Chapter 10
Chapter 10: There’s More of Me?
“Ready! Swing!” Yelled the Captain.
“Ha!”
“Ready!”
“Swing!”
“Ha!”
“Alright knights, go practice one on one.”
“Yes sir!”
Heavy breathing came from behind him.
“Hm?”
The maid’s left hand was against the wooden gate. She was slumping against it.
“Ah, hey Cilia!”
“Are you alright? What’s wrong?”
Goldwill quickly ran over to her.
“Hey!”
“I-it’s about Lord… Percide…”
“What happened? Cilia!”
“Percide… isn’t- that man…”
She collapsed.
Goldwill picked her up and brought her inside.
What does that mean… Percide isn’t Percide?
Wait… but it kind of makes sense.
When we found him he was surrounded by a bunch of massacred bandits and he was alone, he doesn’t remember anything, and constantly changes the things he had previously set in place. His personality has taken almost a complete turn, and he either goes missing for large portions of the day or is sleeping… and when he first woke up he didn’t speak a language we could understand. He slowly adapted to what we said, so he could try blending in more!
“Percide isn’t Percide… he’s a monster in disguise!”
There’s only one way to confirm this.
I’ll visit Percide’s room.
Goldwill hastily ran over to Percide’s room. He entered to see what appeared to be him sleeping. He walked over and placed the back of his hand against Percide’s forehead. It was dead cold. Goldwill clenched his fist and went back to the barracks.
Once he got back the maid groggily started waking up.
“Huh- Captain?”
“Cilia!”
“Percide… isn’t human… he’s a monster that is… stealing his identity.”
She sat up.
“Hey take it easy.”
“No, no it’s fine. I just pushed my physical limits more trying to get here quickly.”
She looked him in the eyes.
“Goldwill… we’re going to have to kill that thing. We can’t let a monster stay in town, especially since it's taken a person’s identity.”
Goldwill looked down.
“I know… but what are the chances Percide is still alive?”
“I’m not sure… if I had to guess… he probably died back when you found him.”
He looked her in the eyes before making his decision.
“Alright. I’ll start gathering forces and evacuate the town. We’ll attack him in three days. For now act like nothing happened.”
“Yes… sir. Also a few things to note, he can shape shift between different forms… and you can identify him by this yellow ‘01’ carved into his left eye.”
“Thank you, I’ll keep a lookout for that.”
⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱
|THE NEXT DAY|
⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱
Hmm…
How long was I asleep for?
I sat up.
“Stratum.”
————————————
Name: Cynical
Species: Regulus Slime
Level: 63
Rank: A
EXP: 90,821/324,568
————————————
[Titles]
‘World Ender’
‘Monster in Human Clothing’
‘Otherworlder’
‘Magician’s Crusade’
‘Darkest Monster’
————————————
[Stat Points]
Strength: 269
Speed: 262
Perception: 268
Health: 250,000
Mana: 231
Intelligence: 134
Wisdom: 102
Luck: 65
Remaining Points: 193
————————————
[Skills]
||Passive:||
-Quick Learner, MAXED;
-Sentient Mind, MAXED;
-Chantless, MAXED;
-Language Master, Lvl 17;
||Active:||
-Absorption, Lvl 23;
-Form Shift, Lvl 27;
-Spell Creation, Lvl 15;
-Storage, Lvl 12;
-Sword Bolt, Lvl 6;
-Fireball, Lvl 14;
-Stealth, Lvl 9;
-Mana Control, Lvl 10;
-Heaven’s Barrier, Lvl 0;
-Water Shot, Lvl 1;
-Shadow World, Lvl 1;
-Mind’s Eye, Lvl 7;
-Body Split, Lvl 9;
-Expansion, Lvl 9;
-Vocalize, Lvl 1;
-Chainsaw, Lvl 6;
-Teleport, Lvl 2;
-Flight, Lvl 1;
-Transfer, Lvl 1;
-Variant Break (1/1);
————————————
I’m going to dump all my extra points into mana first.
||Remaining Points: 193||
||Remaining Points: 156||
||Remaining Points: 132||
||Remaining Points: 111||
||Remaining Points: 97||
||Remaining Points: 64||
||Remaining Points: 39||
||Remaining Points: 12||
||Remaining Points: 0||
“There we go!”
“Mana four hundred twenty four~”
Now how much mana do I have restored?
||~Mana 424/424~||
“All of it?!”
Sleeping is great!
Can I modify my menu to show how much mana each skill takes?
Is there a settings feature? I messed around with the window for a few minutes. Then I eventually found an option.
————————————
Name: Cynical
Species: Regulus Slime
Level: 63
Rank: A
EXP: 90,821/324,568
————————————
[Titles]
‘World Ender’
‘Monster in Human Clothing’
‘Otherworlder’
‘Magician’s Crusade’
‘Darkest Monster’
————————————
[Stat Points]
Strength: 269
Speed: 262
Perception: 268
Health: 250,000
Mana: 424
Intelligence: 134
Wisdom: 102
Luck: 65
Remaining Points: 0
————————————
[Skills]
||Passive:||
-Quick Learner, MAXED; Mana: 0;
-Sentient Mind, MAXED; Mana: 0;
-Chantless, MAXED; Mana: 0;
-Language Master, Lvl 17; Mana: 0;
||Active:||
-Absorption, Lvl 23; Mana: 0;
-Form Shift, Lvl 27; Mana: 0;
-Spell Creation, Lvl 15; Mana: 0;
-Storage, Lvl 12; Mana: 0;
-Sword Bolt, Lvl 6; Mana: 0;
-Fireball, Lvl 14; Mana: 2;
-Stealth, Lvl 9; Mana: 0;
-Mana Control, Lvl 8; Mana: 0;
-Heaven’s Barrier, Lvl 0; Mana: ???;
-Water Shot, Lvl 1; Mana: 5;
-Shadow World, Lvl 1; Mana: 35;
-Mind’s Eye, Lvl 7; Mana: 2;
-Body Split, Lvl 9; Mana: 0;
-Expansion, Lvl 9; Mana: 0;
-Vocalize, Lvl 1; Mana: 10;
-Chainsaw, Lvl 6; Mana: 0;
-Teleport, Lvl 2; Mana: Distance Based;
-Flight, Lvl 1; Mana: ???;
-Transfer, Lvl 1; Mana: ???;
-Variant Break (1/1); Mana: ???;
————————————
“Ooh I can see how much mana gets used now…”
Most of them cost zero mana. There are a few with question marks though, I guess that’s because they couldn’t be measured accurately enough?
“I should really level up more of my skills… let’s start with [Shadow World] then!”
I can’t use it here though since everyone would notice the atmosphere changing.
So into the forest I go!
||SHADOW WORLD||
The ground expanded into a pitch black and the sky clouded into a seamless shady gray.
“Now, rise.”
The identical shadow figures rose from the ground.
What if I pushed it further though…? I could try mixing a shadow with a cloned body… Would I be able to control it then?
||BODY SPLIT||
||EXPANSION||
Now I’ll merge the shadow into my cloned body.
A bright flash blinded me… I blinked trying to fix my vision.
The first thing I noticed different was that my body was the same… but now the red in my hair and eyes was an off-black color. The green on my coat switched to an off-black as well, before my vision refocused on the clone's eyes.
…
“Heh-“
“0… 6…?”
Why does the clone’s left eye have ‘06’ carved into it?
The coloring is still a yellow-gold like mine… but there shouldn’t even be a number.
||NOTICE: Unique Skill [Variant Break] has been updated!||
[Variant Break] was updated?
||Variant Break (1/2);||
“Now it’s one out of two…”
Does that mean there are more numbers? Since I’m ‘01’ and apparently my clone here is ‘06’ what about ‘02’ or ‘03’?
||VARIANT BREAK; Semblance ‘06’: Specter||
Huh?! It’s activating on its own???
Also semblance?
What? What does that mean? Semblance… semblance…
…
Yeah I got nothing.
My clone started moving his head. He looked down at his hands.
“I-it’s moving…”
He looked at me.
“Hey… One.”
“One?”
“Yeah… your eye… One.”
He sounded almost the same as me, except he also sounded kind of dead and monotone…
||NOTICE: Semblance ‘06’ has been successfully released!||
||NOTICE: Semblance Variants have Unique Abilities and can Swap Characteristics with the Main Body, or use a split off Clone to Operate!||
“…”
“What.”
What does that mean? Variants? So like a split personality or something? Aren’t I already fucked up enough?!
“One.”
“Huh- yeah?”
||SHADOW WORLD||
The deep black shadows expanded from beneath Six. It was like my own spell was being used against me. Wait- if he activated it, do I still have it?
I hurriedly checked my stat window.
————————————
Name: Cynical
Species: Regulus Slime
Level: 63
Rank: A
EXP: 90,821/324,568
————————————
[Titles]
‘World Ender’
‘Monster in Human Clothing’
‘Otherworlder’
‘Magician’s Crusade’
‘Darkest Monster’
————————————
[Stat Points]
Strength: 269
Speed: 262
Perception: 268
Health: 250,000
Mana: 424
Intelligence: 134
Wisdom: 102
Luck: 65
Remaining Points: 0
————————————
[Skills]
||Passive:||
-Quick Learner, MAXED;
-Sentient Mind, MAXED;
-Chantless, MAXED;
-Language Master, Lvl 17;
||Active:||
-Absorption, Lvl 23;
-Form Shift, Lvl 27;
-Spell Creation, Lvl 15;
-Storage, Lvl 12;
-Sword Bolt, Lvl 6;
-Fireball, Lvl 14;
-Stealth, Lvl 9;
-Mana Control, Lvl 8;
-Heaven’s Barrier, Lvl 0;
-Water Shot, Lvl 1;
-Mind’s Eye, Lvl 7;
-Body Split, Lvl 9;
-Expansion, Lvl 9;
-Vocalize, Lvl 1;
-Chainsaw, Lvl 6;
-Teleport, Lvl 2;
-Flight, Lvl 1;
-Transfer, Lvl 1;
-Variant Break (2/2);
————————————
It’s gone.
I don’t have [Shadow World] anymore…
“Now, rise.”
All sorts of shadow creatures rose up from the dark shadows beneath him. The most notable being wolves, bears and… crocodiles?
There were also a dozen large shadow tentacles that were scattered around us.
“Woah…”
||SHADOW BLADE||
The dark black shadows started swarming up from the ground and into Six’s hand. They merged together piece by piece, creating a jet black blade. It resembled a shamshir sword…
“Wait Six, why do you keep using shadows? You don't use slime?”
“Huh? No. I use the shadows. Well, for the most part.”
yawn
“I’m tired. One, let me sleep.”
“Huh? Uh… how?”
He stared at me.
“Use [Absorption] on me.”
“Y-you sure? Wouldn’t that be bad?”
“No.”
…
“Probably.”
This guy doesn’t care at all.
||ABSORB||
My red slime extended from my body, reaching out and taking hold of Six’s body. The slime wrapped around him, slowly absorbing everything. Until he was gone, [Shadow World] disappearing with it.
…
“Was that… it?”
<No. It wasn’t.>
“Hey- what the fuck?!”
<I said. No, It wasn’t.>
“S-six?”
<Yes.>
<I’m in your subconscious? Stomach? Whatever you want to call it. We can communicate pretty easily if I’m here, well sometimes.>
“I- I’d prefer not…”
<We already are you. So it doesn’t really change anything.>
“That’s not the point Six… also ‘we’?”
<I’m going to rest for a bit. Call me later.>
“Huh? Ah- alright?”
What the fuck just happened. He didn’t even answer my question…
“Uh… I guess I should find out how much mana [Flight] takes now.”
||~Mana 389/424~||
||FLIGHT||
My feet lifted off of the ground. I was now around five feet in the air when I decided to check how much mana was taken.
||~Mana 309/424~||
Huh-
“Only eighty?!”
Wait wait wait…
Shit I can’t progress any further unless I find out how much mana Esther has…