    [General Skills: (1/15)]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 1]


    B sighed and rose off the ground once he had enough rest. He looked at the side where C was also coming up from the wall he leaned on.


    "You got the skill too C?" B said while picking up two wooden rapiers from the rack. He gave one to C and readied himself by taking a position opposite of the other clone.


    "Yeah, so I''m guessing once we merge with Alex he will gain...the total of both of the skill experience we earned? Would that mean he would reach level 2?" C said and heldt his rapier high, B heldt it low considering he had a crap on his right arm.


    It would make the spar actually beneficial since they won''t try the same moves at the same time, a problem with fighting yourself.


    "I guess we will have to wait till tonight to find out." That said, B swiped his sword low, aiming for the calves of his opponent. C replied with a downward block that rose up to hit B''s chest.


    This time the [Swordsmanship] skill took far shorter to acquire, the sun Genesis had set and Prime had risen and by that time they had gotten a lot of experience in the skill.


    Also they hurt all over and their knuckles bled from the lack of sword guards.


    Still, to them it was almost worth the pain.


    [Skill Requirements Met. Swordsmanship skill now available to insert.


    Swordsmanship: The sword, in all of its meriad forms, is a tool for murder, and you learned how to use it. Every level of this skill will grant a minimal increase in the damage, speed, precision and control of a sword you are using.]


    Merging the skill with the booklet was as satisfying to watch as the first time, and the results were amazing to see after all the effort they invested.


    [General Skills: (2/15)]


    [Swordsmanship, Level 1]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 1]


    Although it didn''t show on the book, B felt that the experience stored on [Swordsmanship] was higher than what was on [Physical Conditioning], not by much but enough to notice it.


    "Alternate?" C said.


    "Alternate." And B nodded.


    ~~~~~


    After taking care of the house chores, Alex checked on the two clones, finding them rather enthusiastic about doing push ups of all things.


    Briefly filling up a jug of water for the two clones, Alex put on his sandals and exited the house while closing the door behind him.


    Prime was reaching its zenith, signifying midday. Once Prime set Doctor Wo will have closed his office, so he will have to speed up if he wants to reach him in time.


    Alex sighed while walking down the road of the ''wealthier'' parts of the slums - meaning the houses were not all made of rotting wood and the hopes of its residents - the money that was saved up was quickly running dry, to his estimates he and his mom would continue to live about a month and a half, but knowing Doctor Wo, the price of the medicines will probably higher than before.


    Who would believe the shit he said? Mom gained a higher resistance to the medicine she took so she needed stronger medicine that was conveniently pricier?


    He would have punched the thin man long ago from his lies if he wasn''t the only legitimate Doctor that accepted the slum''s residents.


    Once he could get himself enough money to pay for an admission into the Healer''s College, he will send a clone there to learn to be a Doctor and bam, no need to be ripped off any longer.


    Stewing in his justified anger, Alex didn''t notice as someone came close to him and put his arms against his neck. He nearly elbowed the assailant in the balls but stopped when he saw the face of the attacker.


    "Ho ho there buddy, it''s just me Jacob. No need to destroy any chance of me getting children." The young man said as he let go of his neck. The boy wore good linen and had a filled out physique. It was a shame that his father was too engrossed in alcohol to buy them a way out of the slums.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "Fuck you Jacob, I don''t think I need to destroy your small dick, your face is enough." Alex pushed the boy away and retoke his path towards the clinic.


    "Good one, anyway, how''s your mom?" Jacob said while taking his side. Alex had no friends, except Jacob, the two had met because both of their fathers were in the same vanquisher group. It was natural back then for the whole team to bring their children to play with each other, but that ended when the team splintered because of mom''s debilitating disease.


    Now only Jacob had visited to see him, he only saw the other kids at his father''s funeral and they were too estranged to connect with.


    "She''s doing fine, how about you?" Alex asked back.


    "Running around doing chores for the old man and trying to keep an ear on the ground. Did you know that there are some pimps from the Zeretta family wandering around the neighborhood?" Jacob smiled with clear lust in his eyes, obviously he would think of the whores.


    "Seriously? Are they dumb? This neighborhood is too fucking poor for prostitutes." Alex scoffed, the people here barely earned enough to live, not to mention having enough to spend it on a prostitute. It would be better to just marry, less costly overall.


    "I don''t know man, they acting weird. They didn''t even bring the hookers with them, just some guys. Now I''m not against people pounding with the same sex, but I''m sure that they won''t get a ton of business." Jacob shrugged, and gave Alex''s shoulder a brief squeeze. "Anyway, I gotta go take care of some stuff, see you."


    "I hope I don''t meet you again." While he did say that, he still gave the man a wave as he went into a side street.


    He looked around and slumped his shoulder, there still was more road to cover before he reached Wo''s clinic.


    Yay.


    ~~~~~


    "Come on in." A high pitched voice sounded from the inside of the room, Alex pushed open the door and saw Doctor Wo''s scribbling down on a piece of paper. The old man had a hunched back and wide spectacles, his looks definitely benefited his scholar-esque personna. The old shit probably made himself look that way just for a slight increase in profit, greedy shit.


    The same greediness is what allowed an esteemed Doctor from the Colleges to debase their knowledge and themselves to serve the filthy poor.


    Alex stopped himself from sneering, no need to antagonise the only lifeline his mother has.


    "Hello Alex, how are you doing, my boy.?" Wo said while still writing on a paper, apparently he wasn''t worth his full attention.


    "I''m here for the medecine, 3 silvers and 40 coppers." Alex got straight to the point, the longer he stays here the higher the chances his fist will find itself on the Doctor''s face.


    "All business and no talk, just like your father." Then the doctor rose up from his seat and set his eyes against Alex''s own. "I''m sorry to say this my boy but that won''t be enough."


    "What the fu-frick do you mean it''s not enough? This is the same price I paid last time." Alex took a step towards the man.


    "It''s quite out of my control you see, the Colleges have sent me an order to stockpile my herbs and medicines to the best of my ability." The doctor said while passing Alex a letter. "Look, this is a letter from the Colleges. If you don''t believe me just ask around and you will find that all other doctors have been told the same thing."


    Alex read the thing and begrudgingly admitted that it was real, the seal on the bottom left confirmed. Old Wo nor anyone would forge the seal of the colleges, that was just asking for a mage hit squad to give you a fate worse than death.


    "But you see, with the state of my preservation enchantments, some herbs and medicines tend to rot." Ah there it goes, Old Wo was going to make money in a situation where he shouldn''t, and Alex was going to be happy for it.


    "And how much is the disposal of such goods?" Alex grit his teeth and hoped it wasn''t too much of a price increase.


    "5 silver my dear boy." The doctor said.


    "Over my dead body, 4 is the maximum and the only price I''m going to be sustainable on."


    "Oh well, I can ask for funding to hire enchanters to fix up the preservation enchants, no more wasted products." The old man feigned an apologetic mask but his eyes were as crafty as they always were.


    "4 silvers and 30 coppers." Come on Wo, don''t bite more than you can chew or he will find that he can and will break into his store no matter the danger of the alarm enchants.


    The old man winked at him and made an up motion.


    "4 silvers 50 coppers." Alex gritted his teeth, his current stockpile would only last him three weeks with that expenditure.


    "Deal." Doctor Wo took Alex''s hand and shook with a happy smile on his face. Alex wasn''t happy and he displayed it by trying to crunch the fucker''s hand.


    "Oh strong grip. Let me get you the medicine so you can be on your way." The old man was unfazed by the strength he had put in his grip.


    Alex left the clinic with a bag of medicine and a whole lot more anger than he entered.


    ~~~~~


    On the way back home Alex decided to take a detour towards the church. Father Orkon was always in it at this time of day, and he had several questions for the experienced old man.


    When Prime was on its last dying breath and sun Eve was on its way up into the heavens, Alex reached the church''s doors. They were broken and it took Alex a firm pull to open them. The insides weren''t as bad as they could''ve been, no dust swamped his lungs nor did he smell an overbearing amount of filth.


    While Mercy''s Church may have abandoned this place, Father Orkon did not. The man had "reasons" for not wanting to leave his post for a more privileged position.


    He was very strong in his hayday afterall, paladin against Skorn''s dungeons and all.


    The man himself was kneeling in front of a broken mosaic window that replicated the likeness of the planet god Mercy, and also weirdly the artists kept her brother planet god Skorn. That''s probably blasphemy for the zealots.


    The priest was murmuring prayers under his breath, so Alex chose to sit down on one of the benches on the side. It was also an opportunity for him to see the once beautiful murals.


    All along the left wall was the sight of a Dungeon Fall, Skorn''s rock falling from the heavens and once colliding with the earth, they would become dungeons and spawn monsters.


    On the right wall was the Gifting, awakenings gems straight from mother Mercy for humanity to stand a chance against Skorn''s hordes.


    Behind the two deities were Genesis, Prime and Eve, the three suns of dawn, day and dusk respectively. They too were gods, but so far they''ve been distant in their interaction with humanity for decades, that''s at least what the stories told.


    And behind all those were the other gods that had never interacted with humanity but were still present. He always thought that the other gods were just too far away to give a shit about humanity, and that Mercy and Skorn were the ones that had an interest in his species


    Dragging his gaze back to the priest, Alex briefly had an urge to hit Father Orkon for him taking too long to pray.


    As if responding to his thought, the priest got up from his prayer and turned to him with a smile.


    "Good day to you Alexander, have you been doing alright?" The old man sat down next to me, relaxing his muscles and conforming his body to the wooden bench.


    "Great really. I''ve come to ask you something Father if you don''t mind." Alex said while turning towards Father Orkon.


    "I don''t mind and actually like it, it''s enjoyable to have such curious company." He chuckled.


    "So I want to know about classes, what does it mean by unformed?" Alex asked, bringing up the book to his hands. Apparently people can not see the book, yet if he wanted to show it to anyone he would just need to will it.


    He would''ve done that but he wanted to hide the Cloner ability for now.


    "Classes are the next step in your awakening, those who have classes are more powerful than those who don''t." Father Orkon looked far into the distance. "To get a class you will have to get at least ten general skills to level 10, and that''s the most minimal requirement for a class. But it''s very much possible to get a much better class if you have fifteen general skills at a higher level and notable achievements."


    "And why is it more powerful then?" Alex asked.


    "A class will convert ten general skills into class skills and will reset their level. These skills are far more powerful than their counterparts and are more specialised for the role they fulfil." Father Orkon continued. "Also, they no longer take up ten slots in the general skills, so someone with a class has twenty five skills in total."


    "I''ve got ano-" Alex was leaning now and his eyes were bright but Father Orkon interrupted him.


    "Now, my old lungs are too tired to continue this. And I have a date with this beautiful lady down the street." The old man smiled.


    "Old Gretta?" Alex said in wonder as the priest hummed a happy tune and exited the church.


    "Ew but kind of cool, never imagined the old cougar would ever convince someone to love her.


    ~~~~~


    Sarmon hung his head over a spreadsheet of calculations, it was the usual with headache inducing fractions and mind numbing multiplication and division problems.


    No, he won''t have another fucking day grinding away at this stupid theoritical bullshit the professor''s threw at him. Today he will be god gazing!


    With new vigor rushing through his veins, snuffed his Mage Light and walked over the dirty clothing to reach the telescope. It was his roommates - who was a noble that shat money -, but the guy rarely came into the dorm at this hour since he was partying.


    How he wished he had rich enough parents to bribe the Colleges.


    The disappointment was brief and his excitement made him laser on Mercy''s surface. The god''s landscape had long been documented thoroughly over the centuries since the telescope was invented, yet it still brought Sarmon immense awe at the infinitely detailed crystal terrain. Each rock and boulder an art piece all on its own, and when they are all brought together it creates...perfection.


    Painfully he moved the telescope over to the brother planet Skorn, finding it as unpleasant as ever with its burning everything. Just as he was going to switch to one of the more distant gods, Sarmon noticed something strange.


    A slight crack was present on Skorn''s surface, and it went and went on, wrapping around and making an almost perfect circle. Compared to the total size of Skorn it was miniscule, but compared to Dungeon Falls that have happened before, it was the largest possible yet.


    "No way, that piece is too interlocked with Skorn to get anywhere close¡­" As if to spite his thoughts, the large piece of Skorn moved towards him, towards the earth.


    If it moved without reason, that probably meant that Skorn wanted it to move, and if that large a piece impacted the earth and became a dungeon¡­


    Sarmon backed away from the telescope and tripped over the clothes on the ground. Not that stopped him from quickly jotting down calculations into a sheet.


    "If the size of Skorn is that¡­that means that piece is...Oh my gods." Sarmon''s hand were shaking as he looked at the rough calculation on his paper. "That''s ten times larger than any Dungeon Fall recorded. I need to tell the professeur about this."


    Just as he was heading towards the door, he heard a knock on it.


    He opened the door to see two men in black cloaks that hid void black armor.


    "Hello Sarmon Anglere, we are here concerning a recent discovery you have made. May we enter to discuss it further." The one in front gave him a disarming smile.


    Sarmon gulped, because he had found himself in some deep shit.


    Apocalypse-sized shit.

 Odd Man

    The second clone disintegrated into smoke inside the house and dispersed in the air. Although what the normal eye couldn''t see was that the smoke had turned invisible and was slithering its way into a sitting Alex.


    He had trained his inner limb excessively to turn the black smoke transparent. And he was damn proud of it.


    [Physical Conditioning is now Level 7]


    [Swordsmanship is now Level 9]


    Alex smiled at the invisible book on his lap, delighting in the small pieces of energy coursing through his veins from [Physical Conditioning].


    The overall bonus was amazing for the body and for the mind, a touch up to his physique that always made him feel like a hero. It also helped in reducing the stress from creating a third clone, yet it still was a bit too uncomfortable for him to keep it up all day long. Perhaps when the skill reaches level ten then he could have a third clone active at all times.


    [Swordsmanship] had the exact opposite reaction, as it felt like it forced hours and hours of sword swinging into his mind.


    It was mind rendering headaches from the hundreds of ways he could stab, slice and slash with a sword. It didn''t help that he was more talented with swords than with physical exercise.


    A week had passed and he got a good amount of progress on his two skills, if he hazarded a guess then he was sure that only really dedicated folks could match up with his current training speed.


    One of the many benefits of training from Genesis to Eve with two bodies.


    The failures of such an ability came apparent however, while he still got the knowledge on how to wield a sword from [Swordsmanship], he still didn''t acquire any combat experience even though his clones have been sparing with each other.


    He was very hesitant in doing spars though, an unlucky hit here and there could bruise him and that would take a lot of time to heal. Making it harder to do every task and more concerningly affect the training of the clones created in that time since the wound would transfer over to them.


    So yes, {Cloner} wasn''t perfect. He would consider it to be amazing if it could transfer memories of a neutralised clone and copy any gear he had.


    They were just dreams, but perhaps Father Orkon  knows a way to upgrade his Gift.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Alex was sitting on a stoll in front of his house, he had nothing to do. He figured out on the third day of his awakening that he could put thatch on the windows and have his clones do all the house chores.


    The neighborhood was bustling as its numerous residents came back from work, Old Gretta was once again being terrorised by the kids and Father Orkon was trying to comfort a widow from the recent loss of her husband from a monster attack.


    And all that didn''t stop him from trying to sneak a peek at a rather inconspicuous man that was present through the whole day. The man wore the standard garb for these parts - Linen clothing and plant fiber sandals -, he had the same filth as expected and he even changed his position all along the day.


    That wasn''t unusual though, lots of men and women had nothing better to do than stay outside, joblessness was common in these parts. No, what got him so suspicious was the constant glances the man threw towards his home.


    No matter where he was, he constantly glanced towards the house. Alex had gone to the back street and once found the man strolling by, constantly looking at the house.


    First he thought that it was some robber looking for an easy hit, however everyone here was worth dirt. it''s just more logical to rob a merchant''s house.


    Even more so since he was literally right in front of his house, making it clear that it wasn''t undefended. No robber worth his name would go into an occupied house expecting no fight.


    The second guess was this guy had somehow discovered something about his {Cloner} ability, Except it was clearly impossible for him to have acquired any information about it.


    There wasn''t a single time he let the clones out of the house and he made sure that every window was covered up. So unless the guy had some bullshit eye piercing ability, then he didn''t know anything about his Gift.


    The third guess was still in the works. He will have to visit Jacob to see if he knew anything about who this guy was. Problem was, if the man intended to gain entry into the building, he would do it while he was away.


    And he was sure that the clones would use everything they had to defend their secret and more importantly to defend mom from any harm.


    Yet he wasn''t sure if his clones could stop the man from running away. His secret would leak and he would probably get enslaved by some noble. Ok maybe that was an exaggeration, but there is definitely someone out there who would use and abuse him.


    Not to mention using his mother as a hostage.


    Alex sighed into his palm, and figured that he should probably get the equipment ready. Opening the door, he walked towards his fathers room and crawled beside his bed.


    What he saw were two beautiful rapiers engraved with enchantments that would cost several gold each. These were the last pieces of gear his father left, all the others having been sold.


    These rapiers had been in the possession of his dad even before he was born, and his father was so enamored with them he gave them names.


    The twin sisters Valiya and Venma. Two sister rapiers with red pommels and no sword guards. These two beauties were pure killing machines with double edges and a deadly tip made out of an alloy of steel and orichalchum.


    The enchantments were even more ridiculous, the problem was that...they required mana to activate.


    ...Godsdammit now he was sad.


    Nevertheless the sharpness was enough to deal with any unawakened. He summoned two clones and gave them each a sister. They each knew their duty, to protect the house against any intruders that would come out at night.


    There were only two entrances to the building, the front door and the back door, and both were connected to the same corridor, so he gave the two clones two wooden stools to sit on with their backs to each other.


    He wasn''t worried about the windows, with the amount of thatch put on there, any intrusion would be heard no matter how sneaky the fucker is.


    Alex threw himself into his blankets and tried to sleep, yet it didn''t come to him as easily. The worry of home invasion plaguing his mind late into the night.


    And the night responded to his fears.


    Violently.

 Death and Blood

    "Did you hear that? Sounded like a thump." B tried to whisper, but the total silence of the night made it impossible to do so.


    "Quiet down, I heard nothing." C hissed, as he kept his eyes on the front door. "All the windows have been thatched up, maybe it''s a cat on the roof."


    "I will go check it out." B said and got up from his stool to head towards his father''s room. C hastily picked up Valeya.


    "Don''t go alone." C said.


    "I knew you were going to follow so wh-ugh~~." B turned a corner and gasped. C was just behind him when B''s body fell into him. In surprise, he dropped his rapier and used both hands to lift up B.


    "Dude what are you¡­" C titettered off as he saw the red warm blood running down B shoulders and gushing from a clean slit in his neck.


    Instantly, a figure was charging from his father''s room towards him with a dagger. C threw away B''s body and tried to pick up Veleya, but before he could do that he had to grab into the killer''s hand. This up close to the knife, C saw the red shean of blood that had coated its surface.


    The man didn''t retreat, but instead kept pushing and pushing the knife towards C''s face. C gasped as the strength of the opponent slowly overwhelmed his, and any attempt to kick the other guy was met with a counter block with the man''s leg.


    And to his horror and agony, the knife slowly slid through his eyelid, sticking it in place. Then came the horrible sensation as his eye was punctured like a melon. And then the knife half hilted itself in his eye socket, reaching so far in that he wondered if it had reached his brain.


    He begged it to kill himself, for it was agony. He was in so much agony that he didn''t even notice as the assailant was tackled by Alex. C dropped to the ground and held his eyes while crying from the other.


    Crying was making him feel pain.


    Alex grappled with the man, and he was not surprised to see his face matched with the man that had been snooping around.


    A million thoughts had gone through his head but they were abruptly stopped as a pain rocketed through his body. He looked down to see the knife stuck in his lower abdomen. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Gritting his teeth, Alex rolled on his back and stretched his hand to grab B''s dropped rapier, Venma. He quickly got on his feet and charged at the assailant who was trying to stand up.


    He did an overhead strike and his enemy dodged to the left. That left his back to the wall, so Alex stabbed towards him, but to his surprise the man barely dodged his thrust and jumped towards him.


    Alex watched in crystal clarity as the knife in his opponent''s hand was aimed towards his right lung. His thoughts slowed, with his abdomen bleeding and lung pierced, he doubted he would come out of this alive.


    But then from his left C''s rapier Veleya came slashing in from above and split the man''s head from his body like butter. Bone and muscle offering no resistance to the mastercraft rapier.


    Alex''s legs went weak and he toppled over, hurting his ass as he kept racking rapid ragged breaths. The body of the opponent had dropped on the floor, from his neck came out spurts of blood that stained the floor crimson.


    His head was beside where he was sitting, the man''s dead eyes staring into his.


    Staring into his, not stopping, not blinking not doing anything just staring and staring and staring and stari-


    "Kill...me." C''s voice broke Alex from his panic, he looked down to see C laying on the floor, crying tears and blood. His face, Alex''s face, broken with agony.


    "Please...please end me." C began to cry even more and Alex couldn''t get the scene of his own face crying out of his head, with one eye popped up and the other shaking with tears and pain.


    Alex twitched his metaphorical limb and C''s suffering ended. B was also taking his last breath, too much loss of blood giving him the sweet heady sensation, and in seconds, he turned to smoke too.


    The boy stayed there as he stared at the head beside him. Those eyes, they just kept looking, they just kept staring.


    It was only when he felt light headed did he remember his abdomen injury. He looked down to see that his clothes were soaked, so he unsteadily got to his feet and numbly went towards his mother''s room.


    His mother was still in her never ending sleep, no wiser to the ordeal her own son had gone through to protect her.


    Alex looked at those thoughts and felt shame, guilt, worry. His resolve should not waver, not on this.


    He collapsed beside her bed, and his hands knocked over several vials of medicine as he desperately tried to grasp the medicine needed to stop bleeding.


    After knocking over half the table, Alex used his arms to climb the bedside table. And there on the end of the table was the vial. quickly he uncorked it and drank from it.


    He collapsed back into the floor and heaved great breaths. Slowly, but surely, his vision was getting darker.


    The medicine was not fast enough to stop the bleeding. He was going to die.


    He was dead.


    Ah fuck, he was going to die. Alex shook as tears came out. His body heaving whatever he had eaten earlier.


    He was dead. All his sacrifice and this is what the world repaid him with? Fuck he didn''t even live it fully because of his stu-mother. It was not her fault but he couldn''t not blame her.


    No.


    No no no no no.


    He still had too much to do, he wanted to do so much more than stay at home and do nothing all day long.


    Alex grabbed his arms and forced them to move. His fingers barely touched the bed covers his mother was sleeping in.


    Swiping them off of her, he twisted it so it bunched up. Not having the ability to wrap them around his body the normal way, Alex rolled over the blanket so that he was laying on it.


    He grabbed the two ends and knotted them over his injury, and with a final burst of strength, Alex tightened the makeshift blanket bandage.


    Then he welcomed the darkness.

 Mistake

    Alex woke up feeling like shit. His whole body felt weak and his breath felt constricted. Looking around, he half expected to find himself on Hell, Skorn''s underground, so he sighed in relief when he saw that he was in the same room as his mother, laying in his usual spot.


    He hissed in pain while he was trying to sit, his abdomen injury was wrapped with a proper bandage. It was a black-ish red, meaning that his injury had probably closed up.


    Even though the injury would open up again if he started moving around, Alex didn''t care, he had to know what was going on.


    Using the wall as an aid, Alex climbed to his feet. He swayed in his place, yet he still tried to walk, yet he found himself unable to steady himself enough to walk properly. So he used momentum to jump from wall to wall.


    When he exited his mother''s room, he saw that the hall was empty. The body and head of the guy he had...killed were gone. Thank gods for that, he couldn''t handle staring into those eyes again.


    The bloodstains were still there though, along with a trail of dried blood heading outside through the front door. He groaned at that, whoever had taken the body out was not considering the extra work he had put on his shoulders.


    He was going to go outside when he remembered something. Jumping from wall to wall, he reached his father''s room, the entry point of the man.


    This room had no windows, and the walls were not broken, so where could he have come from?


    Alex thought and sent his gaze up, to the skylight. Of course, he had climbed the wooden wall, then jumped into his father''s room.


    The landing is what caused the thump that B heard. He looked at the door and remembered the position where B was dying. The man must have hidden beside the door, and when B came in, he surprised him by slashing his throat and throwing him towards C.


    If B and C didn''t talk, the man would have not expected another person since he was watching the house since Eve, after all he only saw Alex and not his clones. It was also the reason he could tackle the man, Alex hadn''t made a single sound since he was trying to sleep.


    His eyes found Veleya and Venma on the wooden rack, the person who had cleaned up had fortunately not stolen the two rapiers. That meant that he knew exactly which person had done this; no ordinary slum resident would resist taking easy loot.


    Opening the door outside, Alex found Father Orkon and another man wearing a guard uniform in a heated debate. They were quite far down the street, near the house of the widow.


    Alex closed in on them, grasping the walls and clothes drying strings. When he neared them, he heard the end of the argument.


    ¡°You should Orkon, the Zeretta family are nomads. The fuckers are already half way to the next city, they do this on the regular and with the clients they serve, they are untouchable. It''s good that only two women from the neighborhood were kidnapped today, the widow and her daughter.¡± The guard said as he sighed in exhaustion.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just send the guard after them, I¡¯m sure your fastest rangers can catch up to them.¡± Father Orkon pleaded.


    "Seriously Orkon, it''s impossible to help you. I''ve told you numerous times that the guard is desperately trying to reorganise because something got the nobles worrying." The man straightened up and gave Father Orkon a salute. "It''s good meeting you old friend, but we all know that the widow and daughter are already lost."


    Father Orkon slumped his shoulders as the guard walked away. The old priest slumped against the wall and held his own head in his hands.


    Alex stayed silent, now knowing why the man had attacked his house. They wanted to kidnap his mom, to use her in...he shuddered.


    "Are you doing good son?" The old priest said, his eyes down and back hunched.


    "I''m alright." Alex said.


    "Good job, you are a brave man." Father Orkon then stood up. "Let''s get you back to your bed, we don''t want your wound to open up."


    They silently walked back to his house, Alex broke that silence by asking a question thats been nagging his mind.


    ¡°Where is the body? And who was it?¡± Alex tittered and briefly closed his eyes to banish the eyes.


    ¡°I took it out, don¡¯t worry about it. As far as Jacob could tell me, he was just a local hired hand, the Zeretta family never use their own men.¡± Father Orkon said and opened the door to the house.


    Father Orkon helped Alex walk back to the room. Alex sat down on the bed and the priest prepared dinner in the small corner kitchen.


    He had thought about getting revenge, but now the pimps had ran away and the guy that attacked him was dead. Still, the event left him with scars, scars that he doesn¡¯t have enough time to deal with right now.


    Alex looked at the back of the priest, of the Father as he made a stew. So many words he wanted to say, of the terror he felt and the pain.


    The thoughts he had that night. No, Orkon would see him as a monster if he ever said aloud what he had thought about his mother.


    No loyal son would have their resolve break like his had.


    He quietly ate the stew with the company of Father Orkon. Alex also fed his mother, only now noticing that half of the medicines were destroyed and her blanket was different.


    "I will be coming back in the afternoon with supper." Father told him while gathering the bowls. "Don''t move, just rest and soon you will be back on your feet."


    "Wait Father, weren''t you a paladin a long time ago?" Alex said hopefully. "Don''t you have a healing spell?"


    "Yes I do." The old man chuckled then turned serious. "But I''m afraid my type of spell will kill you rather than heal because you are cursed."


    Alex nodded and watched as the old man left him alone with himself and his mother. With so much time, he was left thinking.


    Although he hated himself for thinking this, he needed to free himself from the prison his mother had unwillingly chained him to. And the way for that to happen short term was for him to task someone else with taking care of mom.


    Though with recent events, he was hesitant to do that. He could task a clone to take care of her, but to properly defend her he needed at least three clones. That would cripple his ability to do anything, the clones would train yes, but he couldn''t use them for anything else other than staying at home.


    He wanted to go out and see the world, he wanted to make friends and have hobbies. Yet he was stuck here. He couldn''t live the life he wanted through his clones, none of their memories transferred to him.


    The only option open to him is to cure the disease his mother had. His father tried for a decade, yet he had not succeeded. But he was a single man, Alex was many.


    He remembered the time before he had awakened, when he visited Doctor Wo, the old man was ranting about a crazy alchemist in the Empress''s employ.


    Apparently the alchemist claimed he had devised a recipe for a Panacea and only needed the ingredients to craft it. Doctor Wo was hysterical that the Empress would even entertain such a charlatan, claiming that the alchemist''s salary was better suited to be distributed to the real healers.


    If what the alchemist said was true, then if he got the ingredients and contacted him, he could ask him to create the Panacea? Maybe the alchemist wouldn''t want to create the panacea, but if he works for the Empress then that means Alex only needs to ask the Empress to do it.


    A tall task, but not impossible.


    Just need to know what the fucking ingredients are.

 Fast Levels

    Hissing at the pain, Alex slowly but surely removed the bandage on his stomach and hastily poured alcohol on it, which made him hiss even harder. Quickly he reapplied a whole new bandage and made sure it was not going to move around alot.


    Alex went back to laying his back, thinking again. Jacob had just left after giving him a visit. A visit in which he had helped clean up the hallway from all the blood, an act he was deeply grateful for.


    It was back breaking, arm tiring work, something that he couldn''t do in his current state. And the stink would have been more horrible in the following days.


    With the gut wound he had, it would take weeks or even months for it to heal. That was too long, his funds would run out by the time he could even run.


    It was a big dilemma, how could he earn money while injured? He didn''t know any crafts and he doubted he or his clones could fight monsters with the gut injury, it was just too much of a handicap.


    But his Gift, or better yet his book had given him an easy alternative. He checked the end of the book and saw a new skill there.


    [Skill Requirements Met. Natural Heal skill now available to insert.


    Natural Healing: Blood, Pain, Heal, Repeat. Every level of this skill will grant a minimal increase to all non-artificial healing processes in the body.]


    He felt around his limb and felt that as long as he was injured, the skill would hasten his healing speed by a smidge and would gain experience for the next level up.


    It was the perfect skill he needed, so he inserted it into his skill set. He was also glad to discover that his two other skills had leveled up from the confrontation.


    Apparently danger gave generous rewards.


    [General Skills: (3/15)]


    [Swordsmanship, Level 11]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 9]


    [Natural Healing, Level 1]


    He could now support a third clone without feeling like shit. It would drain a bit but not to an uncomfortable degree.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    But no, there was a discovery far more important than those level ups. It was when he summoned all three of his clones, and then they all got ticking experience for [Natural Healing].


    That meant that he got 4 times the experience from [Natural Healing]. And the skill ticked all day long.


    He was confident that his healing time would be significantly lower now with the levels he could in the coming days.


    And he was proven correct, when on that night, he had gained 3 levels in the skill. The next day he got 5 levels and the injury no longer itched but had sewn shut and scabbed over. The day after that he got 3, and in the following three days he got a total of 6 levels.


    [General Skills: (3/15)]


    [Swordsmanship, Level 11]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 9]


    [Natural Healing, Level 18]


    True to its description, the skill had fully healed him in five days. He could walk, exercise and run. When Jacob and Father Orkon saw him jumping around, they were concerned but he eased their concerns saying that he had gotten off lightly and that he had help from the numerous medicines he had on hand.


    The injury now dealt with, Alex thought of what to do. He mostly needed money currently, he didn¡¯t want to starve his mother of her precious medicine.


    With three clones at his disposal, Alex devised a plan that went a little against his comfort zone.


    Seeing that the situation had calmed down and the family of pimps nowhere to be seen, Alex wanted to leave the city and go monster hunting. He wanted to just send his clones to hunt, but came the problem of how he could get his clones in and out of the city without them being seen.


    There was a solution, it was dangerous, risky and idiotic yet it was a solution. Alex would leave a clone at the house, he himself would leave by the north gate so that no one would recognize him, and he would camp out in the wilderness.


    He would have two clones in his disposal to send out hunting while Alex himself would stay on the outskirts.


    It was risky for his mother if the pimps decided to attack again, it was dangerous for him if he got caught by the monsters and it was playing dice with his secret.


    It was his only choice to earn money.


    --


    Alex looked around the market place and headed towards the bulk clothing trader. If he wanted to enact his plan, he needed clothes for the clone that would stay at home and for the clones who would go out hunting.


    Normally he wouldn''t buy clothes just because they were better spent on supporting his mom, but now it was a necessity. It would be mighty suspicious to see two naked guys running around in a forest.


    He barely had enough money for it, with the living expenses his stay-at-home clone would have and the medicinal expenses, Alex only had an allowance for a three-day trip after accounting the purchasing.


    It would be disastrous if he couldn''t get anything from the hunt. Of course, he had planned everything so that he could get every copper out of the trip.


    He visited a herb buyer in the middle-class district, and got a full rundown of important plants to look out for and how to harvest them. The second stop he had made was to the Vanquishers guild, getting lucky enough to meet a kind clerk that gave him a pamphlet for valuable monster parts.


    He even gave the butcher a visit, paying extra attention to the best parts to harvest from the best prey around. It was all around an attempt to maximise every possible way he could earn money in this trip.


    So it was as Genesis was rising that Alex bade goodbye to D, the stay at home clone, and disappeared in the alleyways. He wouldn''t want people to see him on the main street heading towards the north gate.


    He clasped a hood down further down his face, relying on the shadow to mask his features. He had several sacks, each for a specific purpose, and hidden behind several layers of rags were Venma and Veleya.


    It was a good day for hunting.

 Black

    The gate was open for the farmers coming in this early in the morning. The north part of the city was the industrial district. Farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters and leather workers plied their trade here and then sent it to the many markets across the city. He didn¡¯t like visiting this part of the city, it was filled with dung from the animals that roamed and the leatherworking stink that permeated the whole air.


    The only reprieve from the smell and atmosphere were the indoors, yet his journey demanded him to walk through the streets. The guards on the gate and on the wall were vigilant, a rarity. Those nobles must be serious about their worries, hopefully it isn¡¯t a prelude to a war, getting conscripted would be disastrous.


    Alex didn¡¯t think there would be a war, just a feeling in his gut but he trusted it.


    He gave the gate an appreciative glance, the enchantments on its steel braces looked utterly fascinating. The walls had far larger enchantments that spanned the whole city. How one powered such an enchantment still confused him greatly. Maybe they were deactivated? Even then, once activated, they had to get mana from somewhere or someone.


    Man how he would have loved to get a book in his hands for this kind of stuff.


    Shaking his head, Alex looked down the road that went beyond the horizon and led through several acres of fields. If he walked for half of Genesis duration, he would run into the last homestead connected to the city, farther than that were small towns and farming communities, and farther than even that were the wildlands. The Wildlands were just a mess from all he had gathered; apparently Awakened animals fought unending wars with the Skorn monster.


    That¡¯s all he knew though, rarely does everyone even travel there, mostly because of the lack of logistics and supply lines. His dad and mom went there once, apparently that''s where they found enough money to buy the twin swords and also where they almost lost their lives.


    He wasn''t going down this road anyway, the hunting place he had scoped out was somewhere his father had visited regularly. It was closer to the east gate than to the north gate. So Alex, after walking far away enough from the walls to not be notified by the guards stationed on them, took a turn east through the farm fields.


    The farmers and their children were working their backs off, it looked like fulfilling work though. To have a constant purpose and job in life. Alex had no choice, he was either going to become a monster hunter or perish.


    No amount of farming will get him enough money.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Money, money and money. He hated it so much, the source of stress for his whole life.


    He stayed silent on his trek east, observing and cataloguing the sights. It was until Genesis'' final set that he had finally stumbled upon the border of the hunting ground.


    It was a field of black grass, oddly still and sharp looking grass, that spanned far into the plains and into some parts of the forest nearby. A dungeon had landed here and changed the environment, and even after its vanquishing it''s effects were permanent and the monsters inside it kept reproducing.


    Alex gulped nervously as a pack of little monsters roamed just some hundred steps away from him. These were Gremlins, four armed two legged small ugly charcoal black monsters. They had a vague humanoid form but that''s about it for likenesses to humans.


    They wielded rocks as throwing weapons and...ah. Did that clerk say bones spear or wooden spears? Alex stood up on his tiptoes, catching the sight of white bone on the backs of the Gremlin pack in the distance.


    He should be careful with the rocks, what good smack in the face and his clones would need to retreat and be cancelled. The bone spears were less of a concern, his rapiers were enough to render any attempt at blocking with them a failure. They didn''t even look good enough to inflict more than a minor injury, which he can easily get rid of by just cancelling the injured one and making a new one.


    They are other monsters deeper inside the black grass field, though they were none of his concern considering he only planned to scour the outskirts searching for herbs and animals of prey.


    Searching around, he found a nice little spot surrounded by a circle of trees and set down his bags. Getting everything out, Alex quickly set out all the clothes his clones needed.


    In a moment, two clones had coalesced in front of him, perfect replicas of himself. They quickly got on the clothes and equipped the twin swords. They silently headed towards the black fields while Alex further prepared the campsite.


    The two clones hesitated for a second over the demarcation line between the green grass and the black grass. They took a step in, and when they didn''t immediately wither and die, they got the courage to continue further in. The first thing they noticed was the abrupt cessation of the background noise of nature, together with the darkening of the atmosphere, which gave the two clones shivers.


    "Ok, let''s not make a lot of noise like last time." B said, his eyes distracted between staying vigilant and inspecting the weird grass.


    "Hand signals, we will be able to understand each other since we are the same person, right?" C aborted a chuckle, silence was prime.


    "Right." B whispered back.


    B and C stayed crouched while walking, each footstep of their producing weird barely audible crunching sounds from the grass. It wouldn''t have been a problem in a normal environment where the ambient noise would have silenced it, but here, anyone within a hundred steps would hear them if they strained their ears.


    Alex had already made a plan for two people, one clone would stay on guard, looking out for any gremlins looking for a fight and the other would lay his eyes on the ground to spot any good herbs to collect.


    What made the gatherer clone''s job easier was that a lot of herbs he was searching for were colours different from black, making it easy to pick out in this particular landscape.


    The two went on for a quarter of Prime''s reign in peace, collecting the odd herb and unfortunately not spotting any animals of prey. They had encountered Gremlins, yet they were heading in different directions.


    Their luck ran out though when five gremlins climbed up from a hole in the ground they hadn''t noticed not even fifty feet away. One of the gremlins stretched its four arms and yawned, seeming sleepy.


    That sleepiness immediately disappeared when it noticed them, warning the other ones and grabbing the nearest light sharp rock around.


    And then B and C, charged.

 Gremlin Tactics

    The gremlin that had spotted them threw two rocks at B, he only dodged it by stopping and quickly jumping to the right. Getting back to running, B and C closed in on the gremlins before the other monsters could launch the rocks in their hands.


    The first strike was made by the gremlins, as they bundled up and pointed the spears at B and C. It was an almost uniform line and was a pretty amazing tactic for monsters with such small heads.


    It wasn''t enough though, B and C attacked the spears, shearing off the tips and cutting the spears in half. The monsters clearly didn''t expect this, B and C took that opportunity to stab into the gremlins.


    What surprised the clones was the agility of the gremlins, because after they had been surprised, they were fast enough to dodge their rapier strike while only sustaining light cuts.


    Seeming to come to a collective decision, the gremlin in the center screamed at a high pitch, making the clones wince and slice at the gremlin. The crier dodged back, but by then his other comrades had encircled the two clones, each gremling wielding 4 rocks in their four hands.


    B and C gulped, they had been surrounded, and if the goblins got in a head hit, it would incapacitate them. They had to be careful, so they gave their backs to each other and put the rapiers in front of them.


    The gremlins bided their time, circling the duo in clockwise fashion. The clones'' hands were sweating, and only the excellent handle on the sword made them able to let it slip out from their grip.


    It was only moments later when one of them cried  and they just¡­ ran away, all of them scattering in a different direction. B and C stayed indecisive in their place and were confused by the rapid turn in combat, weren''t they going to attack?


    The full plans of the gremlins came into fruition however, as they turned back and started throwing rocks at them. B and C tried to dodge, but still ended up getting nicked and bruised.


    Trying to even approach one of them only ended up with them running farther away. And when they almost caught up with them, the other gremlins would focus on them, making the clones lower their heads and retreat.


    "This ain''t working anymore, we will never catch any of them and they sure will not run out of rocks." B said, ducking from a rock that would have given him a broken nose. The gremlin that had thrown it clapped its four hands together and chiterred to its brethren. This was almost a competition on who could hit the clones in the head first for them.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "So what do you say we return to camp, get cancelled and get our injuries patch up? We can have a look for more herbs in the different areas." C suggested, getting lucky and blocking one of the rocks with a thin margin between handle and blade.


    B nodded, and on a one two three gesture, they bolted towards a small patch of trees. The gremlin in their way quickly ran to the side, but they gave him no attention as the rocks from the back started to peter out.


    The gremlins tried to throw rocks at them, but they had shorter range and the clones were too fast for them to get an accurate shot. Weaving between the trees to make it even harder to land a hit, B and C took a roundabout route to get to the camp.


    After making sure that they had left the gremlins in the dust, the clones entered the camp bleeding and bruised. Alex looked up from his wood sculpture. Well, sculpture would be a rather heavy embellishment for a piece of wood shaved off in a few places.


    He had tried to create some pieces from a game his father''s friends used to play. It turned out poorly considering he didn''t handle a single shaving knife in his life. He was sure he was going to get better at it though.


    B and C flopped down on a log around a dying fire. They moved towards the stew in the jar but stopped. It would be a waste to feed them, no matter how much they wanted it.


    "I''m expecting that the monsters weren''t as easy as we thought?" Alex said, putting down the chess piece that he was making.


    "No." The clones gave a simple answer.


    "Alright, report everything about their strategy, behaviours and numbers before I dismiss you." Alex said, wincing at the last part. It sounded evil, and he did know that his clones would understand, yet it still sounded wrong.


    "Their main strategy is to surround the target and throw rocks at them until they die. They are smart and adaptable creatures, making adjustments to their tactics mid battle with good teamwork." B scratched at a bruise on his shoulder.


    "Though they are annoyingly good at skirmishing, they suck at close combat from all we can tell, the exception being their small size and agility letting them dodge almost anything." C continued, recounting their numbers, their tactics, their reactions and their mannerisms. While Alex won''t be getting the complete picture since he wasn''t even there, it was better than nothing.


    "Good, next time we will make sure to not let them skirmish, best recklessly charge in at the beginning parts of the battle than let them spread out." Alex grabbed at his stumble and pondered. "Alright, thank you for your efforts."


    "No need to thank yourself." B and C smiled before they disappeared into smoke. Alex absorbed the experience they had gathered. Activating his inner limb, Alex made his book appear and after browsing it, he let out a contented hum.


    [Swordsmanship is now Level 12]


    [Swordsmanship is now Level 13]


    [Swordsmanship is now Level 14]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 10]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 11]


    And on the back pages were numerous new skills, most of them being utility skills like [Pathfinding] and [Herb Gathering], which were not his style nor were they suitable for the stereotype he was going for. Others were like [Sprint] and [Quick Dodge], they were amazing, if not for their slight mana requirement.


    There was this one skill though, [Deflect Projectile] was a passive skill from what he felt, that let him precisely aim his rapier exactly where they needed to be for him to, well, deflect a projectile.


    He liked the skill, but it kind of seemed rather bland. Couldn''t a higher leveled [Swordsmanship] eventually lead to the same effect? What if the higher levels on [Deflect Projectile] led to him being able to deflect non physical projectiles?


    It was a hard decision, so he got into his thinking pose and focused.

 Swift

    Alex pondered over it for a while, but in the end he convinced himself that it was the wrong choice considering he has [Swordsmanship] already. With his threefold training experience, he was sure he could make the skill reach a high enough level to perfectly mimic [Deflect Projectile].


    Though on the opposite side of the argument was that there weren''t a lot of non-magical skills in his arsenal. From a cursory calculation, non-magical skills were a 1 in 8.


    Since he awakened he had achieved multiple skill requirements, though he didn''t care about them because they were all non-combat or magical skills like [Fast Thrust], [Quick Attack] and [Cooking].


    Though he had spotted a magical skill that had interested him greatly, [Hyper State] enhanced physical abilities for a short duration in exchange for doubling mana and stamina expenditure.


    Now if he could find a non-magical equivalent then it would be great. His clones were, to say it harshly, disposable. He could resummon an infinite amount of them, and having a skill that can boost them up for a short period for basically no cost was going to be great.


    Problem is he doesn''t even know if this skill even exists, and if it does, what are its requirements. They were skill books that detailed every requirement, but those books were expensive, even if he worked an ordinary job all year he wouldn''t be able to buy them. Makes sense since all who want them are awakened, which if strong enough can get ridiculous amounts of money.


    Alex returned to [Deflect Projectile] and chose not to insert it. It wasn''t like it was going anywhere, he could insert it when he doesn''t have any other skill to insert.


    Setting down his book, he summoned two clones. They quickly wore the clothes and equipped the rapiers.


    "Help me sort out the pile of herbs." Alex said while emptying out the herb bag. His eyebrows rose.


    "That''s quite a lot." the first clone said, crouching down to hold a Thyfte. A yellow peaked vine that apparently helped with...bed performances, as the herb buyer eloquently said it.


    "Quite a bummer they couldn''t get any black herbs, those are crazy expensive." Indeed, there were no area specific herbs. Those apparently were rare and expensive, they didn''t grow naturally and only the dungeon could spawn them. If there were any black herbs left then they would be hidden or hard to reach locations.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Overall, it''s a good haul. This will pay for a day or two of expenses. Good result for half a day of work, though it''s best to get gremlin parts, each gremlin should net three days of expenses." Alex did the maths in his mind and nodded. Monster parts were a lucrative resource, what were they used for? He had no fucking idea. Probably potions or alchemy.


    Separating each type of herb into different piles, Alex grinned widely at the spread. Satisfied, he told the clones to head out and to have a good hunt.


    He settled down on a log, and retook to working on the chess set.


    ---


    Two clones crouched behind some shrubbery, they were on a little hill that overlooked a clearing. The clearing held the sinister black grass and more importantly a pack of three gremlins. They were eating raw meat from the corpse of a battered deer, their bone spears forgotten at their side as they indulged themselves.


    Bloody smiles were passed between the gremlins, giving the clones shivers in their spines. The two stayed still so as to not disturb the foliage around them and alert the gremlins. Yet if they stayed here too long they would lose a surprise attack.


    ¡°Sneak then attack.¡± B whispered, slowly manoeuvring himself and his sword towards the closest cover to the clearing.


    C nodded and moved to the side opposite of B. The clones positioned themselves to put the gremlins between them, and when B made a hand sign over the bush, they both charged. There was only faint rustle as they exited the small tree they had hidden behind, and even though adrenaline was rushing through their blood, they refrained from roaring.


    Would have been cool to do.


    The distance was shortened in an instant, and the gremlins didn¡¯t even notice them until the very last moment. Two of their expressions would stay forever frozen as their heads came out from their shoulders. The last one scrambled to pick up his spear, and two swords penetrated his throat and chest. He let out a final gurgle and slumped.


    The clones stayed frozen in their position as they observed the three monster bodies bleeding out. To their numbed surprise, the gremlins had inky black blood.


    ¡°That was¡­easy.¡± B exclaimed, his chuckles quickly transforming into giggles.¡±The fuckers didn¡¯t expect it at all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± C said while inspecting his sword coated in blood, brief flashes of the staring man¡¯s head flashing across his mind. Shaking his head, he crouched and began to trace a line through the gremlin¡¯s body. A quirk in gremlin biology was that every gremlin had their hearts in a different place, and considering their hearts were the most desired part, that meant having a technique to find the heart cleanly and resourcefully was developed.


    C traced the monster¡¯s veins till they reached the chest, then when they disappeared, he went to another vein on a different part of the body and repeated the process. After several tries, he had an approximate position of where the heart would be. He had to get that kind clerk at the Vanquisher¡¯s Guild a nice piece of steak for his tips.


    Carefully, he made an incision with the tip of the rapier. He cringed before steeling himself and dug his finger into the wound. Not feeling anything apart from muscle, C made the incision deeper and dug his fingers in. This time he felt an odd shape, and when he grasped his fingers around the heart, he pulled. In his hands was a small organ that looked like a piece of turd.


    C chuckled at the comparison and threw the little heart into the special monster bag. B had finished the other gremlin. They both went over the other corpse, and to their surprise they had destroyed the heart with the sword to the chest. Checking over the deer the gremlin had been eating, they found only bits and pieces of meat left.¨¦d


    ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s it huh.¡± B said, his hands bloody and face numb.


    ¡°Yeap, let¡¯s search for more herbs.¡± C walked away.


    They reached the edge of the clearing when they hesitated and looked back.


    ¡°Are we just going to leave them there?¡± C tittered.


    ¡°Yes, yes where are.¡± B shrugged. What are they gonna do? Bury them?

 Bountiful Bounty

    After that easy fight, the whole hunt became much different. Rather than avoiding any gremlin group, they would follow those with four members and fewer. They would avoid the larger group and be careful even though they had no doubt they would come out better in the end.


    Once the small gremlin groups got distracted, the clones would swoop in and kill two instantly. The other one or two gremlins never got away considering their shorter legs and their resistance was futile in front of the clones'' rapiers and skills. They used and abused this tactic mercilessly; the second day had them a total of thirteen gremlin kills. And the third day gave even more of a harvest, totaling twenty-seven gremlin hearts.


    It is sufficient to say that these gremlins in small enough numbers were extremely weak to ambush and shock tactics. Injuries were on a minimum, not that it mattered, and morale was high. For a second they dreaded ever fighting the gremlins, but by the end they considered them more of a chore than a battle.


    It was that kind of slaughter.


    They would have loved to continue, but the numbers of small gremlin groups had decreased drastically. The gremlins got wise to their tactics and clumped together to survive. Regardless of that fact, they had reached the deadline for their hunt, returning later will just put their mother in danger.


    Alex was packing up from his temporary camp. He hummed a tune as he rolled his bed roll and buried the campfire. He couldn¡¯t be more satisfied with this trip, with the amount of gremlin hearts and herbs he had gotten, this could easily last him for three months if nothing unexpected happened.


    Though he didn¡¯t expect this to actually last more than a month, he had so much to buy like clothes and actual good medicine. His father had spent all his money that weren¡¯t spent on daily expenses on experimental cures, most of them didn¡¯t do anything and were promptly abandoned. Yet some had effects, they did not make his mother wake but they made the experience for her more pleasant.


    She smiled a lot, and her eyes were fluttering in her sleep. Whatever she was dreaming of, he would kill for her to experience it again. So, coins for that and more. His home needed renovations, the interior needed actual furniture, the kitchen needed utensils and cooking wear. He needed a ton of stuff, and he was excited to buy it all.


    He would have to probably go on a hunt again after he bought everything. Next time though, he will be more prepared. He will have even more clones and more swords. He will have everyth-...Maybe he is going a bit numb from social solitude.


    Alex shook his thoughts of grandeur and packed the final piece of equipment, a large handmade chess board and pieces. He knew how to play the game, and he genuinely enjoyed playing it back when he was young, but perhaps it will serve a far more beneficial reason than personal enjoyment.


    Chess was a game of the elite. If he could present himself as a noble with his playing skills, he would have a way into the noble circle. And with a little ladder climbing, he was hopeful of reaching someone who would know the ingredients to the panacea. It was a long long shot, nonetheless it was a path. The other way was to become strong enough to be noticed, except that would be hard and time consuming. Of course he would eventually become strong if he didn¡¯t get eaten by a monster mid-way, it just took a lot of time to reach that stage.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    The last piece of chess slid down into the depths of his pack and Alex tightened the rope on the top. Pulling the bag over his shoulder, Alex put his hands around the neck of the two special bags, the monster and herb bag that were bulging from the contents. He happily skipped away from the black grass field and returned to the normalcy of the world. Mercy was twinkling merrily this day, and Skorn was hidden by her shadow, a good omen for his journey back home.


    He walked the farming fields, passing by estates filled with wide ranges of fruiting trees. It was idyllic every time he saw this, a very simple life he wished he had. Maybe in the future when all his troubles were resolved, he would buy a plot of land far away from anyone and farm the land.


    The north gate had an unusually long queue, merchant caravans lined up like a snake and small trolleys of the odd farmer. Alex noticed that the caravan guards looked battered and the vehicle they protected scratched; it was an odd sight for the normally safe roads of the kingdom. Perhaps there was a new dungeon on the road? Nay, he hadn''t spotted anything coming from Skorn in the last few days, though he couldn''t discount the dungeon fall happening when he was injured.


    Slumping down on the road, Alex rubbed his hands. Even with the accumulation of muscle from his skills, carrying this much was tiring. He looked around and spotted a small farmer family in the line. Jumping over to them, he waved at them and gave them a smile.


    "Greetings, do you know what''s taking so long? I haven''t seen this long line in my whole life!" Alex scratched the back of his head. The father and his daughter turned towards him, the mother was too preoccupied with a baby in her arms.


    "Greetings back to you, the guards have been real finicky these last few days, bet my donkey someone fucked with a noble." The man laughed and his daughter groaned.


    "What my dad tried to say is that we don''t know. The wait is because of the search they are conducting, they have to check everything and its such a fucking chore." The daughter, now that he looked at her closely, was a bit comely, said.


    "And the caravans?"


    "No idea, no monsters attacked the farm and bless mercy for that. We have enough trouble feeding George as it is." The father said back, gently pulling on his donkey as the line moved up.


    "And you traveller, why are you here?" The daughter spoke up.


    "Just came back from herb gathering in these last few days. Before I left, the guards were alert but they were not as paranoid to this extent." Alex murmured the last part. Something was definitely finicky, he hoped it was something temporary. "Oh excuse my manners, I''m Alexander but you can call me Alex."


    "Julliet." The daughter simply said, turning back to her mother when she called for her. Alex stayed hanged awkwardly there for several seconds not knowing how to proceed before he walked behind the family.


    It took a full third rotation of Genesis''s orbit for Alex to reach the north gate. He hated it, his feet were blistering and his hands were aching from holding up his bounty.


    If not for the high levels of his skills, he was sure that they would have leveled up from this torture. On that matter, Alex lazily spawned his book from the depths of his soul and gave a satisfied smile at the progress he and his clones had made.


    [Swordsmanship is now Level 15]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    [Swordsmanship is now Level 24]


    [Physical Conditioning is now Level 12]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    [Physical Conditioning is now Level 19]


    To his immense satisfaction, he had acquired enough levels in [Physical Conditioning] to enjoy actual visible muscles. He had faint abdominal muscles now, with them Alex daydreamed all throughout the day of performing feats the legends of old had done.


    Apart from the antics, he was capable now of spawning a fourth clone without any major setbacks. His swordsmanship had also reached a level high enough for him to finally realise that slashing and swinging with his rapiers was really really fucking stupid.


    He blamed Venma and Veleya for them being too sharp for it to matter.


    [Name: Alex Hunter / Age: 16 / Species: Human]


    [Class: Unformed / Physical Status: Healthy / Magical Status: Null.]


    [General Skills: (3/15)]


    [Swordsmanship, Level 24]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 19]


    [Natural Healing, Level 18]


    [Gifts and Curses:


    {Cloner}


    {Mana Null}


    (2/2)]

 Deposit

    The gate guards were menacing, with their brand new armour and their stiff temperaments. The slums rarely got any guards, but most of the ones seen there had light to medium leather armour that was made a whole generation ago. These guys were decked out in chainmail and small steel plates. Their swords and spears had that sharp sheen, and even their stature was different. Whoever trained them had beaten their spines into shape at a very quick speed.


    The city lord and the nobles must have spent a ton of coins on this; last time he checked this kind of equipment, it totaled around two months of expenses! For just a single person! Couldn¡¯t these noble not spend unnecessarily on guards that don''t have a purpose other than stand around and look menacing. If even a fraction of the coin they spent here was given to the slum residents then the neighbourhood would disappear for good.


    Alex knew that his grumbling would reach nowhere even if he shouted it at the city square. If he met a noble, he would likely try to torture them for information on why they held on to their coin.


    Well, he wouldn''t torture them, that would end him up on an executioner''s block. He would ''lightly'' ask them for answers.


    "You there! Stop daydreaming and halting the line." Alex jumped from the harsh voice of a guard. The farmer family in front of him had been cleared. Stepping up to the gate, Alex looked with askance on what they wanted to check.


    "What''s your purpose for entering the city and what are in those bags?" The guard demanded, his eyes keenly resting on the two rapiers wrapped in rags that were hanging from his back.


    "I''m returning from herb gathering and monster hunting. The bags contain my hard work." Alex quickly blurted it out. No reason to lie here.


    "Are you part of the Vanquisher''s guild?" The other guard asked.


    "No, I''m an independent." Alex replied. The fee to enter the guild was a bit too much. Their benefits were great, for example team recommendations and better prices for the monster parts.


    The guard in front of Alex thoroughly scrutinised him from top to bottom. When he had finished, the guard motioned for him to enter.


    ¡°You should be careful around these parts, monsters have been appearing in numbers.¡± The guard said and gave him a farewell. "Good tidings for you traveller and may Mercy brighten your path." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Genesis''s light welcomed Alex as he exited the gate structure. The walls, manned with a far higher number of guards, were several hands thick and tall. The stone that made it looked seamless, as if it was made of magic, it might actually be magic now that he thought about it.


    Alex hooked his hood down and moved through the streets and alleys. The whole atmosphere and vibe had changed, it was like everyone knew that there was something happening yet weren''t panicked enough to outwardly show it. Everyone laughed and joked and worked, yet they were all strained with caution and worry.


    To not bring too much attention to himself, Alex went straight towards herb monster part buyers. The old man that manned the herb shop came out of his crevice and welcomed him in.


    "Hello young man, how can I help you? I''ve got some traditional herbs here that can help swoon any lady in bed." The old man, beard encompassing a teasing smile, presented him with an assortment of herbs.


    "I don''t want to buy, but I''ve come to s-." "Ah what a tragedy, but don''t worry, this herb can help even the most impotent of men to get their dragon roaring!" Alex''s brows twitched at the salesman for interrupting him.


    "And with this other herb, even the smallest of dragons can grow long enough to fill in the deepest of caverns." He would have been really interested in buying this, if he didn''t already know that it was temporary and can only be used once, and never again.


    "Shut up!" Alex shouted, finally done with the old man''s spiel. He was not interested in his dick being longer or him lasting more in bed, he wasn''t even married for fuck sake.


    "I don''t want your godsdammed vigour crap! I want to simply sell you herbs." Alex pushed the sack into a bewildered man''s hands and glared at the old man.


    "You should have said that earlier, young man." Exclaimed the old man as he peered with sparkling eyes at the contents. "And the gall on you young people, shouting at your elders. If I was your father I would have given you a spanking."


    "My father is dead." Alex sighed and the old man shut his yap.


    "Oh well. My father died from the plague! You should ha-." "Just shut up and give me my money''s worth for those herbs." Aelx got tired of this old man and almost went to fetch the herb bag away from him. It would be better to just go sell this to another person.


    "Alright alright, let me check it all." The herb seller dumped the whole bag on the ground and began to rifle through the herbs like a rat. Alex decided that if he was wanting for herbs he wouldn''t choose this herb seller solely because of how he treated the herbs.


    And also the old man''s sweaty sweaty hands.


    "Quite a haul you got here. It should come at about twenty silvers." The man rummaged through his dingy shop and came out with a locked steel box. The shrewd old man opened it away from him, the lid blocking his sight of the inside of the box.


    "Here''s your twenty silvers, now begone before I call the guards on your head!" Alex pocketed the silver and backed away from the shop.


    He quickly got out the silvers and checked meticulously that they were real. The empress'' likeness was exact and the silvers were worn by time, a good indication.


    Taking an experimental bite and finding it the right hardness and taste of residue, Alex nodded. With his normal weekly expenditure being just below six silvers - 4 silvers and 50 coppers of which were spent on mom''s medicine - this should last him a month.


    The trip to the vanquisher''s guild was far less eventful, the clerks there professionally cleaned and organised the gremlin hearts. The total for the gremlin hearts was around sixty silvers. The final total was eighty silvers.


    As he had expected, it would last him three months. He should do this more, three days of ''work'' for this much silver was amazing.

 Proper

    His return home was going to be tricky. He obviously couldn''t enter the neighbourhood, everyone would recognize him. That wasn''t bad on its own, but he currently didn''t know what his stay-at-home clone was doing. If he was in the streets, then people would get surprised by two Alex''s.


    He couldn''t dismiss him either because of the same reason and also because he wanted to know what had happened in these last few days.


    This was tricky, he had made preparations for exiting without being spotted yet he didn''t plan on how to go back. Stupid mistake.


    Alright, guess he will have to do this the hard way. Might as well wait till night to enter the house. Alex pondered on what to do and decided to get his clothes shopping and socialising done early.


    Entering a clothing shop, Alex requested the tailor to get him the finest cloth he had. This was going to be his formal dress for when he met any nobles. Half an hour later he came out looking and feeling amazing.


    The clothes were stylish and extremely comfortable compared to his former clothes. He had abandoned his linen sack and managed to bargain for a leather one. This was the only set he was willing to buy, the rest would come from a cheap tailor. He couldn¡¯t and wouldn¡¯t fill out his whole wardrobe with frivolous clothing.


    After a quick visit to the baths and a barber shop, Alex felt a million times better than before. All the grime and the dirt from camping in the wilds had been cleansed, and for all intents and purposes he looked like a fine stallion.


    With the costume and appearance raised to the highest degree, Alex straightened his back and walked like he owned the place. His stride was taking him towards the inner city, where the cafes and restaurants of the rich were situated. Although he wasn¡¯t familiar with the streets and nooks of this district, Alex still made his way with the confidence of a man well versed with the streets.


    Alex had no idea where he was going, but when he saw a duo of guys concentrating over a chess board, he immediately swerved towards them. The cry from a woman whom he had frightened by his abrupt change in direction went unheard as his sole focus was on chess


    He marched into the coffee shop that was moderately filled with smartly dressed customers and cute waitresses. Not heeding to anything and not giving a single glance to anybody, he plopped his ass on the cushy seat next to the two players. His two rapiers were wrapped in a fine white cloth and were on his lap.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    A quick glance at the board told him that the red head was winning but that was all he could discern, he was a novice at this game at best. He had been getting better by playing against his clones while he was on the hunt, yet it was like playing against oneself, terribly inefficient and uneducative.


    ¡°Checkmate.¡± The red-haired of the duo said with a smile, his eyes full of mirth. His opponent sighed and slumped back into his chair, knitting his brows with his fingers.


    ¡°You are too good at this Eliot.¡± The opponent, a black haired ruby eyed teenager, said. He rummaged through a bag on his belt and passed over some silver coins.


    ¡°Hello gentleman, that was a good game by both of you.¡± Alex entered without preamble. Being shy was probably not going to go well with his plans to socialise his way into the good graces of these noblemen.


    ¡°Greetings, friend? Thank you for the compliment, this is a rather normal game between us.¡± The red haired teen replied with a smile. ¡°Excuse my manners, my name is Eliot Harkaw and this is my friend Jon Goldfield.¡±


    ¡°Good to meet you, I¡¯m Alexander¡­Null, it¡¯s great to make your acquaintance.¡± Alex quickly blinked away the awkward pause in the middle of the talk and continued. ¡°I¡¯m a beginner at this game, so I would be immensely grateful if you could give me some pointers if it isn¡¯t too much a bother?¡±


    The duo accepted and displayed an immense passion for the game, something Alex was exploiting like hell. At every opportunity he would learn tricks and openings from the games the two played. And the two kept on playing for hours on end, and Alex was swept along the ride as time swiftly passed him by.


    It was after numerous coffees and juices later that they finally separated on good terms, Alex ending up with a considerable knowledge of the game and now two very interesting nobles. Eve was coming down to signal the start of the night, where only Mercy and Skorn occupied the celestial sky.


    When Alex finally exited the inner city, he snuck into an alleyway and changed into his old clothes. He didn¡¯t want to stick out like a sore thumb. Ruffling his well kept hair into disarray, Alex snuck his way between the alleys and small holes, and found his way to the backdoor of his home. Tapping the door three times fast and two times slow - it was his special knock rhythm -, the door opened to reveal himself. Or better yet, his stay-at-home clone.


    Quickly rushing in, Alex closed the door behind him and sighed in relief. Mission, success.


    Alex plopped down into a stool and motioned for the clone to sit down too.


    ¡°Is mom doing ok?¡± He first got the critical question out of the way.


    ¡°She is doing as good as she always has been. Though the medicine will need to be restocked soon enough, I hope you got some coins from your trip.¡± The clone said.


    ¡°Coin won¡¯t be an issue for a little while. Give me a short report on what happened these last few days.¡± Alex ordered. He set down his backpack and began to organise the equipment he had taken with him.


    ¡°Some interesting things, and one that is what I would call a pretty good opportunity.¡± The clone paused to think and began again. ¡°Father Orkon went into seclusion for unknown reasons. Jacob joined the guard after his father finally gave him an awakening stone. Gretta down the street got evicted from her residence after not paying her dues.¡±


    Alex blinked in surprise. Jacob had finally gotten himself a real job? Huh, it only took him to awaken to make himself useful. Father Orkon heading into seclusion was odd but unimportant. Gretta being evicted was just funny, the old hag had been in that house for a decade and he didn¡¯t even know she rented it.


    ¡°And what¡¯s the opportunity?¡± Alex curiously asked.


    ¡°The city has been setting up militia training grounds in all the neighbourhood, heard that they have trainers and that every able-bodied man can join.¡± The clone smirked and Alex¡¯s gears slowly turned. He smiled wide when he finally figured it out, and he was ecstatic to try it.

 Lonely and Sad

    The rooster cried as Genesis peeked over the horizon. With it came a low drone of people waking up at its sound, and grumbles from those people who slept too late and now had to experience the horrendous squeak of Hilden''s rooster.


    A young man with brown hair and brown eyes, with a larger nose than most and two ears sticking a bit too much outward, was sleeping peacefully on the ground of his home. His eyes fluttered as he dreamed, and against common sense it wasn''t about a girl or lady someone of his age would fantasise about but it was a dream of his mom.


    She was healthy and walking again, his father was there too. They were happy, yet he felt that their happiness didn''t reach him. He was slowly, agonisingly, being swept aside and left in a small corner. Alone. Lonely.


    His dream ended with him slowly turning his head, and finding the corner housing a man''s head with eyes staring into his soul.


    Alex opened his eyes and gazed at the ceiling, feeling light emotions of loneliness from a rapidly dissipating dream. When he looked around the room, the feelings resurged and dominated him.


    Standing up, Alex moved over to his mother''s bedside and held her hand, gently squeezing it in reassurance.


    "Good morning mom. How are you feeling." Alex said, smile wide and eyes warm. His mother didn''t reply, her breathing staying steady and eyes firmly closed.


    "I''m doing great, Jacob joined the guard so he is finally doing something for himself." Alex snorted. Mother always disliked Jacob''s laziness. "Father Orkon is in seclusion, which is kind of awesome, wonder if he is getting any closer to enlightenment."


    The light of Genesis, orange in color, seeped through the thatch on his windows . The light grazed his teary eyes.


    "You know." He wiped away a tear trekking down his cheek. "It''s been hard without you, always was really, but the guy that broke in¡­that was horrible."


    He stopped to gather his wits and to pry away his hands from his mother''s soft hands. He knew he couldn''t hurt her with his strength alone, she was too strong for that.


    "I remember everything, his head keeps on staring and staring and staring." He closed his eyes. "I don''t know how to stop other than just to keep myself busy. The less free time I have, the less he appears."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Alex sighed and brushed away his mom''s crimson hair from her face. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.


    "I wish you were here mom." Alex stood up and readied himself for the day.


    He took his time cleaning the house, not really feeling like abusing his clones for such a mundane task. It wasn''t that the house was dirty and untidy, the house was clean and organised, yet the simple work gave him a sense of fulfilment.


    By the time he had finished, Genesis was well on its way up the sky and the residents of the neighbourhood were walking to their jobs. Alex put on his old clothes and went out, leaving a clone in his mother''s room just in case.


    When he exited, he came upon an eternal argument between Hilden and another resident. As always, Hilden''s coop had once again caused the other residents ire. Alex left with a chuckle.


    Travelling down the street and past the houses and entering the more commercial parts of the district, Alex rounded on a small alcove in a building. An old wooden sign hung over the shop, engraved on it were ''Amath''s Cloth''.


    "Hello!" Alex shouted as he entered the shop. It felt cramped inside, a thousand belts and dresses and trousers and pants hugged every wall and dangled from every surface. It was a consortium of tough cheap clothing.


    "Good morning to you lad, how can I help you?" A middle aged man came out of a small door from the back, his neck posing as a hanger for rope rulers.


    "I want a couple sets of different clothing for someone like me." Alex said, picking up a belt with a cool dragon emblem on it. It looked as if someone burned the engraving into the leather belt, yet it didn''t necessarily decrease its appearance. In his opinion, it made it even better.


    "And I want this belt." He said and the man gladly began to measure him. A short time later, he came out with half a dozen clothes, most of them were practical but the others were like the belt, cool to have.


    He next went to the carpenter and scheduled him to inspect the dimensions of his house in late Prime. The next stop was a mattress maker and he took needed dimensions to work.


    Now down with the normal stuff, Alex proceeded to carry on his plan of getting training for all of his clones. First he needed to scout each militia training field to gauge if anyone he knew attended it and how many people attended it.


    The fewer the people the less chance he could get recognized, also the less people around the more attention the trainers would allocate to him.


    The city''s outer rim had four distinct districts, with the slums being the largest and the industrial area - A whole host of seamstresses, blacksmiths and food makers - a close second. The final two were the two story homes of the moderately wealthy and merchants. The final district was the military district.


    Visiting the military district first, he noticed that the fields were filled more with grizzled veterans and sharp eyed instructors. The suburbs had relatively few fields, but it had one that had checked all his preferences. The commercial district had none and the slums had the most. Every neighbourhood gets at least one empty field and a trainer, who is mostly an experienced guard.


    He returned home and set himself for the visit from the carpenter. He moved his mother to his father''s room so the man doesn''t have any ideas. The carpenter was quick and friendly, getting the job done fast enough to let the mattress seller do his own measurements before Prime slept and Eve woke.


    Once he had seen them off with a promise to get the furniture ready for tomorrow, Alex contentedly flopped down into his mattress and slept early.


    Early in the morning, before Hilden''s rooster squeaked, Alex waved at the departing four clones as they headed to the train.


    This was the life, letting other you''s do the work for you.

 Supply Cut

    The clone watched as a few men entered a training field. The instructor has not arrived yet, but these people were already going at it with warming exercises.


    The whole field looked good for a place in the middle of the slum. Weapon racks with a majority of spears, swords and shields  A range long enough to practice a longbow in. A couple of sparing arenas.


    Overall, it was surprisingly well funded. The instructor that he saw yesterday looked and acted competent. So hopefully he can get some tips to his sword style, and maybe train with a bow.


    He had been thinking of training with a bow and acquiring a bow skill. Anyone with long ranged ability would easily pick him off with skirmish tactics like the gremlins demonstrated. Bows were reproducible in large numbers and the arrows were cheap.


    Yeah, he will have to discuss this with the original. For this moment though, he needs to focus on what''s in front of him. Stepping away from the corner he had been hiding behind, the clone hung his head down. He didn''t stare at the ground, that would imply weakness and someone would catch on to it, rather he stared at a part of the ground just a couple of steps in front of him.


    Staying incognito was critical, making any friends here would be a detriment considering the original wouldn''t know about. Of course he could recount everything about a person, but it would become increasingly complex the more contact there is with that person.


    Also, he didn''t want people to know his face too much. That would be¡­detrimental if someone recognised him.


    He would try to act forgettable, which isn''t his forte. He trusted that this was going to work even if his face was shown too much, he had planned to attend a single place only once every week just to make it harder for people to firmly stick him into their minds.


    Having finished his warm ups with a barely concealed smile, the clone picked up a sword and began swinging at a dummy.


    Just as Genesis was in its mid-stride, the trainer finally showed up. He was a white haired man with a scar that went from his skull down to his eyebrow. He would have looked fierce if it wasn''t for a pudgy belly and lack of muscle. Even with the lack of physique, the man carried himself in a way that gave the clone the chills.


    "Morning boys! I''ve had a talk with the captain, and he said that if you attend, you will be getting twenty coppers per session if I''ve seen that you deserve it." The trainer said and it got the whole crowd hollar. "Spread the word, and I better see how half the neighborhood on this field by tomorrow."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    That was good. It would make sense, spending a few hours for twenty coppers was a good deal for the average job. If this reward was enacted to all the training fields, that would mean he would be getting eighty coppers at the end of the day from all the other clones.


    ¡ª


    Alex put the last chair into its place and thanked the carpenter''s movers for their effort. His house was now properly furnished, just how he liked it. While his dad might have been a minimalist by force from his over expenditure on useless cures, Alex wanted good stuff since he knew the cure probably required too much money for these few furniture pieces to even make a dent in it.


    Maybe in the future, he could move out from the slums and get a proper two story home with a basement and a training room. It was a dream that could be fulfilled.


    Opening the new door to his mother''s room, Alex fed her the usual medicines and the usual businesses that people have. By the end of it, his stock of medicines were getting low and he will probably have to visit Doctor Wo this afternoon


    His father''s room, now changed to a training room, had the skylight actually windowed up. Now no kidnapper could use it to enter the house. He had also bought a couple of weights and training swords for his night clones.


    Satisfied, he put on a coat and exited his house. He walked leisurely along the road to Doctor Wo''s clinic.


    A while later, he turned a corner and saw a crowd gathering in front of Doctor Wo''s clinic. Speeding up his pace and reaching the back of the crowd, Alex tiptoed to see what got all these people gathering


    What he saw made his eyes widen. Doctor Wo was kneeling on the ground looking pitiful as a group of guards surrounding him. The lead guard had a scroll open and began reading off of it.


    "Doctor Wo Zang, graduate of the Colleges, is deemed guilty of corruption and insubordination. You have been found to be actively acting against your orders." The lead guard declared. "You will be sent to a College Tribunal, may you burn on Skorn''s hell for all of eternity."


    Wo looked devastated and shocked. He tried to utter words but couldn''t. Two guards carried him off towards a prison carriage and drove off.


    "Seize all possessions in the building, and be careful with the medicines!" The lead guard ordered the left over guards on site. He turned to the curious crowd and scowled. "Scram people and go back to your business!"


    The people swiftly dispersed and Alex was left shocked. Finding the eyes of someone he knew in one of the guards, Alex sneakily grabbed the guard to the side.


    "Jacob! What the fuck is going on?" Alex whispered harshly at his friend in armour.


    "Sup Alex. It is as you see it, Doctor Wo got caught." Jacob shrugged.


    "Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck. FUCK!" Alex breathed deeply and let out the steam from his nose. "How am I going to get the medicine then?"


    "Don''t think you can mate, all sane Doctors have been keeping their stocks sealed as per orders." Jacob''s eyes then sharpened. "Don''t tell me you don''t have any medicine left?"


    "I was just coming to get more! Fuck." Alex turned around and punched a wall. The pain was secondary to his distress.


    Jacob looked indecisive for a moment before he had a moment of resolve.


    "Alex, I can sneak off some medicine for you right now. Just tell me which ones you need and how they look like." Jacob looked behind him, his gaze on the lead guard.


    "Thanks man, I will never forget this." Alex gave Jacob a description of the medicines, and a while later Jacob sneaked back with a sack in his hand.


    "I''ve got all I could get without exposing myself, I need to go back quickly. The captain is only going to be distracted for so long." Jacob then swiftly ran back.


    Alex opened the sack and counted the medicines. There was only a week''s worth of medicines in here.


    He had a week to find a new source of medicine. His luck couldn''t have been more worse.

 Depression

    Alex stumbled back into his house in a daze. His gaze was far away and he collapsed into a chair right after he closed the door. The interior of his home now felt actually filled, with tables and chairs and couches, at this moment though it all felt empty. Desolate.


    The bag in which he had the medicines was carefully set down next to his mother''s bedside, a week''s worth of life saving medicine was all that was left. There was no other reliable source than Doctor Wo, and now he was imprisoned for the same thing that let his mother live.


    Who knew that the world would be so cruel as to shred the faint happiness he had from a successful adventure and from buying stuff from his own hard earned money. He chuckled darkly, of course, street shits like him were never destined for happiness. They would forever get fucked up the ass the moment they showed any real progress towards something better.


    The nobles, the gods and even fate itself conspired to never let them progress. It was their fate, no matter how strong he was, no matter how much he gained, they will always be someone to bring him down.


    Alex fell to his knees beside his mother, eyes hollow and lifeless. He hugged her for a long while, relieving the few memories he had left of her.


    "Mom, why do we always have to suffer?" He whispered and brushed away a tear. "Why can''t we just be happy?"


    He stayed there for a long while, contemplating existence. For a while Alex had these strange thoughts, of how all of his suffering could be solved if he just¡­ended himself. Death wasn''t so bad afterall, and the afterlife might have a chance of being pleasant, an amazing deal relative to the zero chance of his situation getting better.


    A noose would do it, or a magically sharp rapier to the brain. He would meet his mother and father there, finally get back his family and get all he ever wanted in life. It wasn''t a bad idea, he would make sure mother would go peacefully and he would¡­end it all.


    No one cared for him here, Jacob was an old friend but with his new life as a guard he would quickly forget about him and Father Orkon would understand, he always did.


    The rapier found itself into his lap and Alex smiled at its sharp edges. He casually brushed the edges and got cut. He remembered once, him and his father were eating stew on a silent night, both of them content at that moment.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He had asked him a question, it felt right at the time.


    "Dad, how do you keep going everyday? Knowing that you will never get what you want?" Alex had said.


    His father stayed silent for a long while, his eyes focused on Mercy outside.


    "Because I believe those who give up aren''t worthy of being called men. And when you are not a real man, you will have a tiny wee wee." He had started to laugh his head off while Alexander facepalmed.


    Alex laughed at the memory. It was stupid answer to a good question, yet it still had a bit of wisdom in it. His father had never given up until his death, years after years of hardship and he still continued chasing an ever elusive cure.


    And he, his son, was giving up not even a month after his death? What was he? A man with a little wee wee. Alex giggled and wiped away the tears.


    He stood up and straightened his clothes, today was not the day he gave up. Grabbing a pouch of coins filled with silvers, Alex exited his home and walked.


    A while later, he found himself in an affluent district. The houses here were two stories and the stores were filled with produce, it wasn''t rich per say but very well off. How he would have loved to delve deep into the fantasies of owning a house of this calibre, at this moment though he had another goal too urgent for the satisfaction of a whim


    There was a clinic in this district. It was reportedly staffed by several doctors and had fair prices, the only downside was that they exclusively serviced those with a special pass that required proof of ownership of a moderately wealthy property.. It was to brush off the rif rafe that was not profitable to the clinic.


    It also earned a deep enmity from the poor populace, but they couldn''t do anything against it. All clinics were supported by the Colleges, and by association, protected by the Colleges and their infamous mage kill teams.


    That didn''t deter Alex, with his new resolve he wasn''t going to be repulsed by a measly pass. And he knew that any man had a weakness to coin, so perhaps he could convince one of the doctors to pass him the medicine.


    Steeling himself and stopping his shaking hands, Alex swung his head up and walked confidently through the front door. What he saw when inside was an empty lounge and a fair woman behind a counter writing down on a scroll of paper.


    His footsteps echoed through the room, his new hard leather boots alerting his presence to the clerk. Her eyes found his and a smile quickly formed while checking out his garb. He wore his good clothes, just to make sure he would get through the door without getting dismissed straight out.


    "Hello Mister to Honder''s Clinic, how may we help you?" The lady stood from her chair and gave him her full attention.


    "I''m here to buy some medicine from your clinic." Aled stressed his point by leaning over the counter, the lady leaning away and her smile faltering.


    "I''m sorry to say this sir, but we can''t sell medicine without a Proof of Wealth and a special permission slip that has been required for a few weeks now." She said politely.


    "Look, I''m sure that there is a doctor working right now. So why don''t you just call him so I could talk to him, he will understand once we had time to converse." Alex tried to persuade the girl, yet she was hesitant. He looked the part of an affluent man and despite that he couldn''t show a proof.


    "I''m sorry but I can''t do that." The girl backed away as Alex grip on the counter began to make it creak. Suddenly, the tension in the room was broken by a door opening from the side. A young man wearing glasses came out and smiled at Alex.


    "No need to terrify the innocent lady, I''m sure we could resolve this issue over a cup of tea." The doctor then stepped aside and motioned him to enter through the door.


    Alex glared at the woman and entered the room.

 Warrior Set

    Alex entered an office room, with a desk filled with documents and booms. There was a plaque at the front of the desk with the name Doctor Helbrig. All along the walls were certificates denoting major achievements of a Vince Helrbig, and behind the desk was a portrait of the man posing.


    Doctor Helbrig rounded the desk and sat on his chair. He was young, and he looked groomed. His hands were adorned with several rings and his face was always carrying a confident cocky smile.


    "Hello, I''m Doctor Vincent Helbrig, top graduate from the College of Healing." He continued while intertwining his hands. "I can help fix whatever you have come here for. Poor Jessy can''t handle your energy"


    "Sorry Doctor for my rudeness, I am in a truly desperate affair. I only want to buy some medicine. I know that you have been ordered to preserve as much medicine as you can, but I''m sure you can spare a few." Alex said.


    "Now that I can''t fix without a special pass." The man leaned in his chair and smirked. "And I''m also sure that you are not as affluent as you may seem."


    "I''m sorry?" Alex crossed his brows and glared at the doctor.


    "I was a slum dweller as well before I used my genius to get out of that hole. I can smell the odor of the slums on you from several strides." Doctor Helbirg stated.


    "And does that change anything?" Alex slipped those words between gritted teeth.


    "Yes it does. I don''t want to break your hopes, but we can''t help you in this clinic." He briefly stopped. "I''m sorry."


    Alex glared at the man, and he rose from his chair. Here he thought the guy would have something useful to say, yet he only wanted to prolong the conversation.


    Why bring him into the room if he could have just thrown him out in the lounge. Alex didn''t look back as he exited the door, he wasn''t going to beg for it.


    Anyways, there were a dozen other clinics across the city, so how hard can it be to find a lenient doctor?


    Turns out, after a day of searching and routine trips to take care of his mother, that no doctor would ever want to sell him anything if he didn''t have a special. And the ironic thing is? The pass can only be obtained with a Proof of Wealth.


    Not only that, all Doctors were fearful of the Colleges and even their greed for all their money didn''t overpower the fear they felt for the educational institution.Stolen novel; please report.


    Alex returned home that day defeated and unbroken. He still had a single option left, and it was the most unsavoury.


    It took until nightfall for the clones to come back to the house. Each of them were haggard in their appearance, with their clothes dirtied with mud and sweat. One clone even had a black eye and a limp leg.


    They sat down on the chairs and immediately slumped down into the table. Alex was tempted to give them a bit of water, yet he refrained.Clean water was expensive enough, no need to spend it on people who will stop existing in a couple of minutes.


    "I hope there were no mishaps?" Alex questioned. If they encountered someone they knew, it could cascade into a big problem. He wanted to keep his gift secret, guessing it to be extremely powerful. He did not have a comparison of course, no fully fledged awakened would stroll along these streets, apart from Father Orkon and his comatose mother.


    He didn''t know how someone could exploit him for his skill, but he would rather be cautious than carefree on this sort of matter, considering it had his and his mother''s life on the line.


    "Sucks ass, no problem though." A clone said while laying his head on the table, the others nodded in unison.


    "Oh yeah, I got good news." The clone dug around his pockets and deposited twenty coppers on the table. "The training yard I am at gives coins to whoever trains well."


    The other clones also replicated the same movement and put sixty more coppers on the table, now totalling eighty coppers. A considerable sum for a day''s work, would have satisfied a family of four for a week if they were frugal.


    "That''s good, no one can refuse more coins for free." Alex calculated the weekly sum, if there is a constant eighty coppers a day, that would mean there would be five hundred and sixty copper coins.


    Prior to today, that would have sustained his medical expenses. Now, he couldn''t even spend it on anything. He had a hunch on where he could spend it, it was a hard decision to go there.


    "Anyhow, you guys got any experiences or ideas you want to share?" Alex asked. He had an understanding of these clones, that the moment that they separated from him they would experience and glean different insights than he can.


    It was the kind of philosophical thinking that he would have learned if he had continued his education. After his destitution, he was glad that he had learned his letters and numbers, maths had an amazing effect on the perspective of how to manage a household''s finances.


    His brief stint in academia had also given him the vocabulary to actually converse with the affluent in their supposed sophisticated tongue. Idiots, they think using big words makes them different from the ''dim-minded'' poor.


    "I''ve been thinking. Since we lack any long range attacks, can we pick up the bow and arrow? The training fields have the necessary equipment for it." A clone suggested.


    "Yeah, since we are already aiming to be a warrior, why not get everything a warrior has?" The clone gestured with his arms. "Just think of it, we can have structures similar to legions and teams. We can have three to five man teams as a base. With two long range attackers, a support and two front liners, we can beat any man or monster."


    Having a structure similar to an army? It was a good idea on the principle that there would be a great growth in the amount of clones that Alex can sustain. It would solve the problem of needing other people to fill in the gaps in key positions, but it also presents a problem on equipping every clone.


    "It''s a good idea. We will file the squad idea for when there are more clones. I''m approving of inserting a bow related skill." Alex agreed. Bows were a good addition to his arsenal, he can more easily prevent skirmish tactics used by the gremlins.


    "Yeah I also got something to add. The training in my yard was yapping all day long about shields. Quote ''If you don''t use a shield, you are a cuck who needs his dick cut.'' Let us just say it stuck into my head." Another clone said. Alex rose his brows, finding the odd quote rhymed.


    "Alright that is also approved." Alex motioned for the clones to disrobe, it seemed like they had nothing more to add. "Tomorrow, I will assign each one of us to train with the bow, sword, shield and our body."


    "Boss, you don''t need to tell us." The clone smiled before Alex made him smoke.


    He almost forgets that the clones were actually himself. His future clones would have his memories and plans, and these deleted clones wouldn''t need to be informed of the plans.


    Oh gods this is bringing him a headache just by thinking about it.

 Training

    The training yard was bustling today due to yesterday''s announcement, all the unemployed bums of the slums wanted to get their hands on easy coins by lazing around. Of course they would assume they could just sit and hide from the trainer until the end of the day and get their paycheck.


    In response to the surge in trainees, there were more guards and trainers in the field. This also made it pretty much impossible for the lazy ones to commit a fast one on the whole ordeal.


    Bad for them, kind of good and bad for him. Further scrutiny would mean more helpful tips and tricks, while on the other hand it would mean more people would recognize his face.


    Nonetheless, the benefits were too good for the risk. Yet the clone that had visited this place, a field different from the one he had trained in yesterday, did not think that this was a good experience.


    That was because he was the body training clone, tasked with the unenviable task of running till either his lungs smoulder or his heart erupts. And when running was done with, it was served next with a dish of boulder pushing that could rip his muscles to shreds and an extra serving of splits.


    He might be exaggerating, though he was rather disgruntled. If he looked at the bright side of all this, no one would remember his face because well, they would be too tired to even think!


    The clone snickered and gasped when a shout came from behind him.


    "You laughing, you little bitch?" A huge man appeared behind him and eclipsed him. He had battle scars and a hideous scowl. "This an afternoon jog for you? Run faster or I will shove a pitchfork up your tiny ass!"


    The clone bolted, quickly taking the lead among the hundreds of other men. With his current level in [Physical Conditioning], he had quite an upper hand compared to the other people. Though those who had trained their bodies for months or years could easily surpass him.


    While running, he estimated that by the time he reached level one hundred on his [Physical Conditioning] skill, he would achieve the peak of what a human can do. So far he had observed a steady growth in strength, and with a little bit of logic he concluded that result.


    Those same results made him a bit sad, he wasn''t even going to be able to jump to the clouds like in the stories. Maybe when he acquired his class he could do that.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¨C


    "...breath." The woman''s soft voice floated into his ear. Her breath so close it tickled him, at that moment he didn''t care for the almost intimate distance.


    All that was in his mind was the bow, the arrow and the target. It took a unique kind of mindset for the bow and arrow. Well, he looked at it that way, perhaps others experienced it differently.


    For him, it was an utter focus state, where the only things that existed were the bow and the target. The winds were just an obstacle, the distance a math question he could easily solve.


    It was invigorating and freeing. His worries about everything just kind of¡­faded away, shunted to the background. He loved it even though his trainer warned of such a state, as it will only lead to his death in the wild.


    He didn''t care, and when the twang of the bow rang out, he smiled.


    "Great job, just off the bullseye." The trainer, a tall woman wielding a bow longer than her prestigious height said. Alex wanted not to familiarise with anyone, but this girl or lady was too wise and beautiful to not do so.


    She didn''t seem like a soldier, and that conception immediately changed when a young man got his hands too close and had to eat dirt several times.


    While her attention was switched to other trainees, the clone sneakily took a peek at his identity book. There at the end of the page was the [Marksmanship] skill with its skill requirements fulfilled.


    Along it was oddly another skill he hadn''t seen before, [Singular Focus]. He wasn''t able to look up its description before the woman returned back to him and continued to personally teach him.


    Man, he bet he had it better than the other cloned. Pretty lady at his side and a natural talent in archery, what can a man hope for more?


    ¨C


    The two other clones were tasked with the sword training and shield training, but these two disciplines are mainly practiced in unison. Yet there was a distinct difference in how these two clones trained.


    One was dealing with spars and a singular opponent. It was an eye opening experience, as they were far more talented and skillful trainees than him even though he had several levels in the related skills.


    The other clone was dealing with a whole other beast, which was mass combat and team fighting scenarios. Although it wasn''t very rewarding in experience terms, it still gave him a foundation on discipline, team tactics and leadership.


    This will definitely have to be directly transmitted to the original, as it would be quite foolish to renege on such valuable information. He had also unlocked a lot of skills that were intriguing to say the least.


    [Leadership] was¡­a big fucking deal depending on if it interprets his clones as subordinates. It minimally boosted the competency of his clones. What competency entailed he didn''t know, but he damn sure wanted it anyway.


    Another skill was [Battle Flow], from its description he concluded that it gave an extra sense on how the battle is going. And he guessed in higher levels it would give him more and more information on his teammates and his enemies.


    This was definitely an extremely profitable venture, just [Leadership] alone was worth the risk. He still longer for the now hundreds of skills that required mana, but now he was satisfied with what he had discovered.


    There may be better options, some obscure skill in an obscure skill book with obscure requirements, he liked what he had now.


    It perfectly suited what he wanted to be, a warrior commander.


    A one man army.


    Well technically yes but actually no. Cool statement though.


    Alex, unaware of the progress of his clones, was doing boring house chores and waiting until the Lord''s Offices to open up.

 No Luck

    Alex walked the roads and inspected its newly repaired state. Apparently, at the dead of night, someone in the neighborhood saw a squadron of soldiers escorting a mage that repaired the pothole covered road and reinforced it.


    The good parts of this were obvious, but the unfortunate bit is that the road now looked more expensive than the houses it led through. That was kind of seriously sad. If this stone mage could repair a road this big in a night, couldn''t he spare a day or two to build some strong and sturdy stone houses?


    Why do people even have to pay for such a basic necessity when its solution was just so close. Perhaps his opinion on this matter was clouding his judgement, the earth mage may be required for far more important tasks.


    Yet, he knew that they were powerful awakened just sitting comfortably inside the inner city partying and fucking.


    Anyway, the road''s practical reconstruction was obviously for military uses and not for the benefit of its frequent users. While the slums were not reputable and repulsed the higher ranked military, it was still a large part of the city. That meant that the shortest path between certain parts of the walls and the military district was through the slums.


    It was good for his feet and good for the people with a trolley and donkey, as they were flying through the streets uncaring for the danger on the people walking on said road.


    Looking at roads wasn''t his objective for today though, he had sent his clones to train this morning in their disciplines and took care of any chores in the house. His mom was taken care of, but it will probably be prudent to return before Genesis sets and Prime rises.


    Wearing his best clothes, he headed towards the Lord''s Office. It was one of many administrative buildings with the same name; they generally dealt with administrative stuff.


    He really didn''t know what they did there but what he definitely knew was that the permits were granted there. Alex wanted to see if it was possible for him to get a Proof of Wealth or Significant Ownership of Wealth document if you wanted to be coy about it.


    There was a significant chance that there was a fee for such a document and an even stronger chance of not getting the other special pass.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    He had to try though, if he didn''t he may as well say he gave up. That or go to his least favorite place in the world, the black market. He would leave that for his last desperate attempt, as any products sourced from there had questionable quality.


    His mind wandered but his body kept walking until he reached a marble building with uniform pillars of white clean marble taller than three men holding up a lavishly decorated roof. On the front of the roof words were engraved, "Southern Lowland Administrative Court."


    Fixing up the wrinkles in his clones, Alex walked through an open double steel door. The first thing he sensed was the smell of paper and the next thing was a low hum of quill and paper. There was an orderly line of fine dressed men waiting for a clear to process then and a disorderly mass of peasants pushing and shoving to take the first place.


    Shying away from the chaos, Alex stepped behind the orderly line, blending into the good dressed crowd. He still probably needed a shower to get rid off the smell of the slums that the doctor from the clinic had apparently smelled.


    That guy''s great grandmother had been probably fucked by a bloodhound, his nose was just too keen. That or Alex''s nose was busted from the shit aroma of the slums, he didn''t know which one was worse.


    The clerks were clearly experienced, in a short while the person in front of him had finished what he came here for and Alex advanced towards the marble counter.


    "Greetings." Alex wanted to extend his hand for a shake but refrained at the last moment. The clerk''s hands were full and it would quickly become awkward if he asked for a handshake.


    The clerk didn''t stop his work on the documents in his hands, his head bobbing for him to start.


    "I''ve come to inquire about getting a Proof of Wealth and a special pass?" Alex asked, quickly realising that he didn''t know what the special pass was called.


    "A deed for a property not in the southern districts or be a member of the Colleges or be a member of the guilds." The clerk recited, almost all of his attention still on the documents. "And the emergency medical pass needs firm evidence of a deadly health condition verified by a College affiliated healer and an Officer of the guard."


    "And-" "I forgot, you need to pay a gold coin for the processing fees."


    Alex slumped his shoulders. The faint hope in his heart puttered, replaced by the dread of being left with very few unpalatable options. He briefly contemplated begging; he instantly dismissed it. His mother did not raise a loser.


    And his father would have not liked it. Even until his death, he never begged.


    His return back home was not swift, as every step was dragged along. His new pants were being dirtied. He didn''t really care. Alex''s mind lit up with an idea, and he quickly moved towards the central market square.


    There he saw tons of trolleys filled with all kinds of local produce next to the legitimate stores that sold better quality food. Among the many vendors he recognized the faces of the farmer family he had encountered in front of the gate while they were cooking corn on their donkey powered trolley. The girl Juillet or whatever her name is used her female visage to attract customers.


    His destination was a small scroll and book store. He asked a question and came out of the store even more sad. Apparently all medical texts were seized upon the creation of the Colleges, leaving no reading material for him to perhaps understand and maybe, maybe be able to create the medicines his mother needed.


    That clearly didn''t pan out, and all he had left was¡­the black market.


    Damn, he hated that place.

 Collusion

    Taking a leave from the market square, Alex went back to his home defeated. Since there were no medical texts and no doctors to teach him or to even entertain him outside of the colleges, the next logical step would be to join the colleges and learn the medical knowledge he needed from there.


    It would really be the best decision right now. Despite that he knew that the requirements to enter the colleges were strict and he would have to travel to the capital to attend. Of course he can send one of his clones, but by the time he reaches the capital, his mom will already be buried three strides under the earth.


    No, the colleges weren''t the solution right now. Maybe joining a guild was worth it. He took care of the usual house matters and headed towards the Vanquisher''s Guild.


    The place was bustling, several teams of awakened going out to hunt or depositing their gains, many of them be they mages, rangers or warriors were coated in the blood of monsters or their own.


    The last time he had come here almost a week ago, it wasn''t this active and the clerks were more patient with him. Now though they quickly dismissed him with the information that the fee to enter the guild was a gold coin. In total he needed at least two gold coins to get the help of the clinics.


    He currently had half a gold coin, and if he stretched his skills and worked tirelessly, summoning five clones or six clones depending on how good the training was, he could gather enough hunting gremlins and prioritized precious herbs.


    Maybe he won''t have to visit the black market after all.


    In the night, he was incredibly happy to discover the amount of good skills his clones discovered.


    [Battle Flow], [Marksmanship], [Shield Proficiency], [Leadership] and [Singular Focus] were instantly inserted into his skill slots, his other skills also levelled greatly.


    [Swordsmanship is now Level 25]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    [Swordsmanship is now Level 35]


    [Physical Conditioning is now Level 20]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    [Physical Conditioning is now Level 41]


    [Natural Healing is now Level 19]Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    [Natural Healing is now Level 20]


    [Name: Alex Hunter / Age: 16 / Species: Human]


    [Class: Unformed / Physical Status: Healthy / Magical Status: Null.]


    [General Skills: (8/15)]


    [Swordsmanship, Level 35]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 41]


    [Natural Healing, Level 20]


    [Battle Flow, Level 7]


    [Leadership, Level 7]


    [Shield Proficiency, Level 8]


    [Marksmanship, Level 4]


    [Singular Focus, Level 2]


    He was confident now about acquiring enough coins. That night he slept peacefully. He should have known that it wasn¡¯t going to be that easy.


    A loud banging on the door woke him up. He blearily wiped away the sleepiness from his eyes. He reached the door and peaked through a tiny hole made through it.


    Alex snapped to attention, there was a squadron of guards in front of his home, wearing armor and looking menacing. He took two steps backwards and immediately wanted to flee.


    "Alexander Hunter, we aren''t here to hurt you. If you try to escape you will be branded an outlaw and sentenced to death." The guard at the front shouted in the wake of Genesis, such a sound this early in the morning had the effect of waking up the whole neighborhood.


    Alex gritted his teeth and opened the door. He hesitantly stepped outside, ready to summon his clones to give him time to escape with his mother.


    "What do you want?" He growled. On the inside he was beating himself for not getting the twin rapiers first. Would have been handy for the intimidation factor alone.


    "Good Genesis to you Alexander, Judge Headith has declared you guilty for collusion with the disgraced Doctor Wo." The head guard recited from a scroll in his hands. "The Jury has deliberated on your situation and ruled that you be given leniency. You have to handover five gold coins in  restoration fees for the medicines you had obtained illegally."


    "What the fuck do you mean I''m guilty of collusion?" Alex shouted and stepped into the guard''s face. "And even if I was guilty the medicines wouldn''t  surpass half a gold coin."


    "This sentence isn''t negotiable. Good tidings and may you not cross paths with justice again." The guard saluted and handed over the scroll. He and his goons left the neighborhood.


    The scroll went into more detail on his charges. It included all the medicines he had bought illegally baring the one Jacob had given him.


    It also stated that the payment has to be delivered by the week, two gold coins were achievable if he worked non stop, but five good was too much.


    He thought of fleeing, yet he would have to abandon ever coming back to the empire and declared an outlaw,  exiling him from the civilized world.


    No, he can''t run. He had to pay this, get seven gold coins somehow. There was nothing that could gain him that kind of coin in under a week.


    Nothing legal at least. He...he could steal it. Yeah, he could steal it. Why need proof of wealth if he can just take the medicine. Why does he need to go hunt in the wild and break his ass working when he can take it from the people that had more wealth than they can count.


    That clinic, Honder¡¯s Clinic, had multiple doctors and served tons of customers, the owner probably stored the coins in a vault.


    It would be even better if each doctor stored their coins in their offices.


    He will also need to scout out the building, memorize the schedules, determine the storage location of the medicine and coins. Lots of planning that needed to be done inside.  Entering back into his home, Alex put five sets of clothes in a backpack and walked towards a place where no one could see him.


    He summoned his clones and they wore the clothes. Alex sent them to scout and tail the doctors of the company.


    A figment of a plan had already taken shape in his mind. If he can steal from the clinic, he might as well steal from the doctors too. They won''t be damaged too much and they can recover quickly.


    He needed to purchase five masks from shops that wouldn''t ask or talk. Alex himself would need to stay in the open, as having an alibi would be a major deterrent from anyone suspecting him.

 Six Heads Better Than One

    Alex did not do anything out of the norm the whole day. He stayed at home, took care of his and his mother''s needs. While it was not glamorous or exciting, it had to be done.


    After the ingestion of skill experience over several days of training, Alex felt amazing. His strength and endurance were just off the charts judging by how he cleaned the whole house in half the time, his sword thrusts and blocks were more natural.


    This training speed could easily get him to level one hundred in those two skills in a week or two. He just had to fix his problems first.


    It wasn''t until after Eve had set that the clones he had sent to scout came back. They looked unharmed and unbothered. Alex motioned them to sit on the chairs around his new table.


    "Let''s get down to business. First, I need information on the clinic building." Alex said while crossing his hands together. How he wished at this moment he had a map of the city.


    "The building is three stories high and has tons of windows. I could basically spy on the whole interior. Anyway, I don''t think there is a basement." The clones then contemplated for a bit. "And if my measurements are right, there shouldn''t be any large medicine vault on the first floor. It''s probably on the second or third floor, though I''m betting on the third floor."


    "And how many employees?" Alex questioned, noting down the details on a paper.


    "I''ve seen four doctors on duty so far and two clerks. All of their offices are on the first floor and they do their medical examinations on the second or third floor." The clone continued. "They come to work at Genesis''s late stride and leave work at Eve''s mid stride at roughly the same time."


    Alex nodded. This was good, the more regular their schedules are the better chances of this going to plan.


    "Alright, good job. You guys found out where the doctors live?" Alex switched to the other four clones. He was lucky that the numbers of doctors didn''t exceed the amount of clones he could put out.


    "I think they all live reasonably close by to the clinic?" A clone raised a question and looked at the other three, they also nodded. "Well, the house the doctor I was following was ordinary. Could easily get in through the windows and steal everything from it."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Alex nodded and was going to speak before being interrupted by a clone.


    "Yeah they are easy to get into, but the guards are doing lots of patrols there. I would bet they could get there quickly." The clone added.


    "That would be a good thing actually, the guards that would be patrolling around the clinic would head towards the houses when we rob them." The clone. "It will serve as a distraction."


    "What would serve as a better distraction is if we lit up the whole house on fire. The whole neighbourhood would be at risk of burning even though most of them are made of stone." The clone smiled viciously.


    Alex furrowed his brows, that was a good distraction but a terrible idea. While stealing as a necessity was not wrong to an extent, willfully burning someone just to cause a distraction was not great.


    It would also paint a greater target on his back. A thief was expected and an arsonist was to be hunted.


    "No, we will not burn down anything. It will risk other people''s lives needlessly." Alex ordered. "Alright, the attack plan is clear for me."


    He stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts and continued.


    "Just before the doctors come out of the clinic, you guys break into their homes, grab as much coins as you can, and then run and hide them at an agreed upon drop site." Alex twirled the quill in his hands. "After depositing the loot, you will head towards the clinic and wait with the fifth clone for the doctors to go back to their homes. Once that happens, the fifth clone will sneak in to the second or third floor, drop the medicines needed through a window to a clone on the ground, and repeat."


    "Once all clones are gone to deposit the medicines, the fifth clone will steal the coins available and leave the building. Is that clear?" Alex said.


    "Why are you telling us this? Aren''t you going to cancel us?" A clone said confusedly.


    "No, you guys know the houses and locations better than I do. You will stay existing." Alex said. "Now please make as many holes in this plan as you can, six heads are better than one."


    The clones and Alex went into deep thought over the plan. It was several moments later that a clone started to talk.


    "What if we get unlucky and get captured? If we get unmasked, it''s all over. And if you wanted to cancel us, how would you know we are going to be captured?" The clone said.


    "How about a poison we can ingest if we face capture? If it''s quick, it can do the job of cancelling us." Another clone murmured and the others recoiled.


    "It''s¡­a solution, and I think the only solution. I will try to buy the quickest painless poison from the balck market." Alex put his hands into his face, dreading the journey of buying poisons. He chuckled, his life is crazy.


    "And you Alex, what will you do for an alibi?" The clones asked.


    "I''m thinking of going to the training yards, especially the one with the archer woman. The clone who trained with her said she paid him special attention." Alex bit his lip and continued. "She can verify my existence, along with the other trainees there.*


    The clones nodded and relaxed.


    "Alright guys, rest for the night and prepare for tomorrow. Stay inside my father''s room so people can''t see you and don''t exit the house while I''m out buying the necessary supplies." Alex said and sat up to prepare them the blankets he had in spare to sleep on.

 Masks and Poisons

    The next day before Genesis took it''s early stride Alex checked on the clones in his father''s room, finding them mulling over a chess board. Chuckling, he shook his head and entered the room.


    "Guys, you should get out before the neighbors wake up. I will deliver the masks and poison to the old cemetery''s abandoned gravekeeper''s house." Alex said and the clones swiftly streamed out of the house.


    Alex took care of some household chores till Genesis reached its late stride and headed out to shop.


    Manwell was an old man that ran a shop in the slums, he was a bit senile from the age but his hands were still brilliant with wood shavers. He entered his store, greeted the slightly maddened old man. After a minute of painfully reassuring the old man that his mother would visit him again, Alex bought ten wooden masks for the low price of a silver coin.


    Putting one on was easy with a nifty adjustable leather strap. It was oddly comfortable for a mask made of wood. His vision was a bit occluded but it was worth the benefits.


    Running back to the graveyard, he found the clones chatting while hiding in the gravekeeper''s house. He gave each of them a mask and told them to get comfortable with it.


    His next destination was the rather obscure black market. That''s why he was now walking in the least striking clothes he had.


    The only reason he knew there was a black market at all was because of Jacob, who had in his unemployed boredom explored the city and discovered basically everything there was to discover.


    One night, before his father died, Alex and Jacob were a bit adventurous and decided to give the ominous black market a visit. It was located in the worst neighborhood of the city, where various gangs ruled and the guards dared not to enter without military help.


    The black market was surrounded by deceptively poorly constructed housing, and with a bit of jumping over walls, he and Jacob had entered its premises.


    When they found themselves there, they were surprised by the rather orderly structure of the whole place. Rows of shops and stands were organised in a small square the size of a training field.


    Though the contents of such shops were bizarre, ''Mercantiles Cursed Stones'', ''Cheap Awakening Stones!'' and on and on it went. Whether you wanted sexual items or illegal mind medicines - drugs basically - you could buy it there.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    That was all expected for the two young men, what they didn''t predict was the caravans of animals, monkeys, human and non-human slaves. In their naivety they asked a caravan guard who those human looking people with beaks and dog ears were, the guard responded with a derisive tone.


    "Babes from moms who don''t care if an animal fucks''em."


    And besides the caravan was a small stall selling¡­stuff that shouldn''t be mentioned.


    Those were the bad memories, it was why he was reluctant to visit this shit hole. While it may have looked civilised on the outside, it was rotten to the core.


    Months later, the place looked as it did back then, and with relief he saw that there was no caravan or parts merchant.


    Alex stayed unnoticeable and entered a shop called ''Myriad Medical Miracles'', a pompous name for a shop that sold medicine of questionable quality. The insides felt cramped and moldy from the tightly packed book shelves filled with multicolored vials.


    A crone was sitting on a rocking chair and smoking from a bamboo pipe. She noticed him and waved him over.


    "Hello young man to my shop, what troubles such a handsome man like you." The old woman leered while checking him out. Alex stayed dead pan. In his opinion he wasn''t that handsome, yet that wasn''t a problem, he was currently wearing a mask.


    So how the fuck did this old bitch even know he was handsome or not?


    "I''m looking for a poison, something quick and painless." Alex said, putting his hands behind his back and strolling around the shop.


    "Oh, poison. You''re gonna kill someone my friend?" Alex refused to answer and the crone continued. "We have a few, they range in price wildly depending on what you want them to do."


    "I want to kill myself." Alex said plainly, getting an astonished hum from the crone. What better reason than the truth.


    "Mad one are you? Alright." The old man then breathed in and shouted. "ELIZABETH YOU USELESS WENCH, GET SOLIVAN''S TINCTURE!"


    The aforementioned Elizabeth stumbled out of a backroom, holding her moop of red hair and carrying two vials. She wore rather revealing clothes, and from what the crone called her, she was a prostitute.


    "Sorry for the disturbance my boy, this is Solivan''s tincture. It''s a two step poison, the first vial contains dormant poison and the second vial contains the activator." The crone held out two vials, one blue and one red. "The blue vial is the dormant poison, you drink it one stride before your suicide. The red vial you can drink at any time after the first stride, it''s effective for a whole day."


    Alex took the vials from her hands and inspected them. He will have to test this on one of his clones just to be sure but he takes the old crone as a liar, just a bit of a creepy old bitch.


    "How much?" Alex said.


    "Ten silvers for a handsome man like you." The old crone laughed and hit Elizabeth on the hip with her bamboo pipe, hissing. "Show your body you bloody wench or you be getting any sleep tonight."


    Elizabeth, so far silent, started showing more cleavage and doing sexual poses. Alex''s face palmed and sighed in disappointment.


    "Stop it with your petty plays. Such poison is barely worth a silver coin, no fucker with a brain will buy it from you." Alex retorted, firmly setting his eyes on the crone and avoiding the distraction.


    "Maybe he''s a sword swallower?" The crone said and gave him a crooked smile. "Deal! How many sets do you need?"


    "I will buy five sets." Alex said and Elizabeth stopped her show and brought five sets of Solivan''s Tincture. He gave the old crone five silvers and she bade him farewell.


    His return to the graveyard house was undisturbed and his plan nearing implementation.

 Heist

    Eve''s sunshine blasted the residents of Earlshire, the woman crowding around, gossiping and chuckling, swiftly harboring shelter beneath their stone houses.


    Behind these houses were backyards, where a woman can dry her clothes on wires or better yet plant a small garden for hardy plants like carrots and potatoes.


    Shelly was one of many women around here, a housewife to a brilliant Doctor that she had the luck of capturing. She lived an honest life, cleaning her small pretty house and taking care of her joy, her baby.


    She had wrung her clothes at Genesis''s rise outside to dry, and now at Eve''s plea, she came to collect them. Her backyard was expensive and decorated with a flower vine that she painstakingly cultivated.


    Humming a merry tone, she carried on her task. Suddenly, from inside her own house, she heard her little joy''s cries. Her heart beat faster out of instincts and a small bit of worry wormed its way into her mind.


    Shelly put down her clothes basket and marched her way to her home. Opening the back door, the first thing she noticed was a window with an open hatch that she was sure was closed.


    She grabbed a butcher''s blade from her kitchen and ran up the stairs. Her baby was still screaming, which was good, it meant he was still here.


    The door to the master bedroom was open wide, and the sight that greeted her filled her with dread. The whole room was turned upside down. Every item was strewn around like a hurricane went through the room.


    Her baby, sitting in his crib, was unhurt. She quickly carried him onto her arms and pacified him. Her eyes widened once they landed on the bottom of the wardrobe.


    Where Jacobson had put his strongbox filled with their life savings and her mother''s heirloom jewellery, was nothing. She collapsed into her knees and tried very hard not to follow her baby''s example.


    ¨C


    "A dud here too, the doctor fucks his wife too many times." A clone snorted. "The kids nearly found me when I was sneaking behind the fence."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "I guess that''s only two of us to get anything out of this." Another clone, carrying a strong box in his arms said. "Where should we put this loot?"


    "I''ve been thinking about it, and you know the old dried up well near here? Just put the loot in the bucket and bring it down." The fifth clone said. "No one uses it anyway. Be quick though, its almost time for the fuckers inside to retire."


    The clone gathered the strong box and a hand bag full of coins and sprinted towards the old well. After a few moments, he returned and nodded to them.


    The clones readied themselves, strapping their masks tighter and making sure their blue vial was close at hand. They had brought with them no weaponry, they didn''t need it.


    Also it was too expensive and too attention grabbing to buy five swords.


    They waited in an alleyway that led to the clinic. At this late in the evening, the traffic was low and the light never made it too far into these small spaces between buildings.


    From their vantage point, they spotted a guard running in the street and barging into the clinic. Moments later, all of the workers and customers, doctors and clerks included, ran out of the building. The clerks did not forget to lock the doors behind them and close the window hatches.


    Another short moment later, after the doctors disappeared to tend to their pillaged houses, a clone came out of the alleyway with a rock in hand.


    He withdrew his hand far back and launched the rock towards a glass window on the second floor. The sharp ting of broken glass cascaded through the street. The few people around quickly dispersed once they saw a man with a mask.


    The clone ran at the wall below the window, and when he reached it he jumped and kicked his leg against the wall to get the extra height for his arms to find grip on the window ledge.


    Pulling on his strength, the clone leveraged himself with his arms and flung himself into the window, uncaring for the sharp edges. Inside, he was shaking uncontrollably because he had directly entered the medicinal storage room.


    Slamming his excitement down, he hurriedly put his mother''s medicine interspersed with random medicine into a bag and motioned for one of the clones outside to stand below the window.


    He dropped the bag and the clone caught it. He returned to filling up another beg when he saw the clone bolt with the filled bag on his shoulder. The next three bags went flawlessly, the clones quickly disappearing once they had a filled bag in their hands.


    Just as he was going to search for where the money was stored, the clone saw three dots in the sky quickly approaching. Squinting his eyes, he vaguely saw that they were figures wearing billowing robes.


    Realization set in his eyes and he unholstered his blue vial. He uncorked it and lifted his mask to reveal his mouth with the lip of the vial on his lips.


    He stopped drinking it just to see this mythical mage kill team in person before his death. What greeted him was a man with blue flames coming out of his four limbs, a woman with blood red bat wings on her back and the last was an old man flying with no indication of how.


    That was worth it. Man he wished he had magic, he would be flying using fire by now.


    The clone chuckled and downed the vial. Several instants later, just as the mages reached the clinic, the clone exploded into smoke and left only his equipment and clothes in his wake.


    "What the fuck was that?" The mage with blue flames shouted, seemingly bewildered.


    "AH YES! We actually have an exciting case, let''s go!" The woman floated down and landed on the window ledge.

 Reward

    "Odd." The old man muttered as he landed on the first floor of the clinic. His eyes were glowing an azure blue as he looked at the unseen. "No remnant magical signature."


    "OH EVEN BETTER! A skilled super duper spy that wants to undermine our majesty''s influence through destruction of the medicines that will help our brave soldiers in the battle against the monsters!" Only the shortness of breath stopped the bat winged woman from continuing on her rant.


    "That might actually be a good guess to be honest." The man cloaked in blue flames said as he inspected the whole room. "The trick with the smoke disappearance really hints at teleportation magic."


    "No." The old man said as he picked up a glass shard. "No teleportation magic."


    "Albert! Find me a hair and I will get you your super duper spy!" The woman jumped excitedly while smashing her face against the ground searching for hairs.


    Albert, the old man, picked up the clothes on the ground with an invisible force. With a flick of his fingers, the clothes disintegrated into fibers.


    "No hairs. No dead tissue." Albert said, his eyes brows crossed as he inspected each individual strand of linen.


    "I think we should worry Angelica, we might have to depend on¡­" The blue flames mage stopped for a moment to shudder. "Mundane methods."


    Angelica adopted a frightened expression and turned her head mechanically towards Hewert, the blue flame mage.


    "No we aren''t going to do that! Do you know how much time we have to spend on this one case if we depend on them? Weeks! Weeks!" Angelica turned her head to Albert with a pleading expression. "Come on old man, you gotta have an old trick up your absurdly long sleeves right? Right?"


    "No mana signature. Incredibly odd, impossible to ascertain perpetrators whereabouts." The old mage stated and despair fell on Angelica''s face.


    At night, the mage team and the guards had rounded up all the witnesses. To their misfortune, they couldn''t catch any of the thieves.


    A guard was finishing up his interrogation of the witness and headed towards the mage trio. He saluted and waited.


    "At ease, what have you gathered." Hewert ordered naturally, and the other two quickly set their eyes on the guard.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "From what I can gather, this was a group of thieves who stole from employee''s of Honder''s Clinic and the clinic itself." The guard grabbed a small book from his pocket. "They are at least two thieves, but probably three to four. They successfully stole from two houses belonging to the Doctors belonging to this clinic."


    "And a possible motive?" Hewert asked, his hands occupied with trying to stop Angelica from blowing up into a rant.


    "Money as the main motivation factor. Though there is a possibility of the motive being the medicines stolen since the thieves only targeted the medicines while robbing the clinic." The guard quickly said.


    "Good work, you are dismissed." Hewert ordered and finally let Angelica speak.


    "I SWEAR! It''s definitely a super spy, only super spies can make Albert say odd so many times!" Angelica spread her wings and flew around.


    "Possibility of capture is low. Not enough information." Albert stated.


    "Indeed. This is quite unusual. A thief with a perfect mana signature and hair erasure is a rarity." Hewert scratched his chin and inspected the vial that the thief had drunk from. "We will have to report this to the Colleges, request more assistance and analysis on this vial."


    Alex had returned home after a gruelling day in the training yard. He plopped down on a chair and slumped down onto his table.


    His face smacked against a small piece of paper. Eyeing the paper, he saw that it was a memo left by his clones.


    ''Mission Success, we sneaked in from the alley streets. Pretty sure no one saw us. Medicine bags and coin pouches hidey places listed below. Reminder: Test clone limit to see if any of us got captured''


    Alex found four sets of clothes, masks and vials in his father''s room. Solemnly he gathered the masks. He sighed in relief when he also found that he could summon the full five clones.


    The next day, he casually strolled through the city streets. While no one was looking, he would grab a medicine bag and hide it in a backpack he bought when he was hunting.


    By the end of the day, he had collected all of the bags and coin pouches. With a wide smile, he arranged three weeks of medicines for his mother. He also got a wide variety of other medicines and jewellery he could sell at the black market.


    What most surprised him was eleven gold coins from a strong box. He did a little dance and promptly ran out of the house, running towards the Vanquisher''s guild.


    The Vanquisher''s Guild was now teaming with, well, teams. It was a bustle of all the awakened monster hunters coming out of retirement to capitalise on a sudden surge in dungeons and monsters.


    New blood was also streaming in as the Vanquisher''s Guild gave new talents awakening stones in exchange for being contracted for a lengthy period of time.


    Alex went unnoticed and unbothered in the building, and his application and fees were processed swiftly.


    "As a member of the Vanquisher''s guild, you get better prices for monsters, team recommendations, and commissions if you are known to be consistent and competent." The clerk quickly recited and passed him a bronze card. "This is your bronze identification card. It denotes you as an awakened with an unformed class, you will get a silver card once you form a class. Gold and Titanium cards are a whole other matter, Next!"


    Being shoved aside by a burly vanquisher carrying a large bear, Alex snuck by the many dangerous individuals and exited the building with a sigh of relief.


    "Goddamn, felt like a shitter in there." Alex held his bronze id with a proud smile on his face. "Still worth it though."


    With a swaggering gait, he returned home and grabbed the scroll the guard had given him for his ''collusion''. A while later, he came out of the local Lord''s Office with his restoration fees paid and a Proof of Wealth in his arms.


    He had also received confirmation that he would be visited by a Doctor and an Officer of the guard to get his emergency medical pass.


    And now he was left with four gold coins.


    Alex smiled and headed towards the skill book stores.

 Suspect

    Hewet sat on a chair as he looked through various files of local criminals and thieves. On his side was Albert mechanically spotting noticeable coin transfers.


    "Oh how the gods have forsaken me! What do I have to do to anger Mercy? For her to throw me into this bureaucratic hell!" Angelica whined and balanced her chair on one leg.


    "What can I say Angelica, every other lead we had was a dud. The masks, clothes and bags you could buy from anywhere." Hewet dumped another file to the side. "The guards couldn''t even track where the other thieves had run to. The only hope we got so far is to catch someone spending their ill-gotten gains."


    "As if a super duper spy would make such an amateur mistake!" Angelica huffed.


    "Irregularity here." Albert suddenly spoke up, startling Angelica and making her topple backwards in her chair.


    "Gods Albert, at least give me a warning." Angelica picked herself up and leaned over the old man to look. Hewert also came around to inspect the paper.


    "One Alexander Hunter was fined five gold coins for collusion to illegally obtain medicines." Hewet''s eyes widened and he took the paper from Albert''s hand. "Two days later, he pays the fine and obtains a Proof of Affluence document. The note here says that he is a slum resident."


    "You think he is the guy?" Angelica inquired with an excited smile.


    "We do have a motive, let''s go ask the officer who delivered the fine." Hewet said and the two other mages followed after him. They were in the central military command building, so it wasn''t hard to request for an officer to meet them.


    A while later, a hair greyed man wearing officer guard armor walked up to the group with two cadets behind him. The guard officer and cadets stopped and saluted.


    "At ease." Hewet said and passed the document over to the officer. "I want to inquire about this Alexander Hunter whom you have delivered a fine to two days ago."


    Hewet noticed from the corner of his eye one of the cadets freezing for a moment at the mention of Alexander.


    "Cadet, do you know this person?" Hewet ignored the officer and marched to the cadet.


    "Sir yes, he has been a friend of mine for many years, sir." The cadet was straight as an arrow.


    "And can you explain how he can fork out a sum of six gold coins in two days?" Hewet smiled and patted the cadet on the arm, making him deflated.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    "Sir, Alexander is a son of a deceased strong vanquisher. It wasn''t long ago that his father passed away, he may still have a sizable inheritance." The cadet continued. "He has a sick mother at home that needs constant medical supplies to stay alive."


    "Oooohh! What a poor boy, come on Hewet, no way this boy is our disappearing spy." Angelica grabbed Hewet''s arms and tried to pull him back. Hewet didn''t budge and went into deep thought.


    "How would you describe Alexander, cadet?" Hewet asked, his mind whirling with ideas.


    "Lonely, doesn''t talk or make friendships with people. And, maybe his worst and best trait, willing to do whatever is necessary to keep his mother alive." The cadet chuckled to himself. "Like father like son."


    "Thank you cadet, officer you are dismissed." Hewet dismissed the trio of guards and summoned his blue flames. "Albert, stay here and keep looking through the record. Angelica, let''s give this guy a visit."


    A firm knock sounded out of Alex''s door, breaking him out of his reading stupor. On his lap were three skill books, each detailing the requirements for three amazing skills he would have never even thought existed.


    [Last Hurraw] is a berserker skill that sacrifices the user''s health for a moderate temporary boost to strength, agility and speed. As the clerk at the skill book store had said, it was to be used in life or death situations as it basically puts whoever used it into unconsciousness.


    For him though, it was amazing. Just the image of him constantly summoning berserk clones that could crumple a man into a ball with their bare hands made his inside warm.


    Also, it was his first-ish ever active skill. Yay? [Singular Focus] didn¡¯t count.


    The second skill he had acquired was [Basic Disguise], it wasn''t an exciting skill by any measure, but it was potentially critical for his dream of making his clones look different then him. If he was ever captured, his {Cloner} ability would be revealed and everything would come down onto his head.


    At the moment, it only grants basic knowledge. Stuff like how to fake a limp with gravel in his shoes, and how to look taller. They were simple things, yet he could already see their usefulness.


    His last skill was [Solid Footwork], it was a simple skill that aided him in staying steady, in attack and defence. All around, it wasn''t a flashy skill, but it was necessary for a warrior. The clerk at the store agreed with him for all that it was worth.


    Alex purged those thoughts from his mind and hid the three books below his mother''s bed. The last time someone knocked on his door it was to stick him with a stupid fine, and he had wished he carried with him his twin rapiers, Venma and Veleya, for the intimidation factor.


    Now, put the two rapier in two newly bought holsters on his back and opened the door. To his confusion, he saw that they were no guards but two weirdos in robes.


    "Who the fuck are you and why are you knocking on my door?" Alex asked, his hands ready to slam shut if the freaks became mad.


    "Greetings Alexander, we are the College''s Affiliate Protection team, we have come to simply ask you some questions." The front man, a guy with a military haircut and a blue robe with flames knitted into it, said.


    Alex''s heart skipped a beat and his face deformed into a scowl, his hands quickly skipped to his rapiers.


    "Hold on hold on fast hands, we are totally not here to hurt you if you are innocent." A woman, with the biggest bust Alex had ever seen, budged into the conversation.


    Still laying his hands on his two rapiers, Alex gritted his teeth and motioned with his head for the guy to speak.


    "Thank you for your understanding." The guy at the front said. "Where were you yesterday afternoon?"


    "I was training in the yard with all the other folks." Alex shut his yap, not willing to go into further detail fearing he would slip something.


    "Quite good rapiers you got there, you bought them?" The lady with huge tits butted in.


    "Nah, my dad bought them. Still sharp even after a lot of abuse." That sentence made the military guy''s gaze blunt, whatever he wanted to find was gone.


    "Sorry for the bother, Alexander. May Mercy forever grace you with her light." The two mages quickly summoned wings and fires from their hands to fly away into the distance.


    Alex closed the door and collapsed into his knees. That was close, somehow they had suspected him.


    He laughed, yet in the end, he had come out unscathed and wealthy.


    Fooled the infamous mage kill squad.

 Mission

    "Thank you for your hard work guys." Alex bade farewell to the doctor and officer whose job was to verify his mother''s health condition.


    "Kid, you should be able to get your emergency pass in a day." The officer then nodded and headed away from his house.


    Alex closed the door and grinned. All was left was to get the pass and all he had to worry about was what to eat, finding the ingredients for the Panacea recipe, and getting richer.


    On the note of getting rich, he had an idea on how he could do that. Many weren''t blind to the increasing ferocity and quantity of the monsters.


    Alex had thought that it was some new dungeon that had fallen nearby, but day by day that slowly changed to a lot of small dungeons falling nearby.


    If it had been only one dungeon, the vanquisher''s guild would have already cleaned it up. Yet everyday the vanquisher''s guild was like a hive, the hunting rush not appearing to slow down at all and actually getting larger and faster.


    He wanted in and into this monster infestation. Judging by how much coin he got from the weakest monster in the plains around the city, he predicted with his new skills and new monsters it would give him enough to live out freely for a few months or buy a house in a nice off district where his mother could have some relative safety.


    The problem was how to fully utilize his cloner ability without risk. Should he spread his clones over several different teams or should he form one team composed entirely from his clones.


    Another issue was equipment. The remaining sum of money after all of his expenses was a gold coin. That may be enough to buy five swords or five shields, but it wasn''t enough for the two at the same time.


    The plan would have to be a single trip that would net him enough money to buy weapons and shields, perhaps also some good armor.


    That would be good. He didn''t want to unnecessarily risk his father''s rapiers.


    Alex had also run out of training fields to rotate his clones in. His clones had basicly visited every field, and if he returned there again he would risk someone remembering him.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Getting up, Alex summoned five clones and told them to do whatever as long as they looked after his mother. Alex''s eyes slowly landed on a bag below the table.


    He had almost forgotten the other loot he had acquired, the jewelry and other medicines he had no need for would need to be disposed of or sold.


    That would be a pain for his future self, now he needed to visit the Vanquisher''s Guild to look for monster extermination quests.


    Alex entered the lobby and proceeded to a board filled with notes. He read multiple notes, and most were for extermination of local pests like gremlins and grok snakes. These quests were posted by farmer communities and wealthy landowners.


    The rewards weren''t bad, they were in the range of twenty silvers to sixty silvers. Everyone was going to these quests, they looked like the bread and butter of the Vanquisher''s guild.


    Ripping one of the notes from the board, the note displaying a gremlin group extermination.


    "Yo, what do I need to do to accept this request?" Alex asked an unoccupied clerk.


    "Sir you need to be a bronze and preferably two teammates." The clerk replied.


    "Preferably?" Alex scratched his head. "So it''s not required?"


    "It is not required. But we heavily advise you to team up for any mission in the deep wilderness, it is very easy to get overwhelmed." The clerk spoke worriedly, his eyes holding a warryness born from experience.


    "You have no need to worry, I have my methods." He smiled with confidence, setting the clerk into an even more grim mood. "And the time limit and location for quests?"


    "At most a week and you will receive the location once you accept the quest." Alex then bade goodbye and returned the note to the board.


    Great. He just needed a way to hide his clones and then he could go on a mission, earning that sweet sweet coin. Alex really didn''t want to use masks, as the mage team revealed surprising competency when they sniffed him out from basically nothing.


    He tested his clones extensively for smells and left overs from his body like skin flakes or hair. The clones basically made everything disappear when they died or got cancelled. The only thing he would have to worry about is some magic bullshit.


    Yet if they had magic bullshit, then there would be no crime.


    He still couldn''t figure out how they found him. It was a guess on their part certainly, with them just coming in for a short questioning. Alex will have to think about this longer.


    Back to the mask issue, he had been thinking of this in terms of the city, where he would be hunted for wearing a mask. While the mask itself wasn''t the problem, everyone with a brain would instantly link his mask to his thieving escapades.


    Though, his usage of a mask in a rural village would be strange and not alarming. If he just kept his clones far out of sight, then no one would see anything wrong.


    Meeting someone in the wild wouldn''t be as dangerous for his identity.


    Yeah, that''s a good fucking plan. He just needed swords. Swinging his path towards the blacksmiths district. Alex casually bought five swords with his coin and returned home.


    The following morning, after several hours of grueling road in the sunshine of Genesis, Alex finally reached the hill on which the village he had accepted to work for.


    In his hand was a mission note describing a giant nest of Glen Crows who terrorised the local farming village livestock. It had a reward of fifty silvers and three reputation points, which was a mechanic the Vanquisher''s installed to measure their members competency.


    Stuffing the note in his hand, Alex walked towards the biggest house in the village, keen on getting this mission done as fast as possible.

 Chief?

    The village chief''s wife or daughter opened the door to a rather big house. Alex forwarded his hands to the bland looking woman.


    "Greetings, I''m a member of the Vanquisher''s Guild, here to clear out a monster infestation. " Alex brought up his card as verification and the mission note.


    "Oh dear, come in, come in young man. Let me prepare you a cup of tea." The lady said and Alex accepted her invitation and sat on a rather comfortable carpet. The house was minimalistic for his tastes, but through even the bare necessities he still observed touches of habitation.


    The woman came in carrying a wooden plate filled with two clay glasses and a ceramic teapot. The lady poured a cup and gave it to him, he gratefully accepted and took a sip.


    "This is great tea, may I ask what leaves you used?" Alex asked while taking another sip.


    "Just ordinary tea leaves from around here." She gave him a mysterious smile. "Ah. Where are my manners? I am Ezebella Smith, and I am the village chieftess."


    Alex froze on his third sip and almost choked on the liquid. With iron resolve, he continued drinking and used that time to compose himself.


    "You brew excellent tea m''lady." Alex put down the clay glass and firmed himself. "While the tea was enjoyable, I am unfortunately here for a less savory activity."


    "And here I thought we would continue talking for longer, you city folk are always in a hurry." The chieftess ticked her tongue.


    "Maybe we can do that after I finish my mission, by then your worries for your livestock would be settled and we would have a far more enjoyable conversation." Alex smiled sincerely, and also quite eager to stop this excessive amount of chatter.


    "Dear, what a tongue you have." The lady smiled and her temperament suddenly turned vicious. "Glen Crows are a seasonal pest that plagues this region, the men in the village can eradicate small nests but sometimes a nest grows bigger than what we can handle."


    "Then you hire a Vanquisher. What makes these Glen Crows dangerous?" Alex sipped tea to concentrate.


    "It''s not their number, ordinary Glen Crows are no threat to man. But when there is a king among them, there wings are like blades and there beaks like pickaxes" Ezebella drank from her own cup.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "And should this king die, they would be far less dangerous?" Alex said and the lady nodded. "Does that mean I only need to kill the king?"


    The chieftess laughed and banged her knee.


    "No, no deary, we requested a full nest extermination." She said and Alex''s face reddened.


    He bit his lip and scratched his head. It didn''t seem like a dangerous mission, though the prospect of fighting crows with a sword was a bit daunting.


    "Thank you for the information my lady. Can I have a guide to the nest''s location so I can scout it out?" Alex sat up and returned the tea cup to the plate.


    Waiting outside for a bit for his guide to come, Alex considers his tactics for this mission. Apparently these Glen Crows were flying swarming birds, they probably presented a modest threat in numbers with their beaks and talons.


    With the king''s boost, their talons, wings and beaks would become a major threat on their own. He will have to kill the king incredibly quickly if he wants his clones to come out in one piece.


    It would have been amazing to have a bow at this moment, but he will have to do with swords. Alex had left his two prized rapiers at home for his clones to defend himself with.


    There was a good chance he could kill the king quickly if he used his clones and his new skills well. Speaking of new skills, they had very light requirements, for instance [Solid Footwork] only needed him to stay on his feet in a certain position for a long period of time, something his clones had easily done.


    [General Skills: (11/15)]


    [Swordsmanship, Level 35]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 41]


    [Natural Healing, Level 20]


    [Battle Flow, Level 7]


    [Leadership, Level 7]


    [Shield Proficiency, Level 8]


    [Marksmanship, Level 4]


    [Singular Focus, Level 2]


    [Last Hurraw, Level 1]


    [Basic Disguise, Level 1]


    [Solid Footwork, Level 1]


    [Last Hurraw] would be great for this. Send in a clone and then defend his flanks, an optimal strategy if he guessed right how the Glen Crows fight.


    The sound of steps woke him from his strategization. Alex''s eyes widened when he saw a familiar face following the matriarch of the village.


    "This is Julliet, and from your reaction I guess you both aren''t strangers?" The chieftess while giving them both contemplative glances.


    "We''ve only spoken once." Alex commented and extended his hand to Julliet. "It is an auspicious sign from Mercy to meet you again, fair lady."


    "Yeah, you too." Julliet shook his hand. "Alright, let''s go. I''ll show you where the nest is. Try to keep up."


    Suddenly, Julliet sprinted and Alex was left in a stupor. Shaking the shock from his head, Alex picked up speed and caught up to the girl.


    "Do we really need to run!" Alex shouted against the wind, his speed easily maintained with his physique.


    "It''s much more exciting don''t you think." She smiled and shouted in joy. Alex''s mouth broke into a smile despite his efforts to smother it.


    They went down the hill the village was situated on and through various fields. The final frontier of this town was its sheep herders, and they waved at them as they ran by.


    For a woman, Julliet could run for plenty of time. Alex was just impressed she could sprint for this long. Of course he had trouble keeping the pace, it would have been embarrassing otherwise.


    Cresting over a hill with a lone tree, Julliet finally stopped and pointed towards a grove where a hole filled with eggs and thatch was being protected by a tornado of green crows.


    At the center of the nest was a giant crow half Alex''s height. It had a weird feather crown and there was this green wind that radiated from it and into its flock.


    "So you planning to rush in there with your team?" Julliet huffed while leaning on the lone tree.


    "Something like that." Alex continued analysing the nest and reiterating his plans.

 Easy Victory, Difficult Lady

    "That sounds incredibly dumb." Julliet said, turning her face into a confused scowl.


    "Excuse me?" Alex replied, his thought plans evaporating into the air. Here he thought she would go away and leave him the fuck alone.


    "You rushing in there with your team. It''s incredibly dumb." Julia then pointed her figure at the tornado of Glen Crows. "You are going to get shredded the moment you step into there."


    "I''ve thought of that. I''m not an idiot with a wish for a painful death." Alex scoffed.


    "And what''s your ''grand plan''?" She gestured the quotes with her hands and rolled her eyes. Alex''s eyebrow twitched at the sass, his mouth slithering slowly into a smile.


    "Well, ah. I will lure one of them, my teammates will hit them with their swords and repeat." He thought it was a solid plan, every animal would naturally counter attack against any aggressor and fellow them. These Glen Crows aren''t any different, just animals.


    "Oh Mercy, have mercy." She smacked her hands with her head and sighed. "You do know that if you hit one crow, the rest will follow?"


    "..."


    "Of course you don''t. You city folk think you know everything." She scoffed. "Trust me when I say that these crows will protect their flock with everything they have."


    "Alright, I''m going to take your advice." Alex shuffled around and looked at the girl. "So, what''s your plan?"


    "I am glad you asked!" Juilliet smirked. "We are going to capture a rabbit and set a trap. These crows will split up if they are out to hunt."


    Alex nodded and told the girl that he was going to call his team. Making sure that she hadn''t followed him, Alex summoned four clones and emptied his backpack of all the clothes and swords.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    They quickly put on the clothes, equipped the swords and wore the masks. Alex sheathed his sword, and they moved out. The girl was still on the hill, and to his surprise a rabbit was struggling in her hands.


    "How''d you get it so fast?" He said flabbergasted, he wasn''t even away for a long time.


    "I am the rabbit whisperer." She hissed in pain from the rabbit biting her hands. "Fluffy, stop struggling and accept your fate!"


    Alex shook his head in wonderment. Taking the rabbit from Julliet''s hands, he tied its legs with a string from his back.


    "Thank you for your help Juliet, but you are not needed." Alex stated and moved towards the nest with the rabbit in hand.


    "No, I am going to watch." She crossed her arms and gave him a glare.


    "You will go, I cannot confirm your safety." And avoid the risk of his ability being exposed, that was left unsaid.


    "No." She reiterated and Alex gritted his teeth. His clones firming their grip on their weapons. He stared at her for a long while, until he turned his back on her and motioned for the clones to follow.


    A respectable distance from the nest, Alex gave one of his clones the rabbit.


    "Once you get close enough for some of the Glen Crows to chase you, run towards this location." Alex pointed towards several trees and boulders. "We will be hiding, and will ambush."


    The clone nodded and headed to the nest. The three ambush clones stayed behind rocks and trees. Alex was far behind the clones, he was the scout and the commander.


    He would look out for when the trap clone would enter the optimal ambush position and order the clones to attack.


    Alex easily climbed a tree to its zenith, this spot gave him a wide coverage of the area and a clear view of the nest. From there he saw that the trap was a success, the clone with rabbit was sprinting as the Glen Crows tried to peck him and missed.


    "Attack!" Alex shouted as the trap clone passed the position. The clones jumped from behind the trees and swang their swords at the birds that were menacing the trap clone.


    The clones weren''t solely using just their swords, they had used [Singular Focus] to hone in on the agile birds. Combined with the speed granted from [Swordsmanship], [Solid Footwork] and [Physical Conditioning], it was enough to hit the birds with their swords.


    Three birds were cut down from the eleven that were on the chase. Another three were dead before they could fly away. The five remaining retreated into the sky and cawed once they landed on the nearby branches.


    "Drop your weapons and hit them with rocks!" Alex shouted from up top.


    The trap clone set down the tied up rabbit and picked a stone from the ground. The other clones did the same, dropping their swords and picking up rocks.


    The first volley hit two birds, to the surprise of the clones and the crows. The next volley also crippled two birds. The last one fled back into its nest.


    Alex ordered the clones to search for the birds that were hit with rocks and quickly finish them off. What he was left with was ten Glen Crows, a good sum for a first encounter.


    If his estimates were right, Alex guessed that the next had about a hundred to a hundred and fifty Glen Crows all together. He only needed to do this ten times.


    "What a great show!" Julliet was clapping her hands. "Your mother must be proud of you all!"


    Alex''s smile immediately tensed and he drew his sword at the girl. How did she know? His clones didn''t lose their masks. Did she somehow spy on him when he summoned them? What she an awakened tailing him, a person from that magic protection team?


    "Our mother?" His voice tilted and his clones surrounded the girl.


    "Skorn''s liquid asshole! You guys are brothers right? You all walk the same way and have the same height." She raised her hands up in the air. "I''m sorry if I hit some sore spots."

 Realisation

    Alex''s thoughts froze, the suspicious paranoid monster on his shoulder whispering into his ears also stopped cold.


    "They''re your brothers right?" The woman cautiously asked. Her form trembled slightly as they kept their swords levelled at her.


    Taking a moment to compose himself, Alex lowered his sword and breathed a heavy sigh. His clones followed and stayed silent.


    "Yes they are my brothers. But I would like to keep that to myself." Alex warned.


    "I don''t know why you would hide that." Julliet mumbled. "And don''t dare point your swords at me ever again or I will sick my grandma on you."


    Alex laughed and shook his head. His ears perked up though as he heard fluttering in the air. With a jump, he grabbed onto a branch and catapulted himself to the top of the tree.


    Moments later, he was staring slack-jawed as the Glen Crows nest was emptied and its former inhabitants, a hundred or more crows and its king, were heading towards his very location.


    "Shit!" Alex gritted his teeth and jumped down from the tree, carefully. He was sure he would need his legs.


    The clones were already on high alert, with their swords up high. They surrounded the girl in an arc aimed towards where the crows were coming from.


    "Dammit. The crows are coming, girl let''s run." Apex grabbed Julliet''s hand. "My brothers will hold them off until we are far enough away."


    "That doesn''t make any sense!" Julliet screamed, her face in a panic. "The fucking birds have never done that before. They are too dumb to retaliate."


    "It appears they got wiser." Alex chuckled darkly as he dragged the stupefied girl in his sprint. "No talking, better save your breath."


    Alex quickly left his clones to their death. He didn''t hold much hope in them winning, considering the king would be present and boosting his flock.


    It was truly a misfortune though, he would lose all those swords, clothes and masks. On the bright side, at least he will be getting tons of skill levels.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Alex wanted to take the road back to the village, but a tug from Julliet quickly dissuaded him from the fact. Her eyes held a worry in them, and he knew that if those crows became against humans, it would be a slaughter with the help of the king.


    Earlshire would become just another ruin among the many that dotted the landscape.


    They had long escaped the sounds of wings and were now heading downstream from a river. Sometimes Alex''s eyes would wander into the sky and he would see several crows circling from where they were.


    It was as if they were searching for them. Scouting, hunting.


    Prime was casting its shadow on to the landscape, blasting it with its harsh light. The duo, who have been running for too long, collapsed into a small chamber made from the roots of an old tree.


    With his still functioning arms, Alex shared a waterskin with Juliet. Her stamina was impressive, and for most of the journey she kept up with him. Her stamina only faltered at the end of it, and he was close to doing the same.


    The melody of nature took over as they rested and restored their breaths. Alex, with an almost instinctual twist of his metaphorical limb, checked if he could summon anymore clones.


    To his dismay, he could. He could summon four to be exact. His expression crunched up for all the lost equipment.


    "I am sorry for your brothers. I hope they got out safe." Julliet piped up, her hands gripping his arms. Alex shied away from the foreign touch.


    "....they are not really my brothers." Alex blurted out, the emotion in the eyes of Julliet being too much.


    "Who are they then?" She asked curiously.


    Alex stayed silent. Julliet retracted her hand, and he almost missed her touch. Fuck, he wasn''t that lonely as to desire the touch of another that much.


    "We should go back." Julliet said and crawled outside of the root chamber. "Mercy knows how much danger my family is in."


    "You want to warn them?" She nodded. "You know the way back?"


    "Yes, the river we''ve been following, it''s source is near to our village." She said and Alex crawled outside.


    They walked back, no energy in their limbs for more sprinting.


    ¨C


    The clone stumbled back, his whole body adorning little holes. Yet he couldn''t feel the pain from the sheer exhaustion weighing his mind down.


    It was the cost of [Last Hurraw]. He and his brothers in everything had used it in their last moment. It helped immensely, doubling their kill count.


    Even if they felled twenty birds each, it wasn''t enough. The tornado of crows was too much, and it was impossible to evade all of their hits.


    He bled from a hundred wounds, against a tree with the blood of those ducking birds. His eyes found those of the King Glen Crows, its gaze sharp and intelligent.


    His luck was truly good.


    The giant avian cawed to the sky and the clone followed the direction it had cawed at. A dot in the sky, just an ant compared to Mercy''s body, was moving. It blinked red, and the clone finally understood.


    It wasn''t that his luck was good, the whole world''s luck was good.


    In his last moments, he had a realisation. With how slow Skorn''s Dungeon Shard was moving across the sky, it meant that it was very very far away.


    If it was that far away and still visible from this distance, it meant it was very very big.


    He released a blood-filled chuckle, because he had understood why the Empire was gearing up so hard.


    It wasn''t for a petty war, but for a world ending apocalypse.


    The clone''s eyes dimmed and he exploded into smoke. Four swords and half of the Glen Crow Nest''s population were littered on the ground.


    The King, unruffled by the scene, bowed to its god and its gift. It cawed and flew with remnants of its clan, to search for prey that weren''t just smoke.

 Here It Comes

    Alex and Julliet sprinted up the hill to Earlshire; the village had a modest wall around it, though the prospect of it defending the inhabitants from Glen Crows was laughable.


    Not that it was designed versus an animal that was previously recorded to only target sheep, cows and pigs.


    When they reached the wall, it was with utmost relief because an old man was sitting on it. looking as unbothered and as bored as ever. The old man cast it down upon them and gave the two a frown.


    "I swear upon Mercy that if she gets pregnant I will spool your guts and eat them." The old man mumbled angrily, his mustache dampened most of his voice.


    Alex blinked, then blinked again before erupting into laughter. Julliet also chuckled and swiftly climbed up the wall to stand next to the old man.


    "Don''t worry Mister Rogan, he was a gentleman and didn''t touch a single hair." She reassured the man with a pat on the back. Her smile from before, worried and anxious, returned to its usual sunny girl exuberance.


    "Let us not dawdle, we need to report this to the chieftess before someone gets seriously hurt." Alex stepped through the gate and motioned for Julliet to follow him.


    They traveled the few houses around, most occupied by the craftsmen that maintained the tools of the farmers. The chieftess house, the biggest around, was the centerpiece of the village.


    A knock and the chieftess opened the door. Her eyes held a bit of surprise at seeing him. Perhaps she thought he would take more time with crows.


    "Well well, I didn''t think you would finish it all in a day." She exclaimed in happiness, but it slowly crumbled at Alex''s and Julliet''s expressions. "Oh dear, come in."


    They sat on a rug and the hostess went to prepare tea. She came back and Alex gladly accepted the tea, although he would have preferred a full meal for the pit in his stomach.


    "Do tell, has something gone awry while hunting?" The matriarch asked, her hands around the tea cup yet not drinking a single sip.


    Alex was intending to speak when Julliet stopped him and gestured for him to let her speak. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    "Alex and his guys were just finishing off a small flock of Glen Crows, the usual stuff that I could do in my sleep, when the whole fu-freaking nest came towards us, king included!" The reins on her voice loosened at the end, emotions of confusion and anger seeping in.


    "Any teammate of yours got hurt Alex?" The chieftess asked worriedly.


    "No, I know for a fact they are still alive." Alex stated firmly and Julliet sent him a sceptical look.


    "You didn''t kill the flock too close to the nest right?" Julliet shook her head. "That is worrying."


    The chieftess went into a deep thought, her fingers rhythmically on the tea cup. Alex drank his tea like he would think nobles drank their wines, tasting every sip as if it was a treasure.


    It was to him, faint memories of his mother''s own tea were similar to this. And he cherished moments when they were replicated.


    "When I was a young lass, I had my fair share of adventuring." The matron chimed in suddenly. "Although I was no awakened, not like Julliet''s grandmother, I was good enough with a spear to match any bronze anyday."


    Alex gazed at the wall, finally understanding why there was a spear of all things hanging there.


    "I know, very rarely, that monsters can be born with an abnormality. A quirk setting them apart from their base origins." The chieftesses tone was saturated with nostalgia. "An extra limb, a bigger horn, a larger heart and the rarest of them all, better intelligence."


    "So you think this monster we met was abnormal?" Alex asked, his eyes curious for whatever knowledge this old lady had in store.


    "Perhaps, but there is something off. I can feel it in the roots of my hairs." She said while wearing an uneasy grimace. "Anyway, I will be in need of your help Alexander to deliver a request to the Vanquisher''s guild."


    "I will be glad to do this, I and my team have, after all, failed our task." He bowed his head.


    "Nonsense, if you had thinned out the flock, the king would have been without any meat shield, rendering him harmless ." She reassured him and quickly scribbled down on a note, then stamped it. "You passed this to one of the guilds clerks and they should up the mission to a silver rank. They should pay you."


    "Thank you for your hospitality and I pray Mercy grants you safety from Skorn''s minions." Alex bowed to the matron and came out of the house with Julliet in tow.


    "So, I guess that''s it." She said. "What are you going to do now."


    "I will go back to the ambush site, see if my teammates dropped any gear." He then looked towards where the city was located. "Then I will go back home."


    "Well, it was nice¡­meeting you, Alexander." The girl surprised him by giving him a hug, and he was too stupefied to return it before she released him. "I hope to meet you again."


    "....you too." He waved at the girl as she left.


    Huh, is this how people made friends?


    Shaking the useless thoughts from his head, Alex walked towards where the ambush site was. To his glee, there was no flock in the sky or in the nest.


    The ambush site was a bird bath, with crow corpses littering the whole ground. Shredded clothes told him a rather somber story for the demise of his clones. Death by a thousand cuts, even the swords had nicks and dulled edges.


    He gave the clones who had sacrificed themselves for him a prayer. And began his long trek home. The job today would have probably been the worst trip he had if he hadn''t met such interesting characters, especially Julliet.


    He just hoped that Mercy would give him an actual quest that would be simple and would earn him more money.


    And where the fuck did that flock go anyway?


    Up above, in the aether of the gods, a miniscule part of the Dungeon split off from the main mass. It sped up, bypassing Mercy''s Crystal Guardians and swiftly entering the atmosphere.


    Its landing spot?


    A city.

 Fortress

    The road back was oddly peppered with rustled trees and bushes. At times he could spot monsters in the distance dashing or running from place to place. It made him extremely nervous and worried for the farmers and herders.


    He even summoned his clones and outfitted them with all their gear, but through it all, not a single monster strayed into the road or tried to attack a cottage.


    A deep unsettling feeling dug into him the whole way. Monsters weren''t supposed to behave this way, they would hunt humans or livestock, but these monsters didn''t do anything.


    It was like they were gathering, somewhere. Shit that is what they are doing. For what? Alex hurried his steps, almost running by the time he glimpsed upon the city walls.


    Sliding across the gravel road and upending the rocks, he swiftly dismissed his clones away from anywhere they could be seen and gathered their clothes.


    Breaking out of the shrubb he had hidden himself in, Alex squinted at the wall and saw that there weren''t only guards on it but also men with black armor.


    Alex withdrew his breath at the sight, knowing full well that those were one of her Majesty''s army groups. He gulped and worriedly walked below their gazes as he approached the gate.


    Act like you are an ordinary Vanquisher coming back from his hunt. He prepared himself and gave a smile to six army soldiers stationed at the gate.


    "Hello Gentlemen, what appears to have gotten you out of your barracks." Alex smiled genuinely, his eyes tracking their swords and feeling jealous at the fine make. Here he was stuck with swords that would chip and crack at the slightest touch, and they had black iron enchanted swords.


    "None of your business citizen. Why are you entering the city?" The soldier in the front asked, his blue eyes striking against their black helmets.


    "Coming back from a hunt." Alex''s answer was curt, rather disliking how the man just dismissed his question.


    "Your Vanquisher card." The soldier demanded, Alex grumbly pulled out his card and handed it over for inspection. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Valid." The soldier stated and gave it back to him. "Be warned, Vanquisher, that all awakened are obligated to participate during a siege. Failure to comply will result in execution."


    "So there is going to be a siege!" Alex grinned and was sad to see the guy give him a cold shoulder.


    Jokes on the dour fucker, he wasn''t even in danger of dying with his clones. If an army or monster horde ever came, he would welcome it as long as the walls held. Afterall, it was just more experience his clones could gather.


    The streets were empty aside from mages erecting walls on the roads, patrolling the sky or setting up towers all over. Alex couldn''t help but gape at the speed at which the city was transformed into a fortress.


    And he even saw a man protesting for the army taking his two stories as an archer. It was good to say he had only gotten off with a trip straight to the dungeon cellars.


    The most marvelous construction was a massive spire being built in the center of the city. He saw as three flying mages levitated a giant gem into the spire''s top, and even from this distance he could see the runes and enchantments inscribed upon its surface.


    The slums were surrounded with walls. Each neighborhood was contained and provided with what looked like twenty soldiers each and a mage. Not that Alex ever thought they did it out of some moral obligation, but rather to protect the wealthy district from any direct path.


    He entered through the newly constructed gate and quickly hid between the alleyways. Not that he needed to since all of the streets were empty. Entering his house from the backdoor, his heart stopped when saw his mother and her bed missing.


    Alex expression turned fearful and he almost kicked down the door to the outside when he saw himself, or his clone, snoring from his position on the chair.


    "YOU FUCKING INCOMPETENT!" Alex kicked the chair on which the clone was sleeping on. The clone rolled on the ground and drew the twin rapiers he had.


    The silence was deafening, Alex staring down in anger at the clone while the latter wore a flabbergasted mask.


    "Ah boss, you ok?" The clone said and sheathed the twin rapiers.


    "Am I fucking ok? No I''m not you idiot, where is my mother!" Alex shouted, his hands gripping the shirt of the clone and pulling him up. The clothes tore at the seams at the weight of the clone.


    "Dude, calm down. Our mother is safe, she is ok, she is just in the old church." The clone hurriedly said. "Father Orkon is protecting her."


    Alex breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. Breath in, breath out. He let go of the clone and tiredly sat into a chair.


    "I''m hungry, make me something good and talk about this whole shit show." The clone nodded sympathetically and lit a fire, throwing in a thatch to speed it up.


    "Well, a crier came into the neighborhood telling everyone that a monster horde was coming towards the city." The clone put two eggs into a stove. "At that moment no one knew what to do, but Father Orkon, carrying this badass crystal sword and this glowing blue halo, led all the residents of this neighborhood into the church''s cellar."


    "Is mom safe there?" Alex asked as he gladly accepted the salad the clone had made.


    "She is, you know the old lady father used to hire to take care of mom before we learned to do so?" Alex nodded. "I gave the old lady some coins and the medicines. Mom is in safe hands, and if I dare say it, the safest place not in the inner districts."


    "Why are you so sure of that?" Alex questioned.


    "You should have seen Father Orkon, the sight was just incredible." The clone had this long gaze. "It was like, like¡­like walking along a legend or a saint."


    Alex gave the clone the stink eye.


    Seriously?

 Destruction

    Other information was also exchanged with the clone, they were inconsequential, so after the clone finished preparing his breakfast, he cancelled him.


    Releasing a contented sigh from the filling meal, Alex grabbed the twin rapiers off the ground. He bundled them up with the other swords on his back, the next thing he did was check if any valuables were left behind.


    And apart from his newly bought furniture, there was nothing of importance left. Closing the door behind him, Alex walked along the empty street.


    Suddenly, a bright light shone on his face, blinding his left eye for an instant. Instinctively crouching, Alex looked towards the source and saw that the gem on the spire had shot a beam of light towards the sky.


    Alex followed the beam and his hands shook at the meteor, no, dungeon heading his way. The beam hit the dungeon and shaved off a part of it, making it rain rocks - or potential smaller dungeons if they are big enough - onto the wilderness.


    He smacked himself and sprinted towards the church. Alex opened the doors and saw the whole church filled to the brim with familiar faces and those of livestock, they gave him scared glances and pried him off of the open door.


    Not caring, he marched towards Father Orkon. The man looked absolutely badass, wearing crystal armor reminiscent of Mercy''s fabled surface and on his back was a giant crystal sword.


    Around him was an aura, and behind him the glass mosaic glowed with the colors of Mercy and splotches of Skorn.


    He stopped, the familiarity with the man he knew as Father Orkon was gone. In front of him was someone completely different, not the kind, soft eyed man, but a hardened warrior.


    He stepped up into his presence and felt suffocated. As if an entity greater than himself was scrutinising him. Alex smiled manically, enamored with this new sensation.


    "Father Orkon, you look amazing for your age." He tried to joke, but his words came out monotone. Alex had to breath heavily every time he uttered a word.


    "Alexander." The warrior simply said and gave him a grave nod. "You need not to fear for your mother, they shall be protected here in Mercy''s sanctum."


    "You aren''t going to participate in the defence." Alex asked while looking for his mother, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was ok.


    "No. This trial set by Skorn is for the nascent talents, it is unbecoming for an old soul to steal the fires of battle." The warrior uttered, and his aura surged, expanding to encompass the whole church.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The church replied in unison, beating, glowing. It felt like it was alive, it was alive. The murals on the walls, for long just stone, sprung to motion, illustrating their stories as if they were happening in front of them.


    Alex conceded that this was a very humbling experience. he unfortunately had to leave, for he had hopes of getting something good out of this whole situation.


    He exited the church, knowing deep down in his heart that his mother would be protected against any trick or monster Skorn threw at the church.


    At that moment, he had a full view of the Dungeon barreling through the sky and towards the city. He gripped tightly into his swords as the spire fired one last beam before the gem atop it crumbled into ash.


    The dungeon, so close for a brief instant he could see the red lava on its surface. The dungeon landed in the inner district, and for a moment he thought that was it.


    An instant later, the ground surged and knocked him off his feet and into the air. The instant after, still in the air, he got hit by a heat wave that made him close his eyes.


    Then the sound came in, pushing all the air out of his lungs. Perhaps if he had his eyes open, he could have seen the harsh red light that instantly disintegrated a whole district.


    No, he had the misfortune of being rammed straight into a collapsing wooden house. At the last moment before he landed, Alex pushed himself into a roll, saving him from back breaking landing.


    The only thing he had to deal with was the wooden splinters in clothes and clothes. Groaning, he wiped away all the wood dust from his eyes and opened them.


    Alex saw utter devastation. The whole neighborhood was toppled over, every house was broken apart by debris from other houses. Whatever caused him to launch into the air had caused the houses to just¡­fall like sticks.


    He could even see the four newly constructed walls - who were thankfully still standing - from his position through the rubble. The church was left unmarred, protected by a blue shield.


    Alex silently thanked Father Orkon for his presence and crouched behind some rubble.


    His skills have upgraded since the last encounter with Glen Crows, and he could probably summon more clones.


    [Swordsmanship, Level 35 -> 55]


    [Physical Conditioning, Level 41 -> 60]


    [Natural Healing, Level 20 -> 22]


    [Battle Flow, Level 7 -> 17]


    [Leadership, Level 7 - >9]


    [Marksmanship, Level 4 -> 8]


    [Singular Focus, Level 2 -> 17]


    [Last Hurraw, Level 1 -> 24]


    [Solid Footwork, Level 1 -> 14]


    The amount he had gained was simply amazing. He should probably stop delaying the skill level ups, it made his mind and body feel fuzzy from the level ups.


    Alex breathed in and drew one rapier, focusing on a leaf that was riding on the wind. Activating all of his skills, he thrusted and impaled the leaf on his rapier. [Battle Flow] in a little corner of his mind nagged him that he should hurry up to the inner districts, apparently their fall would spell death to the whole city.


    He summoned five clones - he can''t provide the clothes or the masks necessary for the extra two clones - and gave each a sword. The clones and Alex had the masks on, considering that the city was literally in danger of destruction, it shouldn''t be a problem.


    "Alright, the plan is to scout out where the monsters of that dungeon are going to come from." Alex held command and pointed towards the landing location of the outer wall. "We need to see if that monster hoard has reached the walls. Either way, our main priority is to go out there, kill monsters and preferably save some poor schmucks."


    The clones nodded and Alex smiled. The walls and the soldiers looked unharmed, the mage gradually going around healing the bruises earned from the few who had taken a rough tumble.


    "Mercy to you all! Do you happen to know if someone needs a team of classless awakened?" Alex shouted to the mage.


    "How the hell would I know? Be smart and go towards the dungeon." The mage scoffed and shook his head, returning to his work.


    Alex shrugged and set his pace into a jog with his clones.

 Aftermath

    Alex came out of the gate to a changed city. What had once been a wide space for the kids to play in had changed into a makeshift shelter for people. All around them houses were toppled over, and some were even burning.


    Walking with his team, Alex nodded towards a man bandaging his daughter''s arm with a rag. It seemed a piece of wood had hit her, and a steady burst of tears and blood came out from the little girl.


    The father''s hands were shaking, and when Alex put a hand on his shoulder he almost jumped. Alex gave him a smile and dropped down to his knees to properly bandage the girl.


    "Everyone spread out! Help in treating anyone with injuries. We will hunt monsters later." Alex said to his clones and returned his gaze to the father. "Don''t worry mister, my guys and I are experienced in this."


    The man''s eyes were drooping, and the only thing that kept him up were the cries of his daughter. Alex felt something hard through the bandage and when he unfolded it, he saw that several small pieces of wood were still stuck into her flesh. Most of the wood around here was rotten to an extent, and if this was left in the wound it would spell certain infection, following that would be an amputation considering this family was living in the slums and wouldn''t be able to afford a doctor.


    "Calm down girly." Alex softly said. "I am just gonna poke around your hand really quickly ok? It''s like I am going to tickle you, ok?"


    "Is it going to hurt more?" The girl cried out between sobs.


    "A little bit, but after that it will all go away, do you trust me?" Alex wiped away the tears from her cheeks, and he gave her a pat on the head when she nodded.


    Alex breathed in and out, the world blurring out around him. The sounds of crying, the smell of blood and fear, the sights of despair and disaster, it all disappeared into the background. All that was left was the wound and the shrapnel inside it.


    With a steady hand he had acquired from [Marksmanship], Alex gently touched a piece of wood and withdrew it slowly, carefully guiding it between the folds of flesh. The cries of the girl went unnoticed as he grabbed another, and another and another. By the end, he woke up from his stupor wondering where the fuck were all the wood pieces.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Alex instantly got bombarded with a cacophony of sounds and smells, he held his head and closed his eyes from the harsh light of early Eve. Shit, [Singular Focus] was too strong, before he could recover pretty easily from it, but now it was overwhelming.


    He has to train for a way to choose how focused he can get and to lessen the sensation overload.


    Opening his eyes, Alex saw that the girl had fainted on her father''s lap and he had properly bandaged the wound. In his lap were twelve bloody pieces, he threw them aside and walked towards the father.


    "Thank you young man." The man said.


    "No need, why are you all here though, why weren''t you in your houses?" Alex looked around and saw that this neighborhood''s whole population was sitting in this playground.


    "A priest of the people warned us to exit our homes or we shall suffer great harm." He recited from memory. "The priest had Mercy''s favor, and we had no say to refuse the Goddesses'' orders."


    Alex thanked the man for his words, and went about helping an old lady search for her cane. This was good for the people, helping them should be an honor, but he had to actually fight monsters and gain experience.


    Looking around, he saw that his clones were done with most of the injured and were now helping people to lay out rugs and blankets, and even some tents. A good idea considering that the children and elderly will probably die in the cold of night.


    Alex put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. The sharp sound got the attention of everyone, including his clones. Waving for them to come over, Alex prepared his two rapiers.


    "Hold on boss, before you say anything, we should make whistling into commands." A clone while hopping in place.


    "That''s a good idea, how about two quick whistles for us to gather up?" Alex nodded but shook his head. "Let us talk about this later, we need to find monsters and fight them. While helping is good, getting strong is better."


    "How ruthless." A clone whispered.


    "Look, these people can help themselves, they don''t need us. And, every monster we kill means one less monster that can hurt these people." Alex barked at his clone.


    "Ok calm down, we need to find the dungeon''s landing spot. If we can find where it is, we can know where the monsters will spawn and which direction they will come from." A clone butted in. "We also need to find clothes, swords, shields, bows and other supplies for us and for the extra clones you have in reserve."


    "We can do all that if we just head towards the dungeon, the smiths quarter is on the way and I am sure no one will mind if we take a few clothes from their wrecked house." A clone suggested and got determined nods from all the Alexes.


    "Good idea, the fucking nobles got too many clothes for their own good." Alex then bit his lip. "And why not just take whatever they left inside their homes."


    They all gave devious grins, and with a chuckle, Alex whistled once for them to march. He really licked the whistling idea for quick communication, and he might as well invent commands with them on their way to the inner districts.


    Alex greeted the soldiers and mage that were presiding over the wall in this neighbourhood. The next neighborhood was also ruble and the people thankfully were safe.


    All along the road to the center of the city, he heard that the priest of the people carrying Mercy''s favor had warned them to exit their homes. Alex felt a small bit of childish pride at being sort of friends with the now famous priest.


    Now he will make himself and his identity famous.

 Bloodbath

    The closer they got to the center of the city, the more the skies lit up. From their position, they could see mages fighting monsters, their bodies just specks for them. What was awesome to them was the fire, the water and lasers these mages employed. Their shields of rocks and stones that casted shadows on whole houses.


    The monsters were equally horrific, with some reaching such a size that they crushed a whole building beneath their body when they landed. There were also the swarms, the vast black clouds of probably insects that kept hounding the mages.


    All of this spectacle put a pit of disappointment into Alex, if he had magic he could be flying, destroying his enemies with snakes of fire and acid. But the only thing he had were swords and shields, the weapons of the unawakened.


    He knew that magic was more powerful and flexible, and that physical weapons were not an equal even if enchanted.


    "Don''t get sad Alex." One of his clones bumped him on his shoulder. "Why do we need magic when we can kill our enemies with one slash of a sword."


    It was an encouragement that they all needed, and quickly they shrugged off the sadness of losing out on magic. Alex and his team had picked up clothes left behind in the wreckage of homes. He summoned two clones and gave them the clothes. They still had no weapons, but that would be fixed.


    Also with no extra masks available - he should have bought far more masks from the old man - The clones had to tie clothes around their faces. It was rudimentary and was uncomfortably hot to the clones, yet it did the job of concealing their identity.


    And for once Alex thanked Mercy for creating him with unremarkable eyes.


    With a total of 7 clones, Alex felt better about his chances of slaying monsters. There was one thing he was unsure about, and that was the strength of the monsters that would be spawning from the dungeon. Hopefully they weren¡¯t all like the ones fighting in the sky.


    His father was never a dedicated dungeon hunter, he was far more keen on doing easy jobs that would pay well rather than something that would earn him experience.


    Alex had no reference on what a bigger dungeon would entail. He just had to trust fate and hope there weren''t that many strong monsters and hopefully weak ones that could be killed by a bronze team.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Shit!" A clone in the front said, his head peeking around a corner of the street.


    "What?" Alex whispered.


    "The army is in the smiths district. They have a whole command tent over there." The clone then hurriedly pushed them away from the corner. "A patrol is coming this way, hide!"


    Delving behind a trolley with hay, Alex listened carefully as the troops walked by. Their metal clad forms produce crackling and clicking. They were talking loudly and freely.


    "Ah, your uncle is a saint. The inner districts are a blood bath." A high pitched man''s voice was carried over.


    "Friend, if you are ever ordered to go fight in the combat zones, just call for my uncle and he should get you out." A deep voice said back and continued. "Still though, it''s sure fun to see the nobles finally taking a beating."


    The other parts of the conversation were unhearable as they got further away. Alex twitched his head to the clones, a signal for a meeting.


    "I don''t think the looting idea can be completed with patrols around." Alex whispered. "Nor can we get any weapons with that command tent."


    "We can get weapons." A clone spoke up softly, and continued. "We just have to go to the battlefield. You guys head the soldier, the place is a bloodbath. I''m sure the soldiers and awakened there won''t mind us taking their weapons from their dead hands."


    "Good, let us go inwards and avoid any contact with soldiers." Alex said. "Although its war time, they might recognise us and try to capture or kill us for the masks we wear."


    The smiths district was still standing, mainly due to its stone construction. And the more they went inward the less buildings they saw toppled. He thought it was going to be the reverse, with buildings closer to the impact sites being the most damaged. But the stronger construction material won over the strong earth wave thingy that happened on the collision. Maybe the earth wave had affected the whole city equally.


    He didn''t know the earth could become a wave before today, so he can''t say shit about how it behaves.


    The people of the inner districts didn''t even need to leave their homes, and too many of their children and some adults were looking out of the windows to catch a glimpse of the soldiers passing by or the battle in the sky.


    It made sneaking by the district a fucking nightmare, and at times he just sprinted between streets when they were too many eyes. His agony from the attention ended when he first heard sounds of fighting.


    "Someone focus on that noise and give us a direction." Alex ordered.


    One of his clones closed his eyes and pointed in a direction. Alex put his hands on the clone''s shoulder to help him stand up, the over sensory stimulation from [Singular Focus] making him wobble.


    They advanced in the direction, finding a bloody scene. The house walls nearby were painted with blood, and it all came from the bodies of the residents of the houses.


    Children, men and women were all made into minced meat, their faces barely recognisable. Alex held onto his gut and almost puked. Turning his attention away from the corpses, Alex saw two soldiers fighting five six legged black dogs.


    Beside the soldiers'' feet were what appeared to be Vanquishers, two guys and one girl who were clearly dead or dying. The soldiers weren''t in a better state, their armor was dented and their movements were slow.


    "FRET NOT MY BROTHERS! FOR WE ARE HERE." Alex shouted and raised his two swords into the air.


    "FRET NOT!" His whole group shouted in unison, and they charged.


    [Skill Requirements Met. Battle Cry skill now available to insert.]

 Battles

    The cry from a collective of eight people was not to be underestimated. Especially when they all had the same tone, merging to an even grander sound. It sure caught the attention of the combatants. Both the soldiers, who were on their last legs, and the dogs who had too many legs were stopped in their battle against each other.


    He hadn''t done this unplanned, all along the road he and his clones figured out the best possible strategy to employ.


    One thing they had to heavily consider was the safety of Alex. While he could just lay back and let his clones do all the work, it would be increasingly essential to have combat experience with his skills. It was better to do this in the midst of his clones than experience impotence later on.


    Alex ran a bit behind his clones, five of them making an appropriate protection from any incoming damage. Behind him were his unarmed clones, they would be a forewarning against any rear attack and may also participate in the battle if they could loot swords from any of the corpses on the ground.


    The soldiers in black armor retreated from the battle once they noticed that the dogs were intimidated. The dogs came out of their stupor and tried to bite onto their chins, only for the clones to fend them away with swipes from their swords.


    The five upfront clones pointed their swords in front of them in a mock spear wall, and the dogs were indecisive. Alex nodded towards the black soldiers, his rear clones hastily helping in removing their armor and bandaging their bite wounds.


    "ALL UNITS!" Alex shouted in the tense silence, getting the dogs to twitch backwards. "Two attack and three defend. Do not let the dogs of Skorn touch your brethren."


    Three clones dropped their swords to their chests and retreated to the side of the attackers. The attackers didn''t take too long, swiping their swords in a wide arc, making the dogs dodge and snarl.


    "Soldier!" Alex barked at the two black armored dudes on the ground. "Are there any reinforcements incoming."


    "...no¡­sir!" The soldier barely got out, the clone tending to him, putting pressure on a neck wound.


    "Alright boys. Attackers, do all you can to land hits. Defenders, protect the attackers at all cost, even with your own bodies if Mercy wills it." Alex commanded.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The clones practically lunged onto the five dogs, and while many dogs dodged, one got a nick on his paw. It was at that moment that any pretense of this being an organised battle was thrown out of the window.


    Instantly, the dogs jumped onto the clones uncaring for the swords that would be hitting them. The two attacker clones were in the front, and they got the most attention, the first attacker got off lightly with the help of two defenders on his side bashing the dogs away and injuring them greatly.


    The other attacker wasn''t as fortunate, with the defender only able to block one dog, the other dog attacking him got his jaws onto his legs. A scrambled scream tore from his lungs, and Alex winced for a second before refocusing on the battle.


    The battle was already over though, the two defenders and one attack had finished off the three dogs that were attacking them. And the other two dogs were quickly finished off and decapitated.


    "Are you good there?" Alex asked the clone that was bit on the leg, and scowled when he saw that there was a fang stuck in his thigh.


    "Fuck no!" The clone said through gritted teeth. "Just pull me into a corner and cancel me, better not exist than experience this pain."


    Alex chuckled and the clone beside him dragged the clone to an alleyway, disappearing behind the walls. Moments later Alex twitched his inner limb and watched as the clone brought back the injured clone''s clothes, mask and sword.


    "Soldier. What the fuck happened? Those dogs could be killed by a mob of malnourished stick wielding children." Alex felt a small bit of vindication at screaming at the soldier.


    "It wasn''t¡­they were more." The soldier, who was able to speak, said. "We were fighting through the streets, and got separated from our squad."


    Alex was going to continue when he heard a clone tick his tongue. He saw the clone, the one who was bandaging the other soldiers neck, shaking his head. The soldier had hollow eyes and didn''t move anymore.


    "Mercy bless him on his journey into her heavens" The clones and Alex all muttered, hanging their heads low to the soldier and then bowing to the ever present Mercy in the sky.


    "Soldier, go back to wherever you came from. Your injuries are bandaged to the best of our ability." Alex said and turned to the corpses around. "And tell me which direction I can find the closest enemy."


    "Thank you, to all of you. Just go towards the center of the city, and the dungeon hit the Lord''s mansion." The soldier nodded to them and skipped along the road on one leg.


    "Everyone, give the rites to the dead and loot their bodies of any weaponry, clothes and armor they have." Alex said, and he went to check on the dogs. He didn''t forget to summon a new clone to replace the injured one.


    He put his hands on their hairless bodies and hoped that this method would still work. He traced with his finger their veins, which were far more protruded than normal, and surprisingly they all clustered upon a specific spot.


    Giddily, Alex made an incision with the rapiers and brought out a crystal from their flesh. He smiled and hid the piece of crystal into his pocket. He repeated the process on all of the four dogs nearby.


    Alex joined the team five crystals richer, and also noticed that they had equipped themselves with leather armor - though it was covered in blood - and in new weapons. His rear clones now have swords, and he smiled widely when he saw that one of the rear clones had acquired a bow.


    "Lads, you all look absolutely deadly. Let us go wreck shit." Alex''s fangs slipped from his grin.

 Encircled

    The soldiers held their ground, their shields bearing the load of a pack of bulls. Enchantments on their armors, shields, and swords flared up to push back against the overwhelming force.


    Each one was an awakened, all classless, weak, and terrible in front of real danger but in numbers they were strong. In the future, if they survive this ordeal, they would choose between three traditional roles in the army, that of a [Warrior], [Scout], or [Archer].


    Most end up with those classes, their talents, and Gifts not up to par to get the sufficient skills and achievements for better variants.


    Though mayhaps this disaster would yield beautiful gems amongst those who survive.


    Above them, arrows flew down onto the bull-packed street. The leather of the bulls barely stopped the enchanted arrow from digging into their flesh, and in one coordinated volley, the herd was decimated into half its size.


    Fear gripped the eyes of the bulls, and in synchronicity, they aborted their attempts to go over the shield wall and retreated into the depths of the inner city.


    The soldiers slumped, their arms shaking, barely able to hold up their swords and shields. Some instantly collapsed, men from the backlines instantly put them on a stretcher and hurried towards the healers'' tent.


    Others were unmoving, dull-eyed. They were mourned with a rite from a priest, hoping for them to find glory and honor in Mercy''s crystal embrasse.


    The houses that structured the battlefield were on the verge of collapse, their stone cracking in several spots like webs. Their inhabitants had long fled, but those who were tardy were still trickling through the corridor or dead.


    Alex and his clones were in such a house, staring down upon the battlefield. His crew was now armored and equipped with the sword and shield. All along the way, they encountered dead soldiers and dead monsters, and through the whole way, it illustrated a picture of the army slowly digging deeper towards the dungeon.


    The equipment was so strewn around that Alex had hidden a stash of 20 sets in an abandoned dried well. For once, things were going well for him. At the cost of countless people''s lives and a disaster that would take the city years to recover from.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Walking in soldiers'' armor was a danger, of course, he could be mistaken for a looter - which he was to an extent - but he liked this armor. It was light and flexible, unfortunately, he couldn''t activate the enchantments to further boost their efficacy.


    Perhaps everyone would just assume that they were a squad of soldiers. There were eight personnel in total, a formidable small team. With two bows in the rear, five swords and shields at the front, and a commander in the center, Alex would bet that they could take on someone with a class easily.


    Suddenly, a boom echoed throughout the sky. Alex dunked beneath the ledge of the roof and took a peek towards the source of the sound. Eve had taken its leave long ago, and night had fallen, the only source of light were Mercy''s crystal radiance and Skorn''s blazing infernos.


    The sky over the city was lit up by a different sort of light, that of blue fire and blood-redd spears. Three mages lead a host of other mages as they battled aerial enemies; they were far closer to the Lord''s Mansion than the ground troops.


    Another boom turned Alex''s head towards the walls, and his mouth was wide open as a part of the wall, something that was a constant presence in his life, had fallen.


    Dust had flown into the air, it was not enough to obscure the utter monstrosity that was walking through the wall. It was a titan lizard, the height of several buildings, it crushed buildings beneath its steps like paper.


    Now that he looked around, Alex saw that all of the walls and their soldiers were unable to stop a hoard of aerial monsters coming in from the wilderness.


    Alex cursed beneath his breath, now they were fighting attacks from the inside and from the outside. And if his limited [Leadership] skill told him anything, attacks from within and from without would lead to a slaughter.


    He had to help in some way to prevent this, Alex didn''t have any illusion that he would be able to have a significant effect but he could do whatever he can do, even if it''s small.


    After all, his mother would be in danger if this all fell. He didn''t think even Father Orkon could protect everyone from a horde of Skorn''s servants.


    Alex descended from the roof, and ran through the alleyways that were barren from any monsters and any soldiers. Overhead, he saw a bell tower with it''s too shaven off. He turned towards his team and gave them a salute.


    "I think it''s time we enact the plan." Alex said excitedly. "I will be sending you constantly into monster infested territory, and you will fight them till you are injured. Once that happens, you will come back here and I will respawn you."


    "We are going to conduct a battle of attrition then?" A clone asked.


    "No, we will try to clear a path towards the dungeon core." Alexander pointed towards the center of the city. "This bell tower is the respawning location, and remember that it is critical that you don''t die. The equipment you are holding is very important."


    Alex nodded towards the clones as they marched towards danger. He wanted to do this since day one of him acquiring this gift, an autonomous hunting party that would earn him experience while he was idling around.


    Entering the bell tower, Alex ascended the stairway and when he reached the top he got a good view of the conflict. Beyond the walls of the city was a horde of monsters, each one segregated into groups and their leaders were still, waiting, displaying patience and intelligence.


    The center of the city, where once a mansion had been built, was a crater the size of a small lake. From it numerous monsters crawled out or were summoned from thin air.


    Alex prayed to Mercy that this would not spell the end for this city.

 Brace!

    The group dithered along the road, their eyes staying sharp, snapping to each shadow and mouvement. The clones were wary, this deep into monster infested territory made by the dungeon unnerved them. Each building gave an advantage to ambush predators, each rooftop was a prime spot for a nest. Any alleyway was a potentially deadly stampede for boars and bulls.


    What had once been fortifications, now fully abandoned by their soldiers, by fear or death, made it harder and harder to predict the positions of monsters. To a normal citizen who had never travelled beyond the walls of the city, monsters were stupid things, only fueled by the anger of Skorn for man. At least that was Alex''s conception, until he fought the gremlins and Glen Crows.


    In each encounter, the monsters kept using tactics similar to what Alex himself could devise. It was a stark reminder that life wasn''t easy, that it wouldn''t have a back route. Well, that was true if you weren''t a noble.


    Still, the clones held their nerves. Their concentration sharp even without [Singular Focus]. The sounds of battle echoed through the city, smoke and bright lights giving a spectacle to whoever looked.


    A clone, in the rear, whistled in a low tone. Everybody halted, and looked back to see that the clone was motioning north. In a somewhat practiced movement, the clones reoriented themselves towards the north. The five melee combatants taking the front and readying their black swords, the two clones behind them drew their bows and prepared for the monsters.


    It was a dull thudding that first reached their ears, then came a soft clapping and then a cacophony of sounds. A horde of monsters surged out of a street, their momentum large enough to destroy the buildings that were in their way. It was composed of various monsters, the clones spotted gremlins, wolves, dogs, giant wasps, and other random monsters.


    At the head of the horde was a lion with a mane made of darkness. All of its body was black minus its white eyes. The lion set its milky eyes on the clones and roared, and the shadows around them grew. The world became increasingly dark, the light from Mercy withering away under the lion''s spell.


    Light was becoming scarce, and the horde was getting harder and harder to see, if this continued they might not even see their clones.


    "Bunch up, close rank!" One of the clones shouted and the clones obliged, quickly coming together, so close they were touching each other''s shoulders.


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    "We need to retreat to a choke point, this road is too open. We could be flanked." The clones rushed towards an alleyway, just before the darkness closed around them. All that left in the world were the clones, the ground, and the walls of the alleyway. All the sounds had disappeared, all that was left was the eerie silence and the breaths of the clones.


    *What do we do?" The voice of the clone was muffled, as if he was speaking from far away. "We can''t run away now, the horde must be coming our way."


    "We hold and kill as much as we can, our death does not matter." They said.


    "Well, I guess Alex isn''t getting any of the gear back." A clone scoffed. "Eh, he could loot more from the dead soldiers around."


    A clone in back crouched and activated [Singular Focus], he touched the ground with his hand and felt small vibrations. They were getting stronger, yet not as fast as he thought they would. Several seconds passed by, and the vibrations crescendoed and started to recede.


    Coming out of [Singular Focus], he was glad for the darkness for removing the sensory overload.


    "They are gone." Just as he said that, the darkness started to abate. Finally, the clones bathed in Mercy''s light and the sounds of the world came back.


    "What the fuck?" Someone said. "Seriously, and here I was preparing to die a glorious death."


    The road was destroyed, the houses nearby were desecrated with monster shit and piss. Overall it looked horrible and smelled horrible, it even made the person assigned [Singular Focus] duty wish they were back in the spell-induced darkness.


    "We should go deeper, with the dungeon beret of such a force it should be easier to reach." The clone said. And as if Skorn heard him, a pack of dogs, black hounds and other assortments of dog-like creatures rounded around the corner.


    With no magical darkness-inducing lion in their pack, and the clones far more confident in their chances of a straight up fight, they met the dogs with fury.


    There was a fair distance between the two groups, and it was enough for the clones to consider switching out their swords and shields for bows. They all drew their bows simultaneously, and released after two breaths. The arrows streaked through the sky and punctured the fur-hide of the dogs. The next volley came and dealt the same damage.


    The monsters weren''t stationary either, and they were lunging towards them with their maws and snarls filled with drools and blood. The injured and killed were left behind.


    The five frontal clones returned their bows to their backs, and equipped the sword and shield. Among them, the one in the center of the formation, shouted.


    "Steady men, hold the line!" That clone was the leader, the [Leadership] skill acting through him. It didn''t matter really who was designated as the leader considering they all had the same level in the skill, but after experimenting they concluded that a leader was best put in the center of his men.


    [Leadership] was an elusive skill, as its effects were kind of hard to measure. At first he had wondered if it even had an effect other than giving him the instincts of a leader, but after a bit of playing around with it Alex had figured out its benefits. Generally it made unit cohesion much much better, as the communication and understanding of each soldier increased. It also boosted the subordinates skills by a small smidge, like really small.


    The only reason he was even able to spot the skill boost was by having two of his clones arm wrestle, which revealed the difference in their [Physical Conditioning] skill.


    It was why, when the leader said.


    "Brace!"


    They fucking braced hard against the dog charge.

 Vindication

    The shield wall skidded back a few steps, deep furrows in the ground marking where their feet tried in vain to resist the force of a dozen dogs charging. Yet none of them toppled over, their shields were still unbroken, while their arms still very much able to give back a ruthless counterattack.


    The road was narrow enough for the five shield clones to comfortably hold their positions and restrict any dogs from bypassing them, though even with that advantage, a few hounds and dogs did sneak through the sides. Those monsters got peppered with arrows, and even with the clones'' rather bad aim, their hides were insufficient to resist against the soldier weaponry.


    A clone, who was relieved from the pressure after slamming his sword through a dog¡¯s snout, instinctively lowered his shield to his left. He blocked a hound who had been aiming towards his brother¡¯s ankle. Another instinctive step back later and he dodged two dogs who exploited his momentary inattention. The flow of the battle, an undercurrent influenced not solely by battle prowess but also by morale, was tipping towards the humans.


    The clones could feel it, how the monsters even so close to a dungeon, felt fear. There was hesitance in every attack, and slowly that hesitance transformed into attacking after a dozen or so of their pack got slaughtered for little damage onto the clones. The dogs began to bark and growl at them, no longer confident in any attack.


    A uniform step forward from all the clones got the dogs to break and flee. And from then, it was only a slaughter as the clones pursued the disorganised pack with sword and arrow. A couple dozen dog bodies bleed over the street, painting it a black-ish red.


    No clone had died, due to the aid granted by [Battle Flow] in predicting attacks. Although no one had died, many had suffered minor injuries, lucky gashes and bites that had gotten through the weak points of the armor.


    The injured ones were told to run back to the bell tower to respawn, while the ones who were fine got on their knees and began the bloody task of extracting monster cores from all of the dogs.


    Some of these monsters didn''t have monster cores or the clones couldn''t find them, yet even if a percentage didn''t yield anything, over 36 monster cores were harvested. It was an insane sum, and would have made him happy if he had a way to spend it all.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    The clones dumped the corpses of the dogs into an alleyway just to make sure they wouldn''t trip over them if they were fleeing. A long while later, a new batch of clones came back from the tower, all bright faced and unblooded. They packed their equipment, looted arrows from the bodies of soldiers on the abandoned palisades, and went on deeper into the city.


    The architecture changed the moment they passed through the inner city wall. What once was houses of stone, inhabited by the artisans and merchants, turned into manors and villas. Homes that were made of what once was tasteful wood and white marble.


    Their designs were not to be appreciated by Alex''s eyes, the houses were wrecked and their servants dead. Through the wreckage he saw the odd maid or butler under rubble or bits and pieces of people who had been torn apart by monsters. Curiously, not one of the bodies around were those of nobles.


    And he had a really good hunch on why. Awakening gems weren''t as pricey as he originally thought they were, and it would be reasonable to assume that any sane family would awaken their family. Granted, the nobles who knew no hard work were probably still in the single digits of their skills or stuck with a stupid class.


    It was a good looting opportunity overall. Now that there were no soldiers around, the clones merrily went down on each household to plunder it of its riches. It gave him great vindication when he swiped away the jewellery from a lady''s box or when he stole their ornamental swords.


    Those happy feelings abruptly stopped when he found the majority of these noble riches locked away in secure basement vaults. No amount of kicking or punching or generally hitting did anything to disturb the locked steel doors.


    Whatever they had in there would make him instantly rich and get him a one way express ticket to the capital and a chance to get the ingredients list. The clones  satisfied themselves with the ornate chess set they had found in perfect condition.


    They gave a clone who was tasked with ferrying back the winnings the chess set.


    The clones were silent as they entered a square with a statue of Galikan the Hero. The statue was surrounded with a fountain, a magical contraption that utilised water enchantments to do useless stuff. They snorted at the decadence of it all.


    The clones motioned for one of their own to walk into the open space, testing if there were any ambushes. When the clone whistled code that meant safe, they entered the public square and rounded on the statue.


    At its feet was a plaque that read ''There are no gods in war.'' It was a quote from a war hero of the succession crisis that had happened in the empire before he was even born. Nothing interesting, might as well continue.


    Suddenly, the earth shook and split. Red light bloomed from the center of the city, and congregated over the square. In the sky, the light of Skorn intensified, and it all focused on the statue.


    "Oh I know exactly where this is going!" A clone suddenly pipped up. "We are going to have to fight the statue."


    It turned out his premonition was correct, as the statue stony featured morphed from human to monstrous in second, and the two hoofs that had taken the place of the human legs moved.


    The inhuman statue jumped from its pedestal and landed, shaking the earth around it and would have knocked over the clones if not for [Solid Footwork]


    "This dungeon really doesn''t want us to get close does it?"

 Different

    Formation instincts kicked in fast for the clones, and they gathered up, their shields and swords pointed towards the statue. The statue was a man and a half high, with ceremonial stone armor on its rugged muscled body. Its facial expression was frozen in an eternal determined stare, with the eyes glowing a baleful Skorn-ish red. It held a great sword wider than Alex¡¯s waist and he guessed that the stone it was made out of was giving it a weight that would break bones.


    It came with slow steps, digging with its armored boots into the ground. The great sword was dragged along, paving a furrow through the solid stone. An arrow hit it in the chest, to no effect, the projectile bouncing off the stone armour with not a nick in sight on the statue. Its steps fastened, and more arrows hit it. Arrows did nothing, even when the clones hit an eye it would shrug it off.


    That was the sign that this thing was not going to be brought down by traditional means. That realization came too late though, the statue heaved its great sword up high and brought it down like a hammer. The clones, hurriedly breaking formation, tried to dodge. One was too late, and his leg turned into a red slurry on the ground. His leg erupted into a fountain of blood, and his scream chilled the other clones to the bone.


    His agony was short lived, the statue stepped on his chest and crushed his heart. The clone bellowed a final cry, and puffed into smoke. The statue stumbled, finding its impromptu stepping stone gone.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± ¡°Yeah man, fuck.¡±


    The clones gulped, the ghastly sight of gore still reverberating in their minds. They stood far away from the statue, encircling it yet still very cautious. Not afraid, they were not afraid, just a bit horrified by the utter brutality their brother had died. In all their minds, they found solace in that he died quickly and the statue didn¡¯t have a grudge against them.


    Its head rigidly cranked itself towards the cercle of clones, its eyes beholding all those who were in front of it. It raised its leg, and stomped. Stomp, stomp, stomp, it repeated to a confused crowd, the ground quaking. Only when the cracks in the ground started to light up with red that the clones got alarmed. Faced with only two choices, the clones retreated, besides one. The commander charged with [Last Hurraw] and roared a [Battle Cry], an ineffective tactic against a creature with a stone temperament, yet a great boost to the commander''s morale.


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    Snakes, strings and ropes of red came out slithering from the cracks. Their tips slithered towards the feet of the commander. They caught into his ankles, sizzling the thick dark leather armor. The commander gritted his teeth through the heat he was feeling and pushed with all his might, snapping the restraints with sheer leg power. Momentum carried him after that, [Solid Footwork] working overtime to stop the momentary grasps of the red snakes from breaking his pace.


    Yet it wasn¡¯t all that the statue had in magic, with a hit to the ground with its fists, it summoned a stone spike with a tip of red in front of the commander. The commander blocked with the side of his shield, and he was instantly glad for it when the spike went through the enchanted shield and nicked the edge of his armor, barely missing his skin.


    The commander, full of foolish bravery, continued treading through the dangerous terrain. The red snakes coiled his legs, they were destroyed and ripped apart by his power and velocity. The spikes, no longer a surprise, were dodged with more ease. He reached the statue, and gazed into its steady, stable red eyes. He rolled on the ground when the great sword sent rock and debris all over.


    The titan of stone, a hero statue, turned slowly. The great sword taking a considerable amount of time being dragged. In that languid movement, the commander found an opportunity on the body of a heroic statue. The ceremonial armor, mostly there to look good, had a few gaps in its defense, particularly in the back of the knees. The commander rested his two hands onto the handle of the sword, his shield had long been abandoned in the ragged quagmire.


    With a stance that was made for an executioner or a logger, Alex The Commander struck the weak point, and the joint chipped. Pieces, small and trivial, yet they fell from the statue. A web of cracks spread through the leg, and the commander went in for another hit. At that moment the statue¡¯s other leg, coming from his left, hit him full on. The armored crumpled, the bones underneath cracked and splintered, piercing his lungs and heart.


    The commander flew through the air, and lay still on the ground outside of the restrictive zone. The statue advanced on the injured clone with a perfectly organized stride, paying no mind to the fragile state of its right leg.


    It looked down on the clown, raised its great sword into the air and swung it--.


    The statue¡¯s left leg fell out from under it, and behind it was a clone, and behind that one was another, and another, another. The statue tried to get up, but the clones jumped on the statue, five clones pulling all of their physical power to stop the arms from moving. They hit the statue with the pommel of their swords in the areas where the armor didn¡¯t cover, and bit by bit, chip by chip, piece by piece, they broke the statue.


    The head was all that was left, the eyes still glowing red even though it was separated from its body. The clones dropped to ground, utterly exhausted. A wet gargle sounded out in the silent aftermath, the commander clone twitched. A clone quickly came up to it, finding the whole left side of the commander completely destroyed, organs could be seen between ravaged skin.


    He was still alive, and the effects of [Last Hurraw] would quickly set in now that the battle was over. They wouldn¡¯t let such a fine example of Alex die here though, no matter how close he was to death¡¯s door. The team of five clones descended on the injured clone, each instantly activating [Singular Focus].

 Retreat

    Fire, death, steel, blood and violence. It all came together to make a battlefield with men and monster eager to cleave and claw each other¡¯s life away. What had first been a normal day on the wall, had rapidly turned into shit once the scouts and patrols retreated, few got back with their lives. They talked of monsters coordinating with intelligence, the gremlins in the black fields abandoned their little packs and forming into full out tribes, the wolves of the evergreen forest annihilating every living thing in the vicinity.


    Jacob tried to chuckle, but his chest was constricted by his own armor. Around him, the battle went on. Things had changed since that morning, when there were only two worries in his mind, training and patrolling. Now, he had to worry if he could even live through this day.


    ¡°GET UP! GET UP YOU LITTLE SHIT PISS, GET UP AND FIGHT!¡± His instructor, chief officer Halbert, shouted. His voice fighting against the cacophony of a hundred creatures wails of terror and pain. Jacob looked at him with unfocused eyes, and only the powerful pull of the instructor put him onto motion.


    Jacob grabbed a spear from a dead militiaman¡¯s hand, his sword had long cracked and broken. He dropped his chest armor, so that he could breathe and prolong his life for a little while. The battle was deadly, militiamen, most of them men who were young and unawakened, died in the dozens. Yet they were probably the group with the most kills, in their numbers they excelled. Even if a monster was capable of wiping out a couple of them in seconds, they could still be injured by sharp steel spears.


    The guards fared better, with skills and gifts, they had far more survivability and versatility. Pity that most of them had stagnated in their comfy posts, and there were ones who even lost skill levels from years and years of neglect. It was a striking difference really, the old ones had died in the beginning of this nightmare, which left the young ones to lead this whole fucking shit show.


    ¡°Mother Mercy please spare me from this terrible nightmare I am sorry that I didn¡¯t pray enough I am sorry that I sinned and stole and killed I am sorry I am sorry I am sorry I am sorry.¡± And then they were those who were broken, rambling, pleading for mercy, eyes empty staring at the air. They were food to the monsters, and Jacob couldn¡¯t give a damn to men who broke so easily.


    Jacob stepped on the bodies of monsters and men to reach the back line. There he stayed, looking over the masses as they battled and died, his eyes roamed the frontline, searching. Among the ordinary men were adventurers, they were supposed to be the ones who would turn the battle around, yet the stronger monsters specifically targeted them.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    There, on a house, was his father. He was holding a black candle with several rainbow candles floating around him. He blew on the black fire, spewing out into a carpet of dark blaze that splashed onto a half lion half turtle with three horns.


    Jacob smiled, a hint of adoration in his eyes. Quickly, he focused. The instructor told him that everyone had a different way of interacting with their gifts, for Jacob, it was the light of Mercy that gave him an interface into his own gift.


    The light from Her Grace illuminated his face, from those strains of light he felt his gift, (Lumina). With a mental click, the light that fell upon his body increased tenfold, like he was under Prime¡¯s spotlight. Jacob jumped on the back of a man, activating several skills to catapult him over the battle lines. He landed between the monsters, and his light burned the skin and fur off the gremlins and wolves near him.


    He coated his spear with light and stabbed it. The light-infused spear cut through the monsters like butter. He activated his protection skills; their levels were written in glowing glyphs that only he could understand. They were in the early-twenties, a rather high level compared to the other guards who had joined with him at the same time.


    A commotion knocked him out of the battle trance, he retreated behind the front line and looked behind him. A great cloud of dust was rising up further to the side, he climbed into a roof and gawked as a part of the wall simply collapsed. Through it came even larger monstrosities, kings of the forests outside the city.


    The Emerald Bear, The Silver Scorpion, and Sabertooth. The last one had killed his buddies father, he could see though that the Sabertooth didn¡¯t have an easy fight from the holes it now had permanently in its body. The battle between those two had happened only a month ago now, and he saw with his own eyes how their arena obliterated the surrounding environment.


    The giant monsters strolled through the break in the wall, they were left uncontested. The mages too busy trying to extinguish the dungeon before it spawned something big, the commander of the current army detachments was nowhere to be seen and his soldier were posted on meaningless positions.


    The Scorpion clicked a tune that turned Jacobs bones into jelly, The Emerald Bear roared so strongly that the houses in front of it simply disintegrated into wooden shards. The Sabertooth growled, and Jacob had the immediate reaction of running away and never looking back. What surprised him most was that another roar had joined the three, that of a lion.


    He turned, and down the main road that led to the gate, a black lion with wisps of void clasping onto its mane, was prowling the street with slow steps. Behind him was a veritable army of monsters.


    Below, the fighting stopped. The men, militia and guard, turned around to see the new arrivals. A collective calculation was made, a fight from one direction was hard, a fight from two was even harder.


    Jacob couldn¡¯t blame them for fleeing, because he was doing it too. Hopefully the other gates haven¡¯t fallen.

 Irrational

    Alex¡¯s new shiny pen flitted across the white parchment, each stroke with the appropriate amount of ink, the magic enchantments so basic that they functioned without the need for mana from the users. The bell tower was almost full with gold items and jewels, a big portrait of a family bordered with a golden lining. A vase encrusted with red and blue gems.


    He was in the process of cataloguing it all, and with every name written down, a little spark of happiness lit up inside him. If he ever gets to sell this ensemble, he would turn out to be rich, rich enough to buy a manse in the heart of the capital. The problem was how to sell all of this illegally acquired goods, it definitely needed to be sold outside this city and that entailed finding a way to sneak all of it through the guard and the monsters.


    It was wishful thinking, yet he entertained the fantasy in his mind for the duration that he had the goods. It wouldn¡¯t really pain him that much to lose this, Afterall he could earn an equivalent amount by just setting his clones on monsters and reaping the rewards sitting in his comfy house.


    That realization, of not having to work to earn fuck off amounts of coins, made his insides tingle with warm sparks. He will never have to worry about coins ever again, not have to worry if he could buy medicines for his mom, and never have to worry about not having enough.


    A ruckus was sounding out from outside the bell tower, a tick tack of steel boots against paved stone. Alex frowned, he felt his metaphorical hand and twitched, feeling that he could summon one clone. The clones had encountered an enemy strong enough to kill one of them, and probably injure many more.


    He put down his magic pen and rose from the comfy chair. He trotted on a fine carpet that unfortunately had a splotch of blood. Opening the door, he saw five clones carrying another on a makeshift stretcher. The clone was bandaged from head to chest, and his skin was positively cast in crimson.


    Alex raised a singular eyebrow, rather surprised to see only one injured, all the others seemed fine.


    ¡°What happened to you all?¡± Alex asked while inspecting the injured clone, finding him wheezing out pained one pained breath after another. The left side of his upper body had crumpled up, the bone almost shattered into pieces. It was a miracle that he didn¡¯t die on the way, and will probably die any second now.


    ¡°Fucking bastard dungeon set on us a statue of a war hero.¡± A clone uttered, he left the pack of clones and sheeted his sword


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Alex scrunched his eyes and scratched his head.


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


    ¡°The statue was animated by whatever fell magics the dungeon uses; it was a strong statue.¡± The clone unstrapped his helmet and removed the clothing that hid his face. ¡°Killed one of us with a single blow and almost killed the commander with a light kick.¡±


    ¡°You killed it, good job. Now let¡¯s unsummon the injured guy and you guys can go back to your work.¡± Alex was just about to twitch his metaphorical finger when the clone spoke up.


    ¡°Can we¡­not dismiss him?¡± The clone said with hesitation.


    ¡°Why? He¡¯s injured, and in a lot of pain. It¡¯s a mercy to dismiss him.¡±


    ¡°He¡­he is strong.¡± The clone stayed silent for a moment, his eyes lost in memory. ¡°He is different from us, we wouldn¡¯t have won if he wasn¡¯t brave.¡±


    Alex raised an eyebrow at the clone¡¯s statement. It seemed bizarre, these clones were identical, and the commander wasn''t an exception just because he was given the leadership role. If the commander could be brave, then so can the others. The clone had a lack of confidence in himself.


    ¡°Come on, stop it.¡± Alex chuckled and patted the clone on the shoulder. ¡°Everyone of us could become brave. We are all the same, built from the same foundation.¡±


    ¡°Yet the houses we build are different because of our experiences.¡± The clone retorted back. ¡°The commander is special Alex, you hadn¡¯t seen him when he charged without hesitation. I didn¡¯t even think of charging, not even an ounce of that thought had crossed my mind. Yet he did, yet he charged, and I did not.¡±


    ¡°You are valuing yourself too low, every one of us can become like him. He is not unique, and we can all become like him, I will learn from his example.¡± Alex assured them and getting a smidge of annoyance from this rather useless conversation. The commander clone is a liability, he could not be kept, as he would consume a valuable clone slot. There was no way he could make a full recovery before this whole disaster ¨C disaster for other people ¨C ended.


    ¡°No no no. You don¡¯t understand, learning isn¡¯t enough. You have to experience it.¡±


    ¡°This whole conversation is pointless, he will die anyway come by the time Eve rises.¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t die. Natural Healing will pull through, I can feel it.¡±


    Alex snapped; this whole charade was fucking stupid. His clone had a screw loose from fighting all those monsters, letting his feelings take over his reasoning. He dismissed both clones, the one that was arguing with him and the commander clone. They were losing time arguing over a lost case, and he was not patient enough with the city in a full-on assault to entertain an argument about differences.


    ¡°Now, if any of you have any opinion on the matter, speak up.¡± Alex was rather tired of all this bullshit, and was keen on returning to his comfy chair. When the clones shook their head, he continued. ¡°We need to be united to see the end of this alive, all of us. We can do everything that the commander did, trust yourselves and you will be able to do just as much.¡±


    The clones dropped the stretcher with only broken armor on it. Alex then nodded with satisfaction; how would the world be so easier if he could end arguments with a thought. He resummoned three clones and let them wear their armor. He leads the clones to the insides of the building and shows them a detailed map of the city.


    ¡°I am assuming this is where you battled, and by my estimates the dungeon is here. ¡° Alex pointed to the Lord¡¯s Mansion. ¡°We are close, just a few districts and we should be there. I¡¯ve seen that the mages have already reached it from the top of the tower, but I bet they are not doing well from the lack of ground support.¡±


    ¡°We help them, kill the monsters that are attacking them to let them vanquish the dungeon.¡± The new clone pipped up.


    ¡°Exactly, you are thinking what I am thinking.¡± Alex then climbed on a chair and gave the clones a command. ¡°Now go and wreck those monsters till they will beg for Skorn to call them back to his hell.¡±

 Rescue

    It was a relief to know that most of the bodies had been buried beneath rubble.


    The sight of a singular body made the new clones choke, the person¡¯s death undignified. But that wasn¡¯t what terrified them, it was the motionlessness that the bodies had. Their eyes were still, their chests were still, their whole body was still. Compounded on to it the cold blue tint that their skins had taken and the splayed out manner in which they died, made for nightmare fuel for the newer clones.


    For the older ones, four clones from the original seven, it was¡­a good death compared to many they had seen before, at least the person didn¡¯t have his face ripped out, or removed from every muscle.


    The somberness of death, the dizziness and instinctive disgust that it brought was petrifying. It showed you at the end, how utterly worthless life is. How feeble and weak life can be, it can be snuffed out just by random chance¡­by just a whim of fate and that of the gods.


    The clones were grateful at times for the tick in their head that said that death wasn¡¯t so bad. Horror wouldn¡¯t be the least of their problems if they still retained a normal living entities instinctive terror of death. Emotionally, it still had an effect.


    So many faces, so many lives, so many dreams. So so much, just gone. So many unique individuals, killed, instantly. It reminded them of the thug who had broken into their house, how his eyes stared into his, even as his body gushed out blood from the neck. He had dreams? He had worries, he had parents, brothers and sisters.


    Yet, they were all gone by a single miscalculation.


    Death is easy to achieve, life is hard to keep.


    A clone pressed his hands against the ground, (Singular Focus) on full blast. Experience had thought him that the sound was the second-best way of detecting if any monsters were nearby ¨C because of them are ambush predators, and those don¡¯t even utter a sound if they get shanked. The best way was to sense the vibrations, the little minutes bops and bumps that wrung out from everywhere.


    It was difficult at first, to even feel if there was something even there. But with help from the other clones, the detector clone had it down pat in a couple of tries.


    He told the other clones to stop, their steps wringing out like bells in his mind. Finally, there was silence, his hand sense noth-no. No, there was something, a faint tick and tack. The clone moved his arm to the left, then to right, then to the front and back. He unholstered his sword and put it on the ground, pointing towards a wrecked two-story home.


    ¡°There is something moving inside that home.¡± The clone pointed to the house, and quickly the other clones left the perimeter they had set up.


    ¡°You think it¡¯s a monster?¡± The rookie said casually, his tone betraying a brief burst of excitement.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°No, it is under the wreckage, it must be a person trapped under it all.¡± The detector clone crunched his brows and uttered solemnly. ¡°We will have to help.¡±


    ¡°Brother, I don¡¯t think we have the time, we need to reach the dungeon.¡± Another of the rookie clones said nervously. ¡°The faster we get to the dungeon, the more lives we save.¡±


    ¡°The dungeon won¡¯t go away anytime soon, the person under that house will.¡±


    That got the clone to shut up and help. They marched towards the house and got to work clearing off the little pieces of stone, it was minutes later when they had found themselves in a predicament. A rather wide piece of roof was still unbroke, and the detector clone sensed the vibrations coming from below the wide piece of roof.


    The fallen roof was slopped, angled like a tent from the rubble below it, providing a space for one person to fit beneath it. That same rubble blocked off access from the space beneath the roof. A solution was to remove the rubble that was under the roof, see if they could make a pathway for the person to exit. Trouble was that the clones weren¡¯t architects and didn¡¯t know which rubble was bearing the weight of the roof.


    ¡°We have to break it, just make a hole big enough for one of us to get in and get the person inside there out.¡±


    ¡°Dude, look at it, it is a solid slab. The thing will shatter before we can cut a hole in it.¡±


    ¡°Well do you have a better idea?¡±


    The group fell silent after that, each one delving into deep thought. An older clone kicked his leg against two bricks that were stacked on each other, and he got an epiphany.


    ¡°I got it. Gather ¡®round boys.¡± He excitedly told them. ¡°Let us try to lift the roof, not much, just enough to put a strong stone block underneath it. Then we repeat that again with another stone block on the stone block from before. If we stack it high enough¡­.¡±


    ¡°We can make a passageway tall enough for someone to crawl through.¡±


    The clones arranged themselves around the roof, putting their fingers on the little sliver between the ground and the air.


    ¡°On three pull ups. One, Two, THREE!¡±


    They grunted collectively, using seven trained men worth of muscle on lifting a stone roof. It rose slowly, which bolstered the clones to put in even more effort. And when it reached a high enough height, a clone pushed a stone block beside him with his leg.


    When it was underneath the roof, the clones gently dropped down the roof on the stone block. The detector clone quickly got on his chest to peek at whatever was contained inside. He saw an old man with greying hair, his feet kicking repeatedly against the roof. The old man looked like a sage, with broken scholastic glasses on his brows and a long white beard that trailed down into the earth.


    What got the clone¡¯s heart to wince was the little girl held in the old man¡¯s embrace, her ruby eyes staring into his with aggravating intensity. She was uninjured and wore silk robes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry girly, we will get you out. Fret not.¡±


    The clones judged that another stone block would be enough, and they lifted the roof and had a clone hastily put the stone block above the other one and set the roof on top of it. The extraction of the two persons was easy enough, the old man¡¯s unconscious state proving him rather flexible and the girl''s rather actionless attitude was certainly a boon.


    They gave them jerky and a blanket on a clothing line.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name girly?¡± The detector clone said to the motionless girl.


    ¡°Hema Goldfield.¡± The girl¡¯s response was monotone, and her eyes still dug into his.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go with that guy over there, he will lead you to a safe place.¡± The clone pointed towards the rookie clone who was tasked with the unenviable task of escorting these people back to the bell tower and running to catch up with them. Poor guy had to even carry the old man in his arms.


    ¡°Ok.¡± She broke from his eyes and immediately stood next to the clone.


    ¡°Go. You know the route we will be taking to reach the dungeon.¡± The detector clone chuckled. ¡°You better start walking if you want to see any action.¡±