Give me your power stones, please :3
####
With Chen, Zen, Ken, and all the characters (except Frieren, Fang Yuan, Madara, and Akitsu) in front of me, I began the entire evolution process. First, I called Chen, Zen, and Ken — the only original characters created by me.
They approached and knelt in front of me.
I placed my hand on Chen's head and asked, "What are you expecting from this evolution? New abilities?"
"I just hope to get stronger. I'm not greedy enough to ask for new abilities, Master," Chen said with a smile on his face. I chuckled and completed his evolution.
His level was reset, and all his stats were doubled.
On top of that, I now gain more experience for every monster he kills.
'Once I do this with all the clones, my experience gain will skyrocket.'
So, I began evolving all the clones: Chen, Zen, Ken, Rock Lee, Berserker, Aizen, Natsu, Akame, and Zoro. After finishing everyone's evolution, they all knelt in front of me.
It felt like I was looking at a group of loyal subordinates, with me as the master of an organization.
I could easily think of the Shadow Garden or something similar.
"Seeing all these clones kneeling in front of me and growing stronger... it already feels like I have a Familia. No one recognizes it yet, but this is definitely a Familia."
I'm sure that one day, we will be recognized.
I may never become a god, but I'll be strong enough to earn respect.
"Alright! It's time for you to start working in groups and go deeper into the dungeon! The deeper you go, the more experience I'll earn! Split into groups of three or four members!"
I was tired of staying only in the upper floors.
I want my clones exploring floors 12 to 25.
It's much more dangerous down there, but if they go in groups, I'm sure they'll be fine.
The clones lifted their heads and looked at me.
They were waiting for me to assign the groups, but I said, "You'll form your own teams! I'm sure you all get along, right?" I smiled at them.
They looked at each other calmly and quickly started grouping themselves.
As expected, they all got along very well.
'Well, they're basically siblings.'
####
The groups that were formed:
Rock Lee, Ken, and Natsu
Akame, Zen, and Zoro
Aizen, Chen, and Berserker
I was pretty satisfied with the groups. I couldn't exactly picture Aizen and Berserker working together, but it might actually be interesting.
"Alright, now that the groups are set, I want you to go as deep as you can into the dungeon and keep me informed. If you're in danger, don't hesitate to retreat."
All the clones nodded.
"I think they'll do a good job."
They might even reach Rivira — or maybe even deeper. When I pick up my new sword from the Hephaestus Familia shop, they might be able to go even further.
A good weapon makes a huge difference.
"A good weapon and good abilities."
After reaching Level 5, I had earned some points. It is time to buy more skills.
More magic skills or maybe a passive skill that increases speed/strength.
However, an ability that boosts strength and speed wouldn't be very useful for characters like Frieren and Tatsumaki.
But thinking carefully, besides Frieren and Tatsumaki, everyone else heavily relies on their physical abilities.
"Hmm... I should choose abilities that benefit the majority."
I sat down right there on the dungeon floor, not caring about the dangers, and started browsing through the skill list again. Since I wasn't sure which abilities to pick, I had to check carefully.
"Telekinesis costs 40 points. I could buy it..." I thought about it, but decided not to for now.
As I continued scanning the skill list, I found two abilities that seemed extremely useful for all my clones.
[Auto Recovery] – The wounds will heal when you are out of combat.
Could be useful... But I remember the system said clones can be easily destroyed.
"But that was in the beginning..."
Besides, I need to think about myself too, and this skill is good for me.
"Luckily, it's cheap — only 5 points!" Even after purchasing it, I still had 84 points left.
The second ability that caught my attention was:
[Weapon Mastery] – Grants automatic mastery over all types of weapons.
It was a little more expensive(10 points), but amazing. With this ability, my clones and I will instantly become masters of any type of weapon.
Of course, I bought it.
"Now I have 74 points left."
There were so many options I wasn't sure what to buy.
"Should I buy all the elemental magics? I said I wanted them all." It would be smart, considering how fast skills level up. I could reach the level of an archmage in just a few days.
Each basic magic element costs 10 points, and I only have Fire right now.
Water, Earth, Wind, Nature, Darkness, and Light — all 10 points each. I'd need to spend 60 points to get them all. "Or I could spend a bit more and buy powerful magic skills."
Like Space and Gravity.
Space Magic costs 30 points, Gravity costs 40 points.
"I could get all the basic elements now and not worry later... or grab Gravity Magic first."
Screw it.
[You have purchased the skill "Gravity Magic LV1"]
I spent 40 points on that, so it better be worth it.
"I still have 34 points left, what should I buy?" Since I already bought [Weapon Mastery], I didn't need cheaper skills like [Swordsman] or [Lancer].
Looking further down the list, I saw skills like:
[Combat Instinct] – Increases danger awareness, automatic dodge against fatal attacks, and faster combat reactions.
[Advanced Focus] – Absolute focus in critical moments, improves attack precision, and prevents mistakes.
[Presence Detection] – Detects hidden enemies, ambushes, and traps from a distance.
[Elemental Amplification] – Increases the power of elemental magic.
"All of these are great. Especially the first two. They'll be super useful for characters like Aizen, Akame, and Zoro." Both cost only 10 points each, so I decided to buy them.
They will boost my clones' combat effectiveness.
"Should I get Presence Detection too?"
[You have purchased the skill "Combat Instinct"]
[You have purchased the skill "Advanced Focus"]
Neither of these abilities had levels — meaning they're already at 'max level' by default.
As for "Presence Detection," I decided not to buy it for now.
####
POV: Third Person
Running through the 7th floor of the dungeon were Akame, Zen, and Zoro. They dashed forward, serious looks on their faces, each holding their sword tightly. As they ran, Zoro suddenly felt something strange in his body.
"Huh?" Zoro stopped, confused. "Did you guys feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"That weird energy running through your body?"
Akame heard Zoro and glanced at Zen. "Did you feel anything?"
"No."
While they were talking, Zane contacted them telepathically.
[I just bought new abilities.]
Zane explained what each new ability did.
"Ah, so that's what it was. I must've felt that weird energy because we received new skills from Master," Zoro said with a big grin.
Akame and Zen looked at each other, still confused since they hadn't felt anything themselves.
Still, they were happy, just like Zoro.
They had received new skills.
However, as they reached the 8th floor, their path was blocked by a man.
"You're not humans, are you?" said the man, Ottar, who was searching for Zane's original body.
Once again, he stood in Zane's way.
"Huh? Who the hell are you, idiot?" Zoro asked.
The man was much larger than him, but Zoro didn't feel intimidated. Akame and Zen, on the other hand, instantly sensed danger and stepped back.
Ottar kept his eyes on the three and said:
"You won't even be able to lay a finger on me, so don't bother. I'm only here for information. And I'll take one of you with me if necessary."
Akame and Zen exchanged glances, thinking about escaping — but suddenly, Zoro took a step forward.
"You guys are annoyingly persistent, huh? I already told the Loki Familia members that I don't want any trouble... so why is Freya Familia still chasing me? I thought the Goddess Loki had told all the Gods that I'm not a bad guy." Zoro said, smiling.
This wasn't the Zoro they knew.
Zane, who had taken control of Zoro's body, was feeling excited.
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Read 5+ more chapters on my patr eon: patr eon.com/ZhangYe
Next chapters: Chapter 38 - Clones destroyed. / Chapter 39 - Magic sword. / Chapter 40 - Pov: Finn / Chapter 41 - I've said too much.