My dreams that night were restless, full of shadows and the winding tunnels of the cave. Deep within the cave came the mocking voices. They seemed to echo all around me, taunting me and daring me to find something hidden within. One voice stood out from the others, deeper, ancient, but not mocking.
“You’re not looking at the big picture. You're missing the forest for the trees.”
I wake with a start, visions of dead duplicates and mocking voices still swirling in my head. But, an idea starts to form from what the older voice said. I pull out a piece of parchment and sketch a rough map of the cave system, relying on fragments of memory and what my duplicates have explored. At first, it’s just a mess of lines and loops, but a pattern takes shape as I near the center. It’s almost like one of the strange symbols my last duplicate saw before it died. My pulse quickens. The answer lies within that symbol, I’m sure of it.
I pull up my status screen for the first time in ages, only to feel the same familiar disappointment wash over me.
[STATUS]
Castor Pollux
Level 3
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 5
Constitution: 4
Intelligence: 6
Active Skills:
Duplication: Level 1
The Duplicate skill allows the user to create an exact copy of themselves, which possesses the user’s physical abilities, equipment, and skills at a reduced proficiency. Clones share the user’s appearance, but their strength, speed, and durability are at 75% of the user’s current stats, increasing with skill rank. Clones can’t make more clones.
Meditation: Level 2
The Meditation skill allows the user to enter a tranquil, focused state that accelerates the natural recovery of Mana and Stamina by 1.5x the normal rate. While in Meditation, the user must remain still and avoid strenuous activities, as movement or combat will break concentration.
At first light, I hurry back up the mountain. I sit just outside the cave, summoning a duplicate and sending it in with a single, focused command: find that symbol. I close my eyes, trying to calm the restless energy vibrating through me, but the wait is agonizing.
After some time, I feel a tug on the thread of mana linking me to my duplicate, sharper and more urgent than ever before. It's almost as if it’s trying to send something back through the connection instead of the usual slow drain. Reluctantly, I open myself to it, allowing the strange energy to flow back to me. Instantly, a white-hot pain sears through my mind, making me write on the ground. For a few agonizing moments, I regret accepting it- but then, just as suddenly, the pain fades, and a new notification appears before me.
Passive Skill Acquired:
Memory Palace
Creates a mental “Memory Palace” to store and recall memories with greater ease. Can be used in tandem with other skills.
The skill name alone fills me with curiosity. I mentally open the “Memory Palace” and immediately gain a new perspective. I find myself in a vast library—the very same one where I discovered my Duplicate skill, the one where I spent most of my childhood. I know every aisle and bookshelf by heart, each detail etched deeply into my memory. If any place could truly be a memory palace, it would be this one.
Where the giant window once stood, there’s now a portal displaying the world through my duplicate’s eyes. He’s hidden in a secluded alcove, holding a stone tablet covered in strange symbols. This must be what triggered the skill transfer.
The duplicate ventures further into the alcove and uncovers a mural made almost entirely of symbols and patterns. Carefully, I commit the mural to memory, transferring each line and symbol into my own mind’s palace. It goes deeper in, down a corridor, where it finds another symbol on the wall. When touched, it glows revealing another hidden chamber. In the center of the chamber, an ancient scroll rests on a pedestal, surrounded by a faint aura of energy. The duplicate proceeds cautiously, checking for traps before taking the scroll. Unfurling it reveals a dense, complex array of symbols. I commit this to memory as well, and as soon as I do, I sense the scroll materialize beside me in this mental space, resting on a spectral pedestal.
I let the duplicate continue its search for more symbols, while I focus on decoding the mural and the scroll within my mind’s palace. As I concentrate, I begin to piece together the meaning behind some of the symbols. My theory gains strength as I receive another clue from the duplicate: each trap room has a marking in the preceding tunnel, as do rooms with goblin ambushes. Cross-referencing this with the symbols on the mural, I quickly decode the first half of the scroll.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
As I do, another wave of searing pain lances through my mind, signaling yet another reward—and another skill notification appears before me.
Passive Skill Acquired
Subspace Storage
The Subspace Storage skill grants the user access to a personal pocket dimension used for item storage. This invisible subspace can hold non-living items, keeping them safe and readily accessible. At its current rank, the storage capacity is limited to 25 slots or a total weight of 50 pounds, whichever is reached first. Items can be retrieved or stored instantly with a thought.
Skills synchronizing…
Passive Skill Acquired
Mind Vault
The Memory Palace/Subspace Storage skill merges the user’s memory-enhancing mental space with a personal storage dimension. Activating Memory Palace allows the user to enter a mental representation of a vast library, palace, or familiar location. Within this space, the user can organize and access stored items as though they were browsing a real-world collection. Items are kept in categorized "rooms" or "shelves," making retrieval as simple as mentally selecting an item from its designated spot.
As the notifications fade, I pause, the weight of the new skills settling over me. The searing pain in my mind is still fresh, but the excitement of these new abilities makes it feel almost worth it. *Subspace Storage* and *Mind Vault*. Both have such potential. I can store items in an unseen pocket dimension, where they’ll be safe, ready to be retrieved with just a thought. The *Mind Vault* merges my newly enhanced Memory Palace with that same subspace, creating a seamless mental library of both knowledge and physical items.
I shift my attention to the mental space I've opened up, the "library" now filled with not just the symbols and scrolls I've committed to memory but also with everything my duplicate has found so far. Each room in the palace seems to grow with each new discovery, and I can feel the weight of it all pressing in, eager to be organized, understood, and used.
*Focus*, I remind myself. I can’t get lost in these new powers just yet. The first priority is the scroll, and I must finish decoding it. I reach out mentally and retrieve the scroll from the pedestal in the Mind Vault, unraveling its dense text once more. The symbols begin to make more sense now that I can see them with the distance of time. There’s a rhythm to them, a connection between each line. They’re not just random markings; they have a purpose, each one revealing a part of a larger puzzle.
My duplicate is still in the cave, continuing to search for more symbols, but with each passing moment, I’m starting to feel the pull of my own curiosity. The energy within me hums, urging me to delve deeper, to go after the secrets hidden in this cave, to claim whatever it is I’m supposed to find.
But a small voice in the back of my mind warns me not to rush. *Focus*, it repeats. The power I’ve gained is tempting, but I still don’t understand it fully. These new skills, as powerful as they are, are still untested in a real-world context. I’ve never relied on memory or spatial manipulation before, let alone used them to fight or survive.
Taking a deep breath, I refocus. I sift through the symbols on the scroll again, connecting each piece together. As I do, something clicks. The first half of the scroll’s meaning finally falls into place. It’s a map of the cave, but not just any map—it's an intricate diagram of the traps and ambush points that lie ahead. The second half, the one I’ve yet to decipher, holds the key to something else. My gut tells me it’s more than just the way forward; it’s the key to whatever hidden truth is buried in the cave’s depths.
The pain from earlier is still sharp in my mind, but as the flood of new knowledge begins to settle into my mental palace, I can sense the shift. The symbols are like keys, and I have just unlocked another door. The space around me feels fuller, deeper, more alive as if the very air within my mind is charged with potential.
I shake my head. *Focus, Castor*, I scold myself again.
I leave the Mind Vault, retreating into my body as I open my eyes and stretch, the natural world flooding back in with its sights and sounds. The cave looms in front of me, its entrance a yawning mouth, beckoning me to enter. I stand up and brush the dirt from my pants, making the mental note to be more cautious this time. I pace back and forth, trying to decide if I should finally enter it with my own body.
But before I take a step toward the entrance, something unexpected happens. A gentle tug at the thread of mana linking me to my duplicate. It’s a subtle pull at first, almost like a whisper in the back of my mind, but it grows stronger with each passing moment.
I close my eyes, focusing on the sensation. There’s something new. My duplicate isn’t just sending me an ordinary report; it’s sending me something different. Something *urgent*.
The thread pulls again, stronger now. Reluctantly, I let the mana flow through me, allowing the new energy to reach my mind. Immediately, I’m flooded with a rush of vivid images—my duplicate, standing in front of the mural, its fingers brushing over a symbol that’s glowing faintly in the dim light. It’s the same symbol from the map, the one that seemed to lead to something more important than all the others.
The vision blurs and shifts, but I hold on to it, unwilling to let go. I can feel the urgency in my duplicate’s movements, the tension in its body as it searches for the next clue. It’s been exploring deeper than I’d ever expected. It’s already crossed into a new chamber, a place I hadn’t seen before. The air here is thick and heavy with the weight of something ancient.
My duplicate steps forward cautiously, checking the floor beneath it, and then it moves again, taking a cautious path deeper into the chamber. It finds a pedestal in the center of the room, a strange, glowing object sitting atop it. I feel the familiar pulse of excitement in my chest. This is it—the next piece of the puzzle.
Before my duplicate can reach for it, a sharp crack echoes through the cavern. A trap.
I mentally brace for the inevitable. I feel the duplicate jerk back, but it’s too late. A burst of energy erupts from the pedestal, and my duplicate is flung across the room, slamming into the stone wall with a sickening thud. The connection between us snaps, and I’m left with nothing but the cold, gnawing silence of my own thoughts.
The wave of pain hits me hard. The link between me and my duplicate is severed, and I’m left reeling from the blow. I gasp for air, feeling the burn in my chest, and then the flood of knowledge comes again. The scroll. The mural. The symbols. All of it is coming together now, pieces of a greater whole. But my duplicate—my tool for exploration—has just been lost.