Accept the contract, and we shall be bound together. What are you waiting for? The voice, or now known as Shade, pressed Spook.

I’m reading the fine print obviously. I’m not about to get duped by a shady deal. For all I know, I could be signing my soul away.

Spook read through the contract, scanning for any potential misleading clauses or traps. To his surprise, the contract was very straightforward. Based on the terms and conditions, his role was to provide energy. In return, he would receive the help of the Shade.

What kind of energy do you need? Care to elaborate? Spook questioned her.

What kind of question is that? Energy is energy—meat, blood, flesh, food. Any living organism that you consume will be shared partially with me. That will be the payment for providing you with my powers. Now hurry up and accept, I’m dying over here.

Finding nothing wrong with the contract, Spook decided to go ahead and accept the Soul Contract.

The information screen glowed bright and then vanished.

[Soul Contract formed with Shade.

Soul Shard created.

Summon your familiar by rubbing the Soul Shard]

A crystal the size of his fist materialized at the base of his feet. Spook picked it up and gave it two quick swipes.

Soon after, black smoke floated out of the crystal and fell to the ground. Spook watched as the swirl of smoke condensed into the shape of a woman. A grey veil covered the delicate features of her mouth, hiding the mischievous smile that played on the corner of her lips. The curves of her body were modestly outlined by a two-piece silken garb, leaving little to the imagination. Her hair was tied in a bun and was held together by an ornamental hair stick.

A set of eyes the color of jet-black diamonds met Spook’s, matching the color of his empty sockets. They were mesmerizing, to say the least. Everything about her was humanlike, save for the lower half of her body. Where they should have been legs was instead the cloud of black smoke. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what type of creature the woman was—rubbing stones and smoke. There was only one possible answer.

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A genie.

It was the first time he had ever seen a genie type creature in a game. Inside Online truly did have all sorts of magical beings. By reflex, Spook wanted to ask if she could grant wishes but decided the joke would be in bad taste. Antagonizing her was the last thing he wanted. Having that hectic conversation in his head was already enough.

The genie bowed her head, and a serpentine voice spoke out. “My name is Shade, and I am part of the Genie clan. How may I serve?”

“Shade, why don’t you go ahead and show me how Shadow Doppel works,” asked Spook. He figured the best thing to do now was to understand the powers of his new familiar better and to see what kind of skills he had received.

Shade nodded and cast her hand towards Spook. Her entire body melted into light strands of smoke and surged into his body. Spook felt her presence fill his mind once more. It felt like every nook and cranny of his body was being investigated.

Shade’s voice echoed in his mind as a series of commands spewed forth.

Analyzing Shadow.

Constructing Shadow.

Fine-Tuning Shadow.

A bubbling noise rumbled behind Spook, causing him to turn towards the source. A replica of himself stood staring back at him. Everything from the clothes to the body structure was the same. The only thing that separated the real body from the fake was the color. His shadow had manifested a body. His body.

This is the power of Shadow Doppel. The clone will move accordingly to how you direct it. The only way it can be destroyed is when it takes fatal damage, or you choose to cancel it yourself. Should the clone die, the cooldown on the skill is twenty minutes. The skill cooldown can be shortened by empowering the Soul Shard we share. Try commanding it with your thoughts. Its existence is linked to your mind. Shade’s slippery voice hissed in his head.

After Shade finished her explanation, Spook spent the next thirty minutes or so fiddling around with the clone. He discovered that the clone could sense his intent with ease, meaning combat wouldn’t be an issue. The clone could use and , but the energy pool also restricted its usage. Another useful skill of the clone was that it could be summoned at will without penalty. Shadow Doppel was a valuable skill indeed.

There was just one small issue with the clone.

It wasn’t as strong as he was. According to Shade, the clone possessed half the amount of stats he had. That meant his clone was effectively 50% of his power. It made sense, though. Having a clone that copied everything would be too overpowered. Early game, the clone wouldn’t matter too much in terms of power creep. But he wouldn’t be low level forever. In the meantime, the clone would be handy for soaking up damage and acting as a distraction.

Finishing up his testing, Spook felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. He had been gaming for the past couple of hours, and it was way past his bedtime. According to the in-game clock, it was well past three in the morning. It was time for bed.

I’m definitely going to feel this in the morning.