Deep in a forest, a hundred clicks from Kirchein, a guy in a plain brown robe, sporting dark blonde hair and a run-of-the-mill face, was darting among the trees. With each stride, he covered a whole kilometer. Sounds impossible. Well, he had these wings in his shoes, [Talaria], making it all possible. With each flap of those wings, he slid between the trees like some nimble snake.

Yep, that dude was Zack, or more accurately, his clone. Just a few minutes back, he got a signal from his other clones, Gandril and Mystara, saying they were about to take on some level 3 magical beasts. So, he possessed the nearest clone and hightailed it there. He wanted to see how his AI clones stacked up against the real deal.

Now, he could've used a teleportation circle from the lightning tower, since all his clones outside had that official apprentice wizard status. But, he totally forgot about the fact that the lightning tower was all caught up in the baby-saving operation, and their teleportation hall was closed off for the operation team. So, walking on foot was his only option.

As he neared the battleground, the air reverberated with loud explosions and the ground shook beneath him. Finding a prime spot in a nearby tree, he settled in. Naturally, he'd activated his [Invisibility] ages ago, so he was as good as a ghost.

Watching the intense showdown unfold before him, he couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement. It was like being front-row at a top-tier Hollywood sci-fi flick with killer CGI. "Goddamnit! If only I had my storage ring here, I could snack away while enjoying this," he mused. Then, a thought hit him: "Wait, can't I just do that?"

He swiftly disconnected his control from the clone's body, using only its senses while diverting some of his consciousness back to his main body.

In the settlement within the Lightning Desolation, Zack lounged in his seat, pulling out some jalapeno poppers. But before he could settle in, he remembered something. He called Fannie over, interrupting whatever she was up to and ushering her into his room. There, he projected the scene unfolding in his clone's vision onto the wall.

"Take a load off, Fannie. You've been working too hard," Zack said, handing her another bucket of snacks.

Fannie looked bewildered by the setup but accepted the snacks in a daze.

"You're right. We've been on edge lately. It's good to unwind," Fannie sighed, sinking into the sofa beside Zack.

As Zack indulged in a popper, he let out a contented moan. Fun fact: Fannie was the creator of the snacks; he just stashed some away in his storage ring as a backup.

While Zack enjoyed the relaxed scene, things were anything but calm on the battlefield. As the magical beasts clashed with the level 3 wizards from the lightning tower, tensions ran high. They all understood the unspoken rule: take down one enemy each.

The Lightning Claw Sabertooth squared off against Gandril, while the Frostfire Bear went toe-to-toe with Mystara.

Gandril, powered up with [Lightning Flesh] and [Hermes’s Shoes - Talaria], vanished from his spot along with the sabertooth, only for a deafening explosion to echo from another direction moments later.

Meanwhile, Mystara swung his hammer at the Frostfire Bear once more, but the bear was ready this time, countering with a massive pillar of ice erupting from the ground like a spear aimed at Mystara's hammer.

BOOM!

A figure was flung backward, crashing through trees and creating a massive crater upon impact. As the figure rose, it was clear it was Mystara, defeated in the initial clash with the bear.

“WiZaRd WeAk!!! GRAHAhAhAHAHAH!!” the Frostfire Bear taunted, unmoved from its original spot.

Despite the bear's antics, Mystara maintained his soft smiles, though there was now a hint of something darker in his otherwise emotionless eyes.

Mystara tossed aside his hammer. "Never mind. Close combat isn't my thing like Arcanis. I'll stick to what I do best."

He thrust his hand forward, summoning a massive magic circle in front of his palm. From it emerged a thick, 10-meter-wide shield, hurtling toward the Frostfire Bear at breakneck speed. The shield grew larger and larger, seemingly intent on engulfing the bear.

[Athena’s Shield - Aegis] - Mystara’s Ver!

The bear got serious, slamming its paw into the ground and conjuring a massive magic circle brimming with ancient symbols. Instantly, a deluge of ice surged forward, slowly forming into a colossal glacier, rivaling the size of Mystara's shield.

[Frost Avalanche!]

Despite their immense scale, both spells hurtled toward each other at breakneck speed. Just before impact, they reached a colossal height of 1 kilometer.

Watching this clash from behind the screen, Zack spat out his juice in shock. He swiftly possessed his clone and zipped toward Kirchein city. With little time to spare, he couldn't erect a barrier to cover the whole city, so he settled for three [Aegis - Node] on the city's eastern side, closest to the battlefield.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Zack barely made it in time as a massive explosion erupted from the collision between Mystara and the Frostfire Bear. The shockwave flattened trees, creating a massive crater at the impact site. The wave slammed into the barrier, causing ripples across its surface. Though he couldn't prevent the tremors caused by the explosion, leading earthquakes that ravaged some of the already crumbling houses from previous magical beast attacks.

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With some extra time before the next showdown, Zack put 5000 of his defensive cores to work, blanketing the city with 5000 [Aegis’ Node]. With mana to spare, he reinforced the remaining structures to withstand the next tremor. As the barrier went up, Zack breathed a sigh of relief. "Mystara! Just wait until I deal with you later!"

He'd already programmed his AI clones to avoid harming innocent lives, though it seemed to only work halfway. They'd managed to lead the magical beasts outside the city before the battle, but they hadn't accounted for the aftermath affecting the city.

"Ah, well. I'll sort that out later," Zack thought, pushing it aside as he refocused on the battle. With the trees flattened by the clash between the bear and Mystara, he hovered nearby, maintaining the void-stepping ability of his [Talaria].

After that last clash, it seemed like the bear and Mystara had hit a stalemate, but a closer look showed Zack that the ice was tipping a bit more toward Mystara's side. It meant the Frostfire bear was gaining ground against Mystara.

The fighters caught on too, with the bear sporting this creepy grin and Mystara's eyes getting a tad gloomy.

"Again! [Aegis] x 2!" Mystara whipped up two massive shields, aiming to crush the bear like a meat paste.

But the bear wasn't having it, countering with its own spells while launching a wicked counterattack.

BOOOOM BOOOM BOOOOOOOM!

And so, the showdown between the bear and Mystara raged on, sending shockwaves rippling through the air one after another.

Turning his attention to another skirmish, Zack observed the duel between the Lightning Claw Sabertooth and Gandril. Unlike Mystara's, Gandril seemed to be struggling against the sabertooth's onslaught.

With each motion of Gandril's hand, lightning balls and bolts shot forth, each moving at the speed of lightning and detonating at his command.

[Zeus’ Thunderbolt] - Gandril’s Ver

[Hephaestus’ Masterpiece - Supernova] - Gandril’s Ver

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

The sky lit up with explosions, but amidst the chaos, the sabertooth remained calm, almost disdainful.

"HueHueHueHue, WeAk!" the sabertooth mocked Gandril.

Gandril's expressionless facade cracked, fury seeping into his eyes. But even as he ramped up his attacks, the sabertooth danced around them like it was child's play. Deciding it was time to throw down, the sabertooth blurred into action, streaking toward Gandril at breakneck speed.

Thanks to his [Double Enhancement] of [Lightning Flesh] and [Talaria], Gandril could partially track the sabertooth's movements. Yet, he was helpless as the sabertooth exploited his blind spots, launching claw attacks before he could react.

SLASH! BOOM!

Gandril was sent flying, his defensive spells barely recovering as the sabertooth launched another assault.

This time, Gandril's earlier spells finally went off, surrounding him with a barrage of [Supernova], risking injury to take down the sabertooth.

BOOOOOOOOM!

As the dust settled, Zack could see Gandril in rough shape, while the sabertooth was practically untouched.

"HueHueHueHue," the sabertooth cackled again, giving Gandril this creepy once-over.

"ThAt AlL?" it taunted, with this weird accent.

"NOT YET, COME!" Gandril roared, launching another barrage of lightning.

Observing the sabertooth's swift movements, Zack realized, 'Ohh, so he comprehended the 'Speed' concept as well.' It made sense why Gandril's [Double Enhancement] couldn't match his speed.

[Lightning Flesh] and [Talaria] were top-tier speed spells, no doubt. And being innate spells, they soaked up a ton of mana every day, beefing up their power. Yet, they still fell short of matching the sabertooth's speed.

Using [Triple Enhancement] was out of the question for Gandril and Mystara due to the immense computational resources and high level of control required, a skill only possessed by Arcanis. Each clone was equipped with complete cores containing all types of innate spells, yet they specialized in one area. This was partly Zack's principle that mastering one skill is better than being a jack of all trades, but the clones took it further, relying solely on their chosen method of combat unless absolutely necessary. Mystara preferred using a shield for attack, while Gandril favored explosions over other effects.

Despite Gandril's disadvantage, Zack wasn't worried. Seeing those sneaky glints in Gandril's eyes, Zack smirked. These guys were AIs first and foremost, not regular humans.

The sabertooth zipped to another spot, but suddenly, it hit this lightning bolt that exploded right in its path. It scrambled away just in time to dodge the blast.

BOOM!

‘That’s weird, there shouldn't be any projectiles there,’ the sabertooth thought, pushing it aside and moving on.

As it dodged another barrage of attacks, it started to relax. ‘Good, it just a one-time thing.’

But as time passed, those projectiles, which used to be random or too slow to catch up, were now intercepting its every move.

Glancing back at the source, the sabertooth saw the human still sporting that creepy soft grin, but now it was even worse. ‘It's like he's predicting the future!’ The sabertooth was sweating bullets inwardly.

‘No way! This can't be happening.’ It sped up, but no matter what, those explosions kept blocking its path, shredding it's tough hide.

The human it'd brushed off before was now like a giant wall, closing in on it.

"Crap!" the sabertooth muttered, feeling trapped.

Watching the sabertooth's sorry state, the complete opposite of before, Zack nodded to himself. ‘Definitely an AI,’ he thought, popping another popper in his mouth.

"Wow! How is he doing that?" Fannie chimed in from the side.

Thanks to the [Triple Enhancement] Zack applied to his clone, his vision could keep up with the sabertooth's insane speed, letting both Zack and Fannie enjoy the fight to the fullest.

"It’s simple, he's learning," Zack explained.

"Learning?"

"Yeah, learning. Fannie, you remember how I trained the clones to do what they're doing today, right?" Zack asked.

"Hmm, yeah, they start slow but after about three years, they pick up anything super fast!" Fannie replied.

"Exactly. At first, they were starting from scratch. I won't bore you with the technical stuff, but basically, they reached this ideal initial state in their brains. Applying these parameters to any task speeds up their learning. In this case, he learned the sabertooth's movement pattern," Zack said, turning his attention back to the fight.

The reason his three clones were so special was that they reached this ideal state that let them learn anything and quickly. It was a combo of the artificial weight parameters Zack set with his [Cosmic Weed] and the natural adjusted thickness of the myelin in their brain cells. He could copy parameters from the [Cosmic Brain], but not the whole brain, which made them unique.

Using parameters copied from the original three, the other clones could still do a decent job. But it was only for one job. And if he used the clone against the sabertooth, it would take days, maybe months, to learn its moves. But with Mystara, Arcanis, or in this case, Gandril, it was just a matter of minutes.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"YouU FoRcE mE!" the sabertooth shouted.

The sabertooth quickly backed off, ignoring Gandril's explosions despite them causing many injuries on his body. Its body began to glow, signaling it was about to unleash something big.

But Zack had covered this scenario in his clone training. Never follow along if the enemy starts powering up or prepping a final move!

Seizing the moment while the sabertooth charging up, Gandril extended both hands, channeling an insane amount of mana into his spell. Instantly, a massive, intricate pattern materialized above his head.

Then, boom! A colossal lightning pillar summoned above Gandril, reaching toward the sky like it was holding up the very heavens.

[Zeus’ Thunderbolt] - TITAN SLAYER!

The massive bolt hurtled toward the sabertooth, accompanied by its anguished roars.

“BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRD!”