Chapter 45: Oops. I died!
A set back.
Not… the biggest one but a substantial one nonetheless.
Hector was injured, nearly unrepairable but thankfully his skull was still intact.
Meaning given time, he would recover. If Chloe were here she could heal him with a chaos spell, but, seeing as SHE WAS STILL LAZING ABOUT, that option was lost to me.
Grrrr. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
What the hell was the meaning of this?!
Why was there a copy of me?!
No wait. Stop. Let's think.
Why, is there a copy of me?
It was obviously a mirage spell of some kind, a high tier skill that formed an imitation of me… right?
Right?
[Mana Heart Upgrade Available.]
Brooding in my lair a notification lit up, interrupting my thoughts.
Ah. A thousand Manacysts. Lovely.
I immediately selected the upgrade function for my mana heart, sitting there for a moment and watching as my Dark and Anima supplies dropped to zero.
A moment passed, then another, with no discernable change.
Huh… lamEEEEEEEEZZZZZ?!?!
Suddenly a pulse of energy akin to lightning struck my body, my internals seeming to go into an overcharge state as Slimey's and Ayaka's mana pools shot up.
Ah.
I was abruptly yanked out of my body, my mind in RTS mode again looking down at my minions and my rooms. I could see faint lines, bluish strands of energy that connected from my mana heart to Slimey and Ayaka, the beating structure augmenting them both.
Huh… neat.
[New Quest!]
[Construct Additional Pylons! 0/8]
[Construct Manacyst Cultures: 0/5]
[Reward: Minion Capacity]
Well, this will be interesting.
I returned to my shell, a number of construction options appearing in my mind as my mana heart swelled and pulsed, increasing my territory by a vast margin that included part of the sewer and catacombs as well as-
Huh…
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So that's where the goblins are coming from.
Not too far from my throne room, two floors up was a den of goblins, an intricate set of tunnels that had the misfortune of being in my expansion.
Seeing them with my RTS vision, they didn't seem to be aware that their home had been annexed.
Looking at them, they were roughly about a hundred blighted goblins in total, a few variants in their lot like goblin bosses, hobgoblins, and what appeared to be an old red-skinned rare variant orc, the leader of the pack carrying with it a club.
Hmm.
I reached out, caressing the mind of the blighted muscular Orc boss that sat on a throne of bones and goblin carcasses.
****
Shag-Ulkr sat on his throne of bones, the old orc boss dozing off slightly.
Hello.
“Hrrn?”
This is your God speaking.
“Hn???” Shag-Ulkr sat up, the red skinned furrowing his brow at the intrusion.
“Skrre?” A nearby goblin looked up, wondering what was wrong with their leader.
You wish to serrrve Lord Hiro! You wiiiiiish to serve the rubber duck!
“Hrng. What is this? Who is this?! Show YOUSELF!” Shag screamed, rising from his throne.
Hello, I am Hiro, and your home is on my land, I would-
“Yous land?” The orc blinked, his agitation rising. “YOUS LAND?! THIS IS SHAG’S LAND! NOT YOUS! RAAAAGH!”
Whoa whoa, PAL, let's calm down here.
“CAM! CAM! I SHOW YOUS CAM! I AM DA CAMIST IN DA WORLD!!?” Shag-Ulkr began to rage, the Orc’s red skin heating up with energy.
****
Hiro.
Well… that didn't work. Welp. BLOODBATH IT IS!
No. I kid. But, it would be easier to exterminate them. Sigh. Guess I'll need to pay an in-person trip to this Shag fellow. In the meantime, while I waited for my pylons to be built, there was an arena I needed to investigate further.
With Hector out of commission, I decide to use a different skeleton, a regular unaugmented one to perform my scouting.
There were telltale differences between inhabiting a Skeleton rogue and a regular skeleton, most notably I was… less limber? If that makes sense for a skeleton without muscles. But, I could feel it, a millisecond disconnect between my thoughts and actions that were noticeable to me.
Hmm. I allowed myself a full thirty seconds to adjust before taking off, entering into the domain of the enemy once more.
Upon stepping onto the sandpit, once more the winds began to blow, the sands shifting to form the image of a familiar black-haired swordsman.
I took a moment to observe the clone, mirror me entering into a low crouch, clawed gauntlet outstretched, blade held at shoulder length.
Form One. Blink Strike. A skill that fired off the ground with explosive speed to skewer the user’s target. An undodgeable attack… for those unprepared. Fortunately, I wasn't-
[Minion Deceased!]
Ah…
I died.
Whoops.
….
Well, that went about as expected…
“How was the scouting my Lord?” Slimey asked, spinning my body in circles in her palm using Telekinesis.
Fantastic. I sent, not in a sarcastic manner but actually how I felt!
Back in my rubber body, I pondered over the results of my last battle, more specifically, the crucial clue that washed away my fears.
Blink Strike.
I could see it. As fast as mirror me was… the fact I could see his movement confirmed that it was just a copy. A good one, but just that, an imitation. The strike held no mana, no magical power, just… movement.
It was evidently clear to me that what I was up against was some form of tangible mirage, something akin to Chloe's(Old Chloe not new one) spell called Doppelganger that she used to distract enemies and combine chant spells. Except, unlike her spell that disappeared the moment it took damage, I had a sneaking feeling this clone wouldn't.
Great.
Hmm. Well, twelve hours until I could test my theory. I'm not too keen on sacrificing minions, but at least the skeletons don't really have a soul or ego.
Well, with twelve hours to kill, I suppose I should visit my new tenants.
Slimey.
“Yes Lord Hiro?”
Let's go for a walk. Oh, and take Zorin with.