Before heading to the dungeon, I went to the same store to buy two more masks. Unfortunately, they only had black and white ones. I wanted masks of all colors to easily distinguish my clones.
"Well, whatever. I guess it's hard to confuse them anyway."
I bought another black mask and another white one, then left the store with them in a bag. After that, I went to a secluded area and stored both masks in my inventory.
Why two more masks?
Because now I can create four clones!
And I need masks for them.
I arrived at the dungeon, and no one seemed to be paying much attention to me this time. A few people glanced my way, but no one approached me like that group my clones killed before.
On the first floor of the dungeon, I found a quiet spot and called my clones.
As soon as I saw Chen and Zen, I felt a powerful energy radiating from their bodies. It was almost visible. Their aura had changed, too.
It was cold and intense. Their eyes, which looked exactly like mine, made me feel uneasy.
If I'm feeling this way, imagine how those adventurers felt before they died.
"Alright, how do I do this?" The two clones stood silently, and I approached Chen first. As I got close, he knelt in front of me, showing respect.
I looked at him, confused, but didn't tell him to stand up.
Having someone kneel before me like that gave me a strange sense of power, but it felt odd since the one kneeling looked exactly like me.
[Chen] - LV40
Strength: 46
Endurance: 44
Agility: 47
Dexterity: 45
Magic: 38
Skills:
Thrust LV10
"You're really strong, Chen."
"Thank you for the compliment, Master."
"I told you not to call me Master."
"Apologies." Chen bowed his head even lower.
I placed my hand on Chen's head, and system messages popped up:
[This clone can evolve]
[This clone will evolve into a "Second Class" clone]
[The clone's level will reset, but its stats will be doubled]
[The bond between the user and the clone will become stronger]
[You will gain 50% more EXP from monsters killed by this clone]
I read through the messages. Chen looked up, and our eyes met. He was full of happiness.
His level would reset, but his stats would double. And as he levels up, his stats would increase even further.
I don't know the max level for a second-class clone, but he has a lot of potential.
Alright, let's do this.
I told the system to proceed with Chen's evolution. As I did, Chen took off his mask and dropped it on the ground. He closed his eyes, and his body began to emit a bright light.
It looked just like the light from that poem.
The light lasted for a few seconds, then faded.
[The evolution of "Chen" is complete]
That was the only message I got.
Chen slowly bent down, picked up his mask, and smiled before putting it back on. Then, with his mask on, he knelt before me once more.
"Thank you, Master."
Guess there's no point telling them not to call me that.
"Alright, get up and stand over there. Now it's Zen's turn."
"Yes, thank you, Master." Chen stepped aside, and Zen approached me, kneeling just like Chen.
The same messages appeared, and I chose to evolve him too. Once both of their evolutions were complete, they stood in front of me and knelt down at the same time.
Seriously, what's with this obsession with kneeling in front of me?
"Stop kneeling so much. You're my clones, not subordinates. You don't need to show me this kind of respect. Just obeying me is enough," I told them.
Their intelligence had increased quite a bit, so they understood what I meant.
They glanced at each other and nodded. I'm pretty sure they were smiling behind those masks.
"Yes, Master. We will obey your every command," they both said in unison, like it was rehearsed.
I sighed and said, "Alright, it's time to summon two more clones. Do you want to stay here or keep hunting monsters?"
"To be honest, I feel like testing my new strength."
"Me too."
"Then get going already."
Chen and Zen vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Okay, time to summon two more clones. What should I name them? I guess it's best to use names similar to Chen and Zen."
Well, any name should work since I can just check their status to know who's who.
####
I summoned the two clones, and they appeared wearing armor and holding swords, just like me. As soon as they appeared, I gave them names.
"Hmm… You'll be Ken… and you'll be Lee."
I'm terrible at naming things.
The clones stood silently, staring at me with empty eyes, waiting for my orders.
"Ken put on this mask." I handed him the black one and gave the white mask to Lee. I told them never to take the masks off under any circumstance, and they both put them on.
After that, I ordered them to hunt on the first floor. Once they felt confident enough, they could move to the next one. I told them to keep doing that until they reached level 40.
They nodded and then walked off to start hunting.
"My EXP gain is going to skyrocket now. I'll save up points until I have enough to level up the skill again… but this time I need 100 points."
I should probably head home and keep a low profile for now.
I left the tower, but while I was walking home, I heard a voice.
[Master, I'm being threatened by a suspicious person.]
'Huh? Who is this?'
[It's me, Zen.]
'You're being threatened? Is it a man or a woman?'
[A tall, muscular man. I've never seen him before.]
'Who…?'
I activated the NeuroLink ability and took control of Zen's body.
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Read more chapters on my patr eon: patr eon.com/ZhangYe
Next chapters: Chapter 15 - Freya Familia. You can evolve. / Chapter 16 - Creator's Mask. Chapter 17 - Eight clones.