The next morning arrives with the damn rooster going all metal grinder against my ear drums again.

I swear, if I ever get my hands on that bird I'm going to strangle it to death and then make sandwiches out of it!

Yi rushes into our hut while sporting his usual composed demeanor. The clones bounce up like springs from their hay beds, and then we proceed again to the nearby enclosure for breakfast. The only difference after that is that Yi takes us to the nearby well and orders us to wash each other up. Apparently, a decent level of hygiene was necessary for the beguilement to succeed. Stinky little sisters are a no-no even in the eyes of an Evil Sect!

I scrub a clone and myself in turn, gets scrubbed by another “me” using wet towels. The water is ice cold, and the soap rough and foam-less. After the “procedure” is done, I’m left shivering from the morning cold. At this rate, I might die because I caught some Cultivator Coronavirus first, before the Hero gets to me.

"HAAG...CHUUU!!!"

Next, we’re given a set of new clothes. These look more like a Japanese Kimonos than Chinese robes, and they are highly decorated with pink and red-rose flower patterns and petals flowing in the wind. We’re even given pairs of underwear and bras this time. To complete the look, we’re also given a pair of tall-ass wooden sandals each, that are much larger on top where the foot meets the wood, but then taper down by a lot until they are twice as narrow near the center. Totally impractical to say the least, since trying to balance on top of these seem like a total chore by itself. You would wind up twisting an ankle first, if you ever tried to run or attack in these.

When I complained to Yi, he told me that he’s sorry, but the whole “look” was mandatory, since that’s how the “little sister” of the Hero used to dress.

"Hah, no wonder she died so young! She must have broken her legs while wearing these stupid thigs and twisted her neck in the fall, right?"

"What? No! The Hero killed her...wait...did I not show you what happened?"

"No you haven’t. But seriously, he killed her himself? Is that what you’re basing your whole “mental attack” strategy upon? How did it happen? Did she throw herself in front of an enemy to save his life, only to be cut down by friendly fire or something?"

"Oh, wow, there you go again with the assumptions...no, it’s actually much, much worse than that. Remember when I told you that the Hero of the Sun was a SisCon of the worst kind? I meant that. Actually, come to think of it, I did get approved to show you the Tier 2 memories. Hold one a second...Ok, there we go..." Yi fiddles with another button on his multitool arm.

"Ok, get ready everybody. This might scar you emotionally for life, but you have to see this!"

His arm button flips on. I am flooded by a weird sensation, and I now know that I can access a part of the forbidden-memories area. I try to think back about how the little sister had died, and I am brutally shocked by what I find.

This is...HORRIBLE! Oh Gods in Heavens above and in Otherworldly travel agencies, have mercy!

The memories are a little damaged, with some minor hiccups occurring from time to time, but the general picture of what has happened is there.

I try to find an “off” button, avert my gaze somehow, but to no avail. I remember it all!!!

I remember it like it has happened to me and it HURTS! IT HURTS SO BAD! THE PAIN! THE BETRAYAL! THE FEELING OF DESPAIR AND AGONY AND THEN...DEATH…

I find myself puking my morning sandwich away into a corner.

The rest of the clones are similarly distraught, with some frozen in panic, others with tears in their eyes, and others huddled down hugging their knees and rocking back and forth like mentally deranged babies.

"Ok, now that was BAD! Profoundly BAD!" I confess.

"Told you!"

"Those aren’t some sort of fake memories you cooked up or something, just to get us mentally enraged against the Hero, now are they?

"Fake memories to...Oh...Wow! Good idea! I should write that down! But no...all authentic, sorry to say."

"But...he was her brother...HOW COULD HE!"

"Haaah...what can I say. You see, Mother Nature balances all things. Where there is great power, there is also great responsibility. Where there is a Bright Light, there will always be a long shadow cast somewhere as well. And she was his “Shadow”, his “Darkness”."

"And then she died. Wait a second, if she’s dead, then who or what became the “Darkness” after that?"

"Others, similar to her...but mere pale reflections compared to the original..."

"Damn it! Is everyone fucked up in the head in this world? Are there no morals left anywhere?"

"Of course not! This is a world that is based on strength, child! Strength is everything! As long as you have the Power, then you may take away anything, and everything from the ones below you, including their lives and even their souls!"

"...and absolute power corrupts absolutely..." I mumble to myself.

"Wow, good saying, child! I should write that down! It sounds very cool!"

Ok...so the Hero of the Sun is a total Lolicon Pedobear murdering douchebag. Hah...why am I somehow not that surprised?

I guess that anyone who gets this widely famous would also have a few skeletons in the closet. Little-sister shaped skeletons too!

I’m not even sure how I could even face him, after remembering all of that stuff.

Yi gives all of us clones a few minutes to recover from the mental trauma, but after that, “practice” is resumed.

Somehow, after the memory unlock, the clones have become a lot more efficient at performing the routines, and seem filled with a sort of enraged zeal that motivates them. I can’t say that I blame them. Even with suppressed emotions, those memories were on a whole new level of fucked up.

The day continues at the same rate, with me pitching in a few more times and earning myself an extra three more sandwiches.

Just as we were about to go into the lunch break, a supersonic boom arrives from above us, startling our entire group, Yi included. After a few seconds, it becomes obvious where the noise had originated from. High atop of a flying sword, a large, menacing man is slowly descending towards our position from the sky.

Ok, so that’s a +1✔ check mark for sword riding.

His eyes are red, his beard is black and thick but well trimmed, and his long hair flutters into the wind. His eyelids are barely open, giving off the impression of a cruel gaze that wants to crush the entire world beneath its might. His robes are purple with gold accents, and heavily decorated with motifs depicting white wolf-like shapes devouring the moons. He is well built, and kind of a hunk, I have to admit. He is literally oozing a fierce deathly aura all around himself, visually tangible in the form of red-blood wisps of Qi that emanate from all over his body.

Yi Gore panics instantly, and drops into a dogeza on the floor.

"SS...SECT MASTER FURY BONE! THIS LOWLY ONE GREETS YOU WARMLY!!!"

"Clone master Yi. Nice to see you again. I see that you have kept yourself busy!" the Sect Master says in a deep and threatening voice that shakes the very air around him.

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

"H...How may this lowly one be of assistance, O Great Sect Master?"

"Not with much...I just came to inspect the “secret weapon” batch of clones that Elder Xin keeps telling me about. I will also remain within the outpost to deal with the incoming Hero of the Sun, once he gets here. I just hope that this gamble of yours will not be a waste of my time. You know that I do not tolerate failure!

"No, Sect Master! This time, the Hero will most certainly succumb under your immense and overwhelming prowess! After you are done with him, there won’t even be any traces left for me to collect samples from, I’m sure!"

"Of course! Nobody can stand in the path of our Moon-Devouring Sect and survive!"

"It is as you say, Oh Great One!"

"Alright, have the clones “attack” me with their best skills."

"Attack, Great One?"

"I mean, do their thing, the distraction stuff..."

"Ah, right!"

Yi picks himself up from the ground, and then adjusts a few knobs and levers on his arm, then proceeds to order the clones.

"Alright girls, time to show the Sect Master what you have learned during the last couple of days. For now, think of the Sect Master like he was the Hero of the Sun, and go execute what you consider your best routine on his person. You will not be harmed, do not worry!" Yi turns to the Sect Master "You won’t hurt them, will you, Sect Master?"

"Of course not. A weapon is only as good as it’s durability!"

"Ok, Number 1, proceed..."

The next 15 minutes are spent with the clones unloading their most corny, sensual or embarrassing techniques upon the Sect Master. By the end of it all, even the stone faced Sect Master was running flush red in the face.

"...cough...alright, that’s enough of that." Says the Sect Master while prying the clones off of him. "I see they are...proficient at these distraction techniques."

"Yes, O Great One! I am glad to report that they have made direct contact with your skin for a total of 117 times so far! If you had been the Hero of the Sun, you would have been dead 100 times over!"

"117? When the f....Cough I mean...of course...I let them through so I could count the number of intrusions. Truly spectacular! Great job Yi!"

"This lowly one rejoices immensely at your praise!"

The Sect Master suddenly stops his gaze upon me.

"What about that one? Why did it not do anything?"

"Aw, that one? Did Elder Xin not tell you? It’s defective, so it’s been sort of decommissioned. It has a mutated root, but it’s a little bit damaged in the...other departaments…"

"It’s retarded? Does it not know how to talk?"

"Hah, no...if anything, it talks too much..."

The Sect Master approaches me, and gives me a glare that feels like it’s piercing through my very soul. It makes me feel very, very exposed!

"Hmm...weird indeed! Dantian root? Third stage? Profoundly strange, truly...Have you found out the cause? If we could isolate only the bonuses, it would be an immense boon for the Minion Program."

"N...not yet, Great One...I did not have time to look into it because I was busy training the other clones."

"Right. Well, after we kill the Hero, you have my approval to extend the research into this clone mutation. Your Lab will be assigned extra resources if you can come up with something tangible that we can use. You can keep that one out of the fight, it’s too valuable to waste on a plan that may or may not work. And one more thing…

"Yes, Great One?"

"If any of the clones survive the encounter, have them sent over to my Headquarters...I will see them...cough...rewarded properly."

"Of course, Great One."

Great One my ass! I think to myself. He’s just another Great Lolicon Pedobear!

After that, the Sect Master climbed back on his sword, and took off to meet Elder Xin in another part of the Sect Outpost, for unrelated business.

Feeling that I could breathe again, I inhaled deeply.

Fuck, that was scary!

So that’s a high level Cultivator? So domineering! It’s like everything around them looks like meager bugs to be trampled on. Which might actually be true, even as terrifying as it may seem.

The rest of the day was spent practicing. Around dinner time, a couple of other dudes dressed in Sect Disciple robes from the Crafting Hall arrived up the mountain slope, and left two big sealed cases with us. Yi kicked their asses down the mountain incline the instant they started ogling us clones.

After that, Yi pried the cases open instantly, and took out the deadly golden hair brooches that lay inside. He then proceeded to pass one to each of the clones, albeit with all of the hair brooches still sheathed inside a leather casing, to prevent accidental self-stabbings.

Since it was dinner time, I decided to sacrifice most of my accumulated ham sandwich “score”, so I asked Yi to give one sandwich to each one of the clones, as a reward for their good job during the day. He wiggled his nose at the whole idea, but still passed a sandwich to each clone in the end.

While they ate, I think I even saw some of the clones shed a few tears of joy at their given sandwich goodness.

"There, see that Senior Yi? You cannot always use the stick! Sometimes you need to use the carrot to get some results."

"I know, child, you have proven to be right thus far, but it’s hard for me. The stick is the only thing that I have known all of my life. Every day since I have come to the sect, I have had to fear for my own existence. One stray word, one misguided gaze, and one could become instantly terminated. I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel, keep away from the detection of the big bosses, and backstab anyone that I could find exposed without getting myself killed, just to make it from day to day. I have done many horrible things that I am not proud of, but I did what I had to do in order to survive. And guess what? All of those prideful Big Shots that were lording all over me? All dead. Either by their own stupidity, righteous cultivator sects, hero parties or infighting, but I’m still alive in the end.

"Senior, have you never thought of...I dunno...just leaving? Running away, going to a different place? Maybe explore the west? There have to be some places on this planet where the Demonic Sects can’t reach, right?"

"Hah, If only it were that easy, child, I would have left many years ago. But no. We cannot. All new disciples also get the “nail” treatment, albeit to a lesser degree than the clones. They still get to keep their emotions, but the “control nail” becomes permanently entangled with their spirit roots. At any sign of betrayal, the Sect Master can activate the nail and pierce straight through the roots of the victim, even from the other side of the world and instantly kill them. He holds our very lives in his hands, and nobody can disobey him."

"Well, that’s fucked up! Wait a second! While I still have that nail still stuck in of my head, my roots have been moved! Does that mean that the Sect Master can’t do the same thing to me as well? The nail has become basically inert ever since it has failed to find any roots to grab onto two days ago"

"Wow...Hmm...I guess? I never thought about it, but there’s a chance you might be right. Still, do you feel like finding out if you can survive having a nail driven through your brain, root available or not?

"Erm...No, not really..."

"Thought as much."

Gloom falls in the atmosphere between us. Now I feel even more sad about the midget’s past life and the grim prospects of my own future.

"Senior? By the way...why is the sect called the Moon-Devouring Sect? I saw some of those white wolves eating the moons on the robe of the Sect Master"

"Aw that? It’s just a metaphor. It’s said that when the end of the world comes, the Wolf God is going to swallow both moons in the sky and usher in a new age of darkness."

Erm… wait a fucking second, wasn’t the whole “Fenris Wolf eats the moon” a viking theme? Ragnarok and all that? When did it get to the east side?

Timmy: You can only have so many Ragnaroks on the west side of the world before the whole thing gets stale, so we decided to shuffle things around a little bit.

Hrr! Well, that explains that.

"Who’s the Wolf God?" I ask Yi.

"The Wolf God is the oldest wolf-type Spirit Beast in the world. He’s said to be the progenitor of all wolves and wolfkin in existence so far. He’s ancient, thousand, if not hundreds of thousands of years old."

"Spirit Beast? How are those different from regular beasts?"

"Spirit Beast is a broad term. It usually refers to Qi-infused beasts that have not gone completely insane. The deeper you go into the wild zones, the more dense the Qi in the air and the earth becomes. If a normal creature can survive the intense exposure, it can become a Spirit Beast, a sort of Cultivator facsimile for beasts, instead of humans.

If it does not, the creature usually either dies, or gets taken over by the tainted Qi itself and becomes an insane monster or an abomination. Those things only know how to cause death and destruction, and are often killed by both Spirit-Beast and Cultivator-Kind alike."

"The Sect Master is said to have a part of his Bloodline derived from the Wolf God himself, and has many talents related to that beast."

"Erm...not to pry or anything, but how can a human have the bloodline of a Spirit Beast? It sounds like a...cough...very complicated process to achieve that, if you catch my drift..."

"Wow, you mean with the animal and the...NOO! You and your wild imagination again! No, Spirit Beasts can assume Human form once they have cultivated to a high enough level. In fact, you may not even be able to tell if a cultivator was a Spirit Beast or a human in the beginning, once you get to the very high levels, unless they specifically choose to show it to you by themselves."

"Soo, is the Sect Master a wolf or a human?"

"Noone knows, and nobody is suicidal enough to ask. We just do what we’re told, and pray that his wrath does not land onto us next."

Night time soon arrived, and I tucked myself inside my broken blanket for some shuteye. I could now use the flowery robes as sort of a pillow once I bundled them up, since Yi had told us to change back into our jumpsuits for the night.

The memories of the death of the little sister kept playing back inside of my head again and again, and were driving me insane. I have always been appalled by the idea of harming another creature or a person, but now I also had no doubt that whatever grim fate was awaiting the Hero of the Sun, he had it coming plenty. I did not know if I would be able to hold myself back and not do something drastic if I ever met him.