A few days have passed, and I've reached level 18. I now have 200 points saved up to spend. However, I've decided to save them to rank up the "Clones" skill again. I'm sure I'll unlock some incredible features when that happens.
Some interesting things happened over the last few days.
Several clones who had undergone their first evolution have started reaching their second evolution.
And Akitsu, who had finally returned to exploring the dungeon, reached the necessary level to go through her first evolution.
After she evolved, the only clones who still hadn't gone through their first evolution were Frieren, Madara, and Fang Yuan. Even Clone 16—the one I usually use—went through the first evolution.
Since I use him a lot, I decided to leave him alone inside the dungeon to evolve. Unlike the other clones, which are now moving in groups, he's leveling up faster because of this.
Even though he isn't too deep, he's killing way more monsters.
So yeah, the most interesting things lately have been my clones evolving.
And my evolution as well.
All of my skills have reached their maximum level.
Fire Magic, Ice Control, Gravity Magic—everything's maxed out because the clones use them constantly.
Speaking of which, I had only used "Gravity Magic" a few times before. Honestly, it's weaker than I expected. I was hoping for a skill that could let me alter the gravity of a mountain or something, but that's not the case.
The magic is useful for "holding" enemies or "crushing" weaker ones—but that's about it.
I don't have free control over gravity.
"But even if it's not as strong as I hoped, it's enough to immobilize a level 4 or 5."
I got up from the couch to prepare lunch.
'I've got nothing to do, it's so boring…' I'm waiting for Fang Yuan so I can start having fun. Once my main body is outside Orario, I won't hold back.
But for now, all I can do is stay home and wait for my level to go up.
I've used Clone 16's body and a few others a couple of times, but it just wasn't fun enough.
After I bought the "Weapon Mastery" skill, I didn't even need to assimilate all the clones' combat experience anymore. I just became a master swordsman instantly. The "Assimilation" skill became useless.
And since I'm so skilled with a sword and the clones have way higher stats than regular adventurers of the same level, fighting monsters has become boring, especially the weaker ones.
Right now, the clones are exploring floors 12 to 16. There are monsters like Ligerfangs and Minotaurs from floor 15 onward, but even they don't pose any real challenge to the clones.
Even though they're strong monsters, three clones working together with their skills are more than enough to take them down easily. The only time I had fun was two days ago when I fought a Minotaur alone using Berserker's body.
Swinging that massive sword and slicing off the Minotaur's limbs gave me a rush. A moment of pure bliss that made me feel amazing.
And while I was finishing up lunch and thinking about that fight, I got a message from one of my clones.
[Master, I finally found the village.]
'Fang Yuan?'
Fang Yuan had finally made contact.
It had been four days since we last spoke. He hadn't contacted me once in all that time.
[It was harder than I expected. These mountains are huge, Master.]
'I told you, didn't I? And the monsters?'
[Everything worked out in the end. I ran into a few monsters around here, but they were easy to kill. I thought there would be some giant, powerful beasts, but nothing caused me any real trouble.]
'I see. What's the village like?'
[It's smaller than I thought. Master, do you really think it's a good idea for me to stay here? Everyone's looking at me like I'm some kind of enemy.]
'You're already inside the village?'
[Yeah. There are people of all races here. I even saw a human. I didn't expect that. But it's weird how everyone's staring at me like I'm an intruder.]
'It's because of how you look—you draw too much attention.'
[I love this appearance, but yeah, it's a real problem. Especially with how much attention I get from women.]
'Fang Yuan, can you access the inventory?'
[No, Master. I can't.]
That's something that should be allowed. I can access the inventory while inside a clone's body, but they can't access it themselves. It should be possible if I allow it.
'I see. Do you have any money on you?'
[I got some money from those four generous people. I'll be fine.]
Is he talking about the people he killed? …
'Alright. Try to find a place to stay and contact me again afterward.'
[Understood, Master.]
I cut the connection with Fang Yuan and smiled.
"The real fun is about to begin."
####
While I waited for Fang Yuan to find a place to stay, I opened the system to check out some skills I could buy. I want to save up points to rank up the "Clones" skill, but I just can't help browsing skills.
There are so many interesting ones.
I started going through them.
There are skills for making poison. Skills for daily life, like "Cleanliness," and even blacksmithing skills. "I don't even need a blacksmith to train one of my clones—I can just buy those skills."
In the future, I won't even need to buy weapons. I'll be able to make my own.
"And these skills here…"
There's even one called "Corrosion" that lets me corrode anything I touch.
And I found a useless one called "Color" that lets me change the color of anything I want. It only costs one point, but still, not buying it.
"The problem with such a huge skill list is that it's hard to choose what to buy."
I closed the skill list and checked my status.
Level: 18 (EXP: 14,650 / 180,000)
Rank: B
Clones: 32 / 32
Since I went through the second evolution at level 40, do I need to reach level 80 now?
If I really have to get to level 80 to evolve again, I'm going to lose my mind. That'll take forever!
While I was lamenting, Fang Yuan contacted me again.
[Master, I found a place to stay.]
As I was about to reply, another clone contacted me.
It was Madara, with his deep voice.
[Master, I've completed the mission.]
"..."
####
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