The night before a duel against a Tier 4 seemed like a good time to try to cultivate all of the essence I’d gathered since first finding this city. And, let me tell you, there was a lot of it. In packs and swarms, all attracted to the 10s of thousands of diverse people in the city.
And you better believe I took in as much as I possibly could.
I had learned during a fight against a large Nagari scout party that my body definitely had its limits when it came to how much essence I could absorb at one time. Though, I had been a Tier 1 back then. But after two days of finding essence flocking around the city’s large population, I definitely had enough to at least level up within Tier 2.
I tucked my legs underneath me as I sat on the dormitory’s bed, waiting for the mattress to stop squeaking and bouncing long enough for me to fall into a deep state of meditation. I finally did, feeling a wave of relaxation swell within my chest, then spread through the rest of my body. Darkness enveloped all my thoughts, and soon I saw it–my core. Every time I cultivated, my core looked slightly bigger. Very slightly, as I said, but bigger all the same. I was getting stronger.
The white glow of my core burned with a hot brilliance and seemed to stretch out arms of light toward the throngs of essence streams wiggling around inside of me, waiting for someone to tell them where to go.
And that someone was me.
I commanded the lines of blue to bury themselves into my core with barely a thought. My core snapped at them eagerly, burning brighter as it absorbed each stream.
The familiar high-pitched bell-like tone resounded in my mind, and I eagerly scanned the words presented before me:
STATUS
NAME: CLONE #52
TIER: 2
LEVEL: 9
I went up eight levels! I thought as calmly as I could to maintain my meditative state. Just six more levels before Tier 3.
I read over the next screen and felt myself grin upon seeing the 24 free stat points.
“Dex, where would you recommend I allocate the 24 stat points to help me with my duel tomorrow? Were you able to scan Cinthara and learn a little about her strengths?”
“Yes, Rayden. I scanned your opponent. She is extremely agile and intelligent. But, would you like me to recommend where you should allocate points in order to increase your chances of beating her or recommend allocation based on what Lord Solomon had done?”
I paused for a moment, staring at the 24 free stat points glowing in my vision. “I need to survive this duel. Besides, if I don’t, I can’t go through the academy program. You, yourself, wanted me to be here.”
I’d likely imagined it, but I could have sworn I heard an audible sigh from the AI.
“As a Tier 4, Cinthara will be stronger than you in every way. I recommend you increase your Might, Agility, and Intelligence by at least five points each. Then spread out the remaining points among the rest of the categories.”
I’d already started allocating the stats before Dex had even finished talking. I felt excitement bubble up within me as it always did as I increased my statistics. Finally done, my screen read:
STATS:
MIGHT: 13 (+6)
AGILITY: 10 (+6)
VITALITY: 9 (+2)
INTELLIGENCE: 10 (+6)
WISDOM: 10 (+2)
WILLPOWER: 14 (+2)
FREE STAT POINTS: 0
I released myself from my trance and stretched out my stiff arms and legs, satisfied with the outcome of my cultivation. Though still a Tier 2, every little bit of extra strength would help.
All I have to do is last 60 seconds.
***
A knock on my dormitory door in the dead of night shook me out of my restless sleep and completely destroyed any chance I had of getting the rest I needed.
I grumbled awake, stretching my arms over my head.
“Who is it?” I called out with a yawn.
The sphere-shaped knob on the door turned quickly, and the door whooshed open just as fast. I released an audible gasp and instinctively reached for my spear that I had tucked under the bed.
“Hush!” the newcomer hissed, leaping toward me and grabbing my arm to stop me from procuring the weapon. He was much stronger than I and easily pinned me to the bed. “What are you doing hollering out in the middle of the night? I’m not supposed to be here!”
I bit my lip to keep from shouting in fear and steeled myself to get a better look at the intruder.
“You!” I whisper-yelled as I caught sight of a sliver of moonlight peeking from my small window and glinting off of the man’s dark helmet. “You know, I might not have said ‘Who is it,’ or anything if you hadn’t knocked on my door and woken me up.”
Stolen story; please report.
The other Solomon clone’s, Nic’s, arms relaxed once he realized I’d recognized him, and I pushed him away. His interrupting my sleep made me tired and grumpy, which tempted me to still threaten him out of there with the tip of my spear.
“We have to talk quickly,” Nic said gruffly. He began pacing the length of the dormitory, though he didn’t have much space to move. He continuously turned on himself every four steps.
I yawned again, straightening my back up against the wall behind me. “What about?”
My mind was so groggy it took me longer than it should have to guess he wanted to talk about the duel.
“What is your plan for the duel tomorrow?” he whispered.
I ignored his question and narrowed my eyes at the bulky mask covering his face. “Do you really have to wear that right now? It’s just us.”
But even as I said it, my stomach flipped just thinking about seeing another older version of myself. This time, a version made of flesh and blood, not an AI copy of a dead god.
Nic stopped pacing and brushed his fingers over the surface of the helmet. “I rarely take it off. I’ve grown accustomed to wearing it.”
“What about when you wash your face or clean your teeth?”
Nic threw his hands up in the air. “You and your questions!”
I held a finger to my lips mockingly. “Shh… Someone might hear you.”
The sound of a muffled groan coming from somewhere within the helmet made a smile twitch on my lips. Served him right for waking me up in the middle of the night–on a night I’d particularly wanted to get some decent rest!
“Anyway, Rayden, we need to discuss how you are going to survive this duel tomorrow. First, many people will be watching. We can’t avoid that. But many have already seen what you look like, and thank the gods, no one has come and tried to approach you or, gods forbid, attack you yet. So, we won’t worry about that. For now.”
If no one sees me as some sort of threat or oddity or recognizes me as a Solomon clone, shouldn’t Nic be able to take his helmet off? I shook my head at my thoughts. No, if people saw he and I looked exactly alike, that could bring more attention to us than we’d want.
I wasn’t sure what type of attention we didn’t want, but Nic had said some people didn’t take kindly to us clones. I felt inclined to believe him.
“What we really need to plan for is how you’re going to survive your 60 seconds in the duel,” Nic said.
I perked up. “So, you know about the duel’s stipulations? That I have to survive 60 seconds to be allowed to enroll here as a student?”
“Many do. But especially the teachers know. We’ve been making preparations.”
I raised an eyebrow. “People keep saying that: ‘preparations.’ What sort of preparations, exactly?”
Nic waved a hand–my hand. That odd thought struck me as I saw we had the exact same long fingers and wide palms. Would I ever get used to the fact that so many of us were out there? Who knew how many I’d meet in my lifetime? And who knew if all of them would take to me as kindly as Nic did? Well, he took to me kindly in his own way. At least he didn’t go into some sort of jealous rage like, “I’m the new Lord Solomon–not you!” and tried to kill me as soon as he saw me. In fact, he didn’t seem to care much for Lord Solomon at all.
“The preparations and other details don’t matter,” Nic insisted. “You just have to focus on how you are going to beat your opponent. What are the Skills you currently have?”
“I can see all of the essence in my surroundings and draw the streams to me almost instantly. I can also direct the essence streams where I want them to go. I can enhance my weapons or even my armor, for example.”
Nic’s helmet bobbed up and down. “Yes, yes. I have the same thing. Seems like an important Skill to have as a Solomon clone. He could read essence perfectly, as I’m sure you know.”
I did know. The AI version of Lord Solomon had shown me that his Celestial Tier 1 Skill had allowed him to further read essence and see the past and present of every stream. Meaning he could attain all knowledge of the past and present. Essence made up everything–plants, people, animals…. This Skill had made Lord Solomon the God of Knowledge, a title Lady Euridice had wrongfully stolen from him.
“And your Tier 2 Skill?” Nic said.
“I can duplicate someone’s spell and use it myself as long as the Skill belongs to someone Tier 3 or below.”
Nic tapped the part of his helmet where his chin would be, and the way he did it looked comical. But he didn’t seem to notice the silliness of the gesture.
“That’s very similar to mine,” he mused.
I opened my mouth to ask what was different about his, but he continued:
“Doesn’t do you much good against a Tier 4. Have you duplicated anyone else’s spells in the past? Something you can recall from a time you’d used it before?”
I nodded. “Yeah, Codex told me that I could use spells I’ve stolen in the past. I stole one… I used one that belonged to a Tier 3 back home,” I said, thinking about Priest Kane. “But that’s my only spell. I can also steal the essence people use to cast their spells and even the essence that casting spells attracts. That could come in handy in a fight, right?”
It had come in handy for me many times before.
“Yes, yes. That could be useful.” Nic continued his pacing. “Your best option is to take away as much essence from Cinthara as possible and to dodge her attacks as quickly and as often as you can. You want to keep your main focus on defense. That way, you have a higher chance of lasting the required 60 seconds. What is the spell you stole from that Tier 3?”
“Assembling nearby water into any shape I want.”
Nic’s helmet-ed head twisted to the side. “Like a weapon?”
Memories of blood splatter dirtying Priest Kane’s neck as I had turned his water sword against him during our fight flashed through my mind.
“Yes, like a weapon,” I whispered despondently.
Nic didn’t seem to notice my change of mood.
“That’s fantastic!” He clapped his hands together but kept it quiet so as to avoid anyone hearing him. “You said you can use nearby water to make a weapon… How close does the water have to be?”
I shrugged. For Priest Kane, one of his lower-Tiered Skills had also allowed him to conjure water out of nothing, but I had only stolen his Water Manipulation Skill. I could only use the spell if I had water close by. I’d tested it while traveling the desert by myself, once my water supply had gotten low, but the spell hadn’t worked for me without a body of water or even a puddle nearby. Maybe I had to see the water.
“Perhaps I can arrange for a bucket or two to be near you during the fight…” Nic mused. “Now, once you’ve created the weapon, do you have to hold it or keep it near you?”
“No, I can control it to go wherever I please. I think.” I said the last two words hurriedly. I hadn’t done much testing of the Skill.
“Good. This is just what you needed, Rayden. This water spell of yours can help you play the perfect defense–if you follow everything I say.”
“Why are you helping me?” I said with a raised eyebrow. “Is it because I’m a clone like you?”
It was frustrating that I couldn’t see Nic’s facial expressions, which made the silence that ensued all the more unbearable.
“It is because you are me.”
“No, I’m not! I don’t care what Codex, Lord Solomon, or anyone says. I am my own person!” I demanded in a low-leveled shout.
“That’s not what I meant,” Nic insisted. “You remind me of myself when I arrived here all those years ago–not just because you look as I did, but… There’s something about you. A sense of heavy loss in your eyes, but mixed within that is a fire of determination. You might be the one.”
“The one?” I said. “What does that mean?”
The helmet wiggled slightly as Nic’s head shook. “Now’s not the time and place. Tonight, we talk about strategy. Cinthara’s good. I know because I taught her.”
Wonderful, I thought.
“Have you noticed,” I said aloud, “who she looks like?”
“Pure coincidence,” Nic insisted, but his quick answer confirmed to me that he saw it, too.
“But everyone here seems to worship Lady Euridice. The statues around the city don’t look exactly like the goddess, but there are real similarities, and Cinthara is like a living statue of her. Surely others have noticed that.”
“Rayden,” Nic said while determinedly folding his arms, “you need to focus.”
“Fine,” I said, sitting back and folding my own arms, ready to listen to how this stranger thought I should survive my own fight.