Chapter 304 - Using the Mirror (Patreon)

It takes me almost an entire day. I spend the rest of the mana conductive paint, putting it on the mirror, floor, and on my body. I even etch some inscriptions into my skin. Lastly, I also melt some metals I have to add to this all. When it's all done, I sit there, eating some of the food and enjoying the rest of the chilled drink I have.

Waiting for my body to rest after overuse of my eyes, I open the community.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - test test

Sset (Hell, group 4) - you missed two days.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - I was busy. Is everyone fine?

Sset (Hell, group 4) - yes, but NotAaron’s disciple died and he was moved to the next floor.

Oh.

Sset (Hell, group 4) - his brother followed him, so he is not alone there.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - that sucks.

Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - he was really shocked, I hope they will be fine.

TheStrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - it all was going so well, and then...

The rest of his message is censored, and I guess a few more after that.

Sset (Hell, group 4) - another piece of news is that Gareth and WhiteWing entered the 5th floor as well. They lost two members during the end of the 4th floor, apparently against the First One. One more died in some of the other groups.

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - hey guys, yeah. The ant couldn’t damage Gareth or others close to him, so he went after our ranged players. He was too quick for us to do anything. Fucking insect.

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - it’s good to see that you guys are okay. Oh, Noname, Gareth tells you to talk to him sometimes. But now I have to go to my disciple, so later.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - later, take care.

Even to me, my message feels awkward, but it is what it is. I was never good at this kind of stuff.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - I will be a bit busy in the next few days, so don’t be surprised if I don’t join.

Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - be careful! Your passive sucks.

Lily uses the opportunity to poke at my passive that she kept calling pathetic and telling me to remove it. After bickering for a while, I close the window and give my full attention back to the mirror.

It’s time.

My eyes activate, and black mana from the orb seeps into my body. I force it under my control and forcefully calm down my quickly beating heart. Then I take a step towards the mirror and activate it together with all the inscriptions I made. At the same moment, my eyes activate.

I feel the arcane item react, mana from it reaching to me, its attempt to duplicate a single object.

What I can do is not to change the way it works, its function, or anything too big. No, I'm still far far from that point. Instead, I just slightly poke it. Just a tiny bit, I mess with the inscription and help it to pick the object it duplicates.

That object is me.

The weirdest feeling flows through my body. It's as if someone examines me so deeply to know every nook and corner of my being. The entirety of my body is scanned, and my mind as well. And I allow it to.

Warning! The Duplicating Mirror is being utilized in an unintended manner. This use does not align with the tutorial's intended use. Small changes have been applied.

A chosen object for duplication will not remain permanent, with a time limit and restrictions applied.

The window then disappears, and I take a step back, and at the same time, my reflection takes a step forward.

A leg steps onto the floor, and as the mirror cracks and turns into shining particles, another me enters the room, his clothes disappearing and all the items on him.

My eyes meet those of his. I thought of it often, and I expected to be able to read him, but I'm unable to. I guess there is a difference between reading other people and myself.

“Fuck, that's creepy,” he says what I want to say and takes some clothes from the floor. He is acting casually, but I know that he is thinking, and I even feel him generating thermal and kinetic energy inside of his body.

“Access to Community and system shop and floor quests?” I ask.

“Cut off.”

“Status, skills?”

“All the same. Fuck, this is creepy,” he repeats again, “I think I understand why people keep wanting to punch your face all the time.”

“Our face… your face… or my face, whatever. And they are simply jealous,” I say, “try activating your trait for a moment.”

Before he complains, I activate mine as well, and with a sigh, he does just that.

I can still see his brown and gray eyes, but there is a golden circle around the pupil.

“Good, at least it is as cool-looking as I thought,” he says what I'm thinking again.

When he is finally clothed, I ask him, “So you don’t think that you are original?”

“Obviously, I do not,” the way he looks at me changes a bit.

I don’t even have to ask what he thinks of it. He is me, and I know what I would do, and he knows I know as I was thinking about it just before using the mirror. So it all is fresh in his memory.

Clonthaniel stretches, his trait already deactivated, but Primordial energies still collecting inside of his body. The way he moves his body is unnerving, and even more so the way he looks around.

“Damn, I really want to punch you,” I say.

“Right? It’s the same for me. Anyway, three weeks, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t think the system will let you to the 6th floor or let you exist for too long. We already fucked up with the mirror, and there are limitations placed.”

“That’s true. I already think I have 2-3 weeks at most. It's this feeling…For that, I have to thank you.” He doesn’t smile, instead takes a step closer, and I let him.

Both of us face each other.

Yes. He will help me, we will both improve our skills and train together. He will do it because of our logical part of thinking. But at the same time, he hates me, because he is fake that will disappear, and I’m the real one.

In time givem to him he will try everything to stay alive, even attempt to take over me to replace me.

Clonthaniel takes some food from the bag, after taking a bite, he says, “Best food I EVER ate.”

Okay, that was a good one. Let's ignore the fact I already planned on saying this joke during the preparations.

As if on cue, both of us sit on the ground, opposite each other.

I gesture at him, and he nods, creating an orb from black mana and making it float between us.

Both of us activate [Mana Domain], reaching towards it while activating a few more skills and our eyes.

Two of us should be able to come up with a way to deal with black mana better, right? His incentive being the need to improve so he can trick the system or replace me. For the next few weeks, we have the same goal: to improve as much as possible and as quickly as possible.

Let's just be careful not to get killed by him. That would be awkward.

We both use [Resonance] and don't even have to change frequencies our mana works on. They are already the same. We are the same being.

Then, together we surround the black mana with our domains and try to dominate it.

***

“Veil guardian is mine,” I tell him.

“Hell no, that bitch will be killed by me.

“Don't you have better things to do? Maybe personality imprint or some other shit?”

“As if I would be able to replicate my mind perfectly within a few weeks. I won't be able to create an imprint that would be 100% me.”

“So what, you want to prolong your life and wait here in hopes Cockroachsandra will come to this floor? Everyone got their own instance on the 5th floor.”

“Blah blah, you talk like I didn't think of that. And why are you so talkative,” Clonthaniel asks.

“I mean, there is no need to hide anything about me, you already know all of it. Don't you agree that's a weird feeling?” I ask.

“Duh, you know what pisses me off? I still remember that it was my decision to use the mirror this way. I know what brought me there. I know the plan and what I expected from it. Part of me even thinks it was me who made this decision, so I can't be too angry. But the longer I'm my own being, the more I differ from you and the more I want to jump at your throat.”

“If you do so and somehow succeed in killing me or get me killed by summoning Veil Guardians or the sleeping danger noodle, you will most likely disappear too.”

“Yes, but you know what? If I come to the conclusion that I will disappear no matter what I try, I will be taking you down with me,” he says. As always, he says it calmly, and I can see his [Focus] working. His face is emotionless, yet he says such words.

Up until now, I didn't realize how disturbing it feels. I mean, I had some idea, but seeing it? Seeing him move, look around, talk? There is this uncanny valley kind of feeling to see my usually 2D reflection from the mirror become its own being.

“You just keep saying things I already thought of before using the mirror,” I shrug, “anyway, why is your left arm pale?” I ask.

“Because I'm a perfect copy, isn't it simple? You should be asking why your left arm is still pale no matter how many times it gets hurt and you restore it. Theoretically it should become normal again, right?”

“Do you think Lily did something so it will remain pale forever? She marked us?”

“Would you be surprised? That girl is bonkers. Did you notice how quiet towards you she is lately in the Community? Before she was much more talkative and cheery. I bet she is pissed off that you left the group at the end of the 4th floor.”

“She must be busy with her disciple; that's why,” I try to guess.

“Even you don't believe that. Dude, if you meet her on the next floor, she will beat you up.”

“As if I let her. And why the fuck do you talk like this? It's also you who made all these decisions.”

“You are the original asshole, as Biscuit would say. Damn, I hope I will get to see that silly corgi. Anyway, it's kind of refreshing to talk about it. Group 4 is a bunch of weirdos, aren't they? I mean, even Isabella.”

I shift on the ground to make myself more comfortable and lean against the wall, “Who knows what will grow of her as she gets raised in the tutorial. Plus, she got that ancient bloodline Noodle.”

“It's fine, Noodle is cute too, so I don't mind if he becomes some sort of devourer of worlds or stuff.” Clonthaniel shakes his head, “Tess is scary too with her antimatter cannon-like sniping. Can you imagine her in a few years? She might be able to snipe people from orbit.”

I snort, “People? She will be obliterating smaller cities from there. But damn, I'm still jealous of Sophie's Manipulation.”

Clonthaniel smiles slightly. Both of us have [Focus] lowered down on our emotions and are using most of the skill to do preparations inside of our bodies.

He continues, “I know how hard you tried to evolve your [Mana Manipulation] into [Manipulation]. Too bad you failed.”

“Yes, yes, you failed, we failed. Damn, this is annoying. Anyway, I’m almost done, and you?”

“The same. I will be going first.”

“Hell no,” I say.

“Then I won’t be helping.”

I look at him as he says so, and I don’t even need to read him to confirm that. I know what I would have done, “I want to punch you,” I say instead.

“That means you want to punch yourself.” He stands up and moves closer.

He sits with his back to me, and I put my hands on his back and let my mana flow through his skin. His mantle and natural defenses are gone, lowered by him, and our mana is the same, so it passes easily. It's almost disturbing how easily.

Well, it's time to make a new construct, and this one will be even more powerful than I wanted it to be. I wonder how far I can push it with two of me working in tandem.

This is going to be scary.

***

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