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221. Cloning Master
Only 20 days remained before my bet with Barub was up.
Time went by scarily fast.
On one hand, each day was precious, but I also hoped that it would end as early as tomorrow.
The reasoning for that was simple.
It was because if we returned right now to the celestial plane with our current growth, the victor would be me.
But as time passed, there was no way to know how Barub would grow.
Starting off by slaughtering all of the slaves in the underground training facility, Barub seemed to also recognize my existence and began increasing the pace for their growth.
As with Dan’s suggestion, I planned to strike down the nobles that engaged in trading with Swesi after Dump’s artifact creation was successful.
While avoiding taking any noticeable action, I focused only on hunting the unexplored territories.
There was no reason to agitate the nobles, who were still sensitive after the fall of Swesi.
My hunts in the unexplored territories produced quite the significant result.
While my growth was slower than hunting other Protectors, there was nothing better than hunting monsters to increase the proficiency of the cloning skill.
Well, there really was no other way to raise this skill’s proficiency in the first place.
Thanks to a sustained tens of days in hunting, I was finally able to reach the max proficiency of the cloning skill.
The reason why I put aside raising my other attack skills and focused on mastering the cloning skill was due to the special ability I would receive after reaching the maximum.
Due to the 1% energy per minute consumption rate, the Protectors of this world are not able to raise their proficiency of this skill to the limit.
However, that wasn’t the case for me.
I did not have this energy resource and instead had unlimited mana, but I could still use these skills that required said energy.
You could say that the cloning skill is the best there is.
Only when you reach the maximum proficiency at it like me that is.
When one masters the skill, they are able to summon 5 clones at once.
Not only that, but each clone is able to copy 100% of the caster’s strength.
This meant that whoever faced me would have to fight 1v5 against me.
This also meant that my combat capability had shot up five fold instantly.
Was it also because of the bonus special abilities each of the clones received?
While they couldn’t talk, these clones had not only my combat capabilities, but the intelligence and combat instincts that I had, and went into battle with the same thoughts as I.
The clones each had received a special unique ability.
If I label the first clone to have reached maximum power as 1, the special unique abilities from 1 to 5 were as follows.
Number 1 dealt bonus damage with curse type skills.
Number 2 had a bonus to recovery skills.
Number 3 had a buff to offensive skills.
Number 4 had a buff to defensive skills.
Number 5 had a revive bonus.
Each time the clones received a unique ability, I couldn’t help but expect a huge increase in my combat capabilities.
Each clone could use an infinite amount of mana, and also ignored all cooldowns on skills.
Since I could, these clones could as well.
However, since each clone had received a bonus unique ability, the clones had become stronger than I.
If I was able to also equip them with the same artifacts as I, then these clones really would be stronger than me overall.
Dump soon would be able to print out top tier artifacts like a factory.
If the clones and I are able to equip them, then existences so strong that it’d be hard to imagine would be born.
Clone Number 1’s unique ability specifically is a debuff that increases the damage that the opponent takes.
Obviously it was a skill to cast on the opponents, and the lower the number of opponents getting debuffed were, the more severe the effects were.
Therefore, the less enemies there were, the greater this ability would shine.
For example, if I had gathered hundreds of monsters, it is possible to cast the debuff on every monster.
After all, this skill cursed all within an area like an AOE skill without regards to the number gathered.
However, if you consider the total power of the curse as 100, then you’d be dividing it up by the number of targets present.
If it was a single opponent, then you’d be able to put all 100% of the curse’s power onto a single target.
It was lethal enough to allow me to blow up a monster from the unexplored territories with a single punch.
Number 2 had the unique ability of healing.
As with me, all the clones had healing skills.
The Heal I learned around the time I first Awakened and the Mega Cure I obtained later.
However, due to the unique ability that clone number 2 had and the comparatively higher healing that Mega Cure had to Heal, the amount of healing that could be achieved could no longer be compared to Heal.
Ironically, my test subject to confirm this was a monster.
Other than Full Heal that you could use on summoned creatures, healing skills could only be used on sentient creatures like humans, such as Awakened and Protectors.
However, this clone’s healing could not only be used on humans, but monsters as well.
This ability was a lot more valuable than what I had originally thought.
In a heated battle, it would be difficult to even keep myself alive.
I would not be able to pay attention to each and every clone.
However, if I give a simple command before the battle starts, then I don’t have to worry about the health of any of my clones.
The 2nd clone would take care of the health of the clones and I autonomously.
This meant that unless an attack powerful enough to instantly overcome the defenses and total health of the clones and I, none of us would die.
Because our mana was infinite, healing spells could be used without end after all.
You could say that clone number 2 is the most reassuring ally.
Number 3 and 4 had abilities that straight up increased attack and defensive capabilities.
Their buffs added on top of the buffs I casted, so not only was it usable alongside my buffs, but the power of the buff was quite high.
And since they kept recasting the buffs with scary precision the moment the buffs ran out, you could even consider them as buff shuttles.
Out of the 5 clones, their function was simple, but they still performed an important role.
Lastly, clone number 5.
This clone had quite the cheat-like unique ability.
You could explain the entire ability with one word, revival.
To be honest, I wasn’t able to confirm yet if this clone would be able to resurrect me, a human.
It was because this clone was the last to be mastered, and I hadn’t fought a single Protector since.
However, I was able to confirm that this clone was able to revive other clones.
There was no cooldown time to summon or banish any of the clones.
And even if there was, it wouldn’t affect me.
However, if these clones were not banished by my will, but instead destroyed from losing all of their health, then it was a different story.
If a clone had perished at the hands of a monster, then I could not summon said clone for 10 minutes.
This was an issue that an infinite amount of mana or the ability to wield all power freely at will could not solve.
Of course it was possible for me to banish a clone before said clone perished and resummon them at full health, but that would be extremely difficult in a battlefield where attacks could fly at me from all directions.
The ability that the 5th clone possessed would allow me to completely remedy this issue though.
With clone number 2 on the job, the chance of losing any clones would be nearly nil, but even if one of them does fall, the 5th clone will come in to fix that.
Status Denial allows a body to return to a state that is desired, but the revival of the clones return them to the best condition they were before.
This not only included health, but mana and cooldown time as well.
It’s almost as if I’ve received a powerful army. 1
I didn’t train this skill by casting the skill over and over again, but instead just summoned them and let them hunt.
Since I was able to grow stronger while also letting them grow stronger, it wasn’t as if I had set aside my time to invest in training said clones.
With a skill like this, I did not want to stop at 5 clones, but instead wanted hundreds and thousands.
Dan, who came out of the storage, was shocked beyond belief after seeing the hunting performance the five clones were putting on.
“Huh!”
“What do you think? Don’t you think they fight better than expected?”
“Did you really finish raising your proficiency on all of them to the max?”
“Yep. The number of clones is five. Not only that, but each of them has 100% of my power.”
“My goodness… Master is really persistent. Absolutely persistent. So quickly… And the cloning skill at that.”
“I actually haven’t done anything. I just let them free so they can go play. You can say that I just chaperoned them. Moving on, you’re drooling. Close your mouth.”
“Yes, yes… with this, can’t you take out the counts with ease? You achieved the maximum proficiency in the cloning skill, something that no one has ever done.”
“That’s welcome news. Let’s begin. Even as early as tonight.”
“Hm… First, let’s head to Mr. Dump. There’s a chance that the artifacts are done at this point.”
“Well, since I haven’t visited him in over 15 days, so perhaps he has.”
“…”
“Let’s meet at the mansion.”
“Yes.”
****
Dan did not return back into the storage and moved on his own accord.
This new development was a cause for celebration.
This meant that instead of relying on my commands for every move, he has now started to decide on how to act on his own.
When we arrived at Dump’s dwelling, it was quieter than expected.
Even though the usual sounds of a hammer ringing loudly and hot metal sinking into water should be present, it was nowhere to be found.
I felt unsettled for a brief moment, but seeing the light from a candle by the window casting a wavy shadow, I felt reassured as I entered the house.
-knock knock knock.
“It’s me. Guardian.”
“I, Dan, is here as well.”
“Aha. You’ve arrived? Due to a lack of visits from you recently, I was worried thinking that something had happened.”
“You’re here? Protector. Dan. Good to see you again.”
“Sorry about that. I’ve been rather busy.”
“Hoho. Miss Berlette is becoming more beautiful with each passing day.”
“You’re such a sweet talker, Mr. Dan. Thank you for your words.”
“No! It’s not just empty words. It’s the truth, you know?”
“Thank you. You’re here too, Sir Guardian?”
“Yes. It’s been awhile. I trust you’ve been well?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Berlette put on the most beautiful smile in the world.
It was enough to make even the freckles on her face look attractive.
Dan’s words weren’t just out of politeness.
After the fall of Swesi, she was showing off all of her feminine charms.
She didn’t need to keep her hair short or wear heavy armor and loose clothing anymore, which she had to do previously to pretend being a male.
Almost as if showing off her anger at not being able to dress up before, her beauty was that much more radiant.
“You really are becoming more beautiful with each passing moment.”
“Huh? Yes… Thank you. The weather sure is hot…”
“Ah. That’s not. Yes. It’s hot. Right… Mister?”
“Hoho. Yes, go on.”
“I’ve arrived with the hopes that you’ve completed an artifact. How far have you come along in that task?”
If my appearance didn’t change into that of a rugged look, I’m sure that she would be a peer roughly the same age as I.
I was embarrassed at those words that slipped out and muttered to myself.
It was the same with Berlette.
Because the two did not speak much with each other before, the awkwardness must’ve been two or threefold.
Quickly changing the topic, I asked Dump about the situation regarding the artifacts.
Perhaps noticing the cue, Dump quickly continued the conversation.
“Why do you think I’m taking a break like this?”
“Huh? Perhaps…”
“Yes. It’s finished. The creation of the artifact is finished!”
“Is it really true?”
“It is. It has all the stats I wanted on it, and all the stats on it are of the highest caliber.”
“You’ve worked really hard. I want to confirm it immediately if possible.”
“Let’s do so then. I shall lead the way.”
“Yes.”
With that, everyone including Dump and I headed for the workshop area.
And in that workshop were artifacts elaborately shaped beyond belief lined up.
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