Shadow Clone Sorcery
Chapter 24: Another Pillar Awakened (2)

Satisfied with the initial testing, Lukas conducted experiments combining his two shard abilities. First, he summoned clones with the slider pushed to either extreme. Much to his delight, they materialized in Lukas's state at the time, gaining the benefits of the mass modifications. El-Two—El-One was busy at the smithy—also had to undergo pain tests. His bones broke easily in the low-mass state, and he howled in pain, struggling to tolerate the discomfort, and begged to be dispelled. Meanwhile, in the high-mass state, he barely flinched when Lukas stabbed him in the thigh.

The next tests involved empowered clones combined with Modify Mass. Lukas made a low-mass El-Two enhanced for speed and agility. He moved so fast and with such grace it was mesmerizing, almost matching when he was sprinting with the shortsword’s haste enchantment active. The next version had high mass with increased strength and toughness. The extra muscle power seemed to compensate for the lower speed, utilizing more powerful sudden bursts and easily maintaining velocity for longer. However, the clone lost some of the dexterity Elvis displayed in the smithy.

The next set of experiments flipped the combinations. Toughness empowerment somewhat compensated for low-mass’s fragility. The pain tolerance was also higher. High-mass with agility empowerment moved as fast as base Lukas but seemed to have significantly more strength and, therefore, could apply significantly greater force.

“I think you should be the new Elvis,” Lukas stated after putting the clone through flexibility, pain tolerance, and endurance tests. “New and improved. Stronger. Faster. And no stubby fingers.”

“But I won't look the same,” the clone complained. “Kat will suspect something is up.”

“So lie to her.” Lukas shrugged, struggling to understand why the clone cared so much about what the woman thought. “Tell her it's your new Heart Ability. Make up some convincing details. She'll be happy I'm not leaving you without reward and weak. It will also help you serve Penelope better.”

“Kat's not just any asset we're using,” El-Two grumbled. “She cares about us.”

“Keep your priorities straight. We need to get stronger faster. You felt the journal's vibrations too. We need to be able to go down where Penelope and Bass went by ourselves, discover what's down there and what the journal wants us to do about it.” Lukas paused, rotating the injured ankle and wondering whether it warranted using his belt buckle's enchantment. The Body Pillar's awakening came with enhanced natural healing, and he'd recover soon, but it was starting to annoy him. “A nice boost to Modify Mass might increase the slider’s range or help with some of the fragility and speed issues. The sooner both abilities ascend, the sooner we also get our conjunction ability. Keep your eyes on the ball, not ass. We’re here to achieve godhood, not find our jollies.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.” The clone sounded annoyed but said nothing more on the topic, leaving Lukas to wonder if needed to get involved and nip the relationship with Kat in the bud. If he let things continue as they were, things could potentially get dicey and overly complicated.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, a clone sent on a long-term away mission traveled out of Lukas's telepathy range. El-Sixteen started a tryst with a warlord's daughter. Infatuation turned into love. And love into a full-blown relationship and marriage. When the mission ended and the preprogrammed dispelled occurred, chaos followed.

The warlord and his men searched for Lukas far and wide. They found and killed several clones, mistaking them for a skinwalker clan who had murdered El-Sixteen and stolen his face. When Lukas had to face them in battle and put an end to the mess, he was haunted by feelings of kinship and regret. The clone's memories and the bonds he had formed with everyone interfered with what needed to be done. The look of horror on his ‘wife's’ face when he put down her father troubled him the most. It was one memory Lukas didn't have purged. He wanted to keep it as a reminder for himself and the clones.

“Go to the guild,” Lukas commanded, pushing idle thoughts aside. “Train with whoever is available or shadow spar. If anyone asks, you’re testing your new shard ability. Don’t give away all the details, but we don’t need to be too ambiguous about this one.”

“Got it, El-Prime,” El-Two said, stern and cold. He grabbed the Three-Stage Spear and the kite-shaped bucker before heading out.

Meanwhile, Lukas grabbed a piece of paper and listed the formula he remembered from his days as a student of physics. He also made notes next to each with observations or hypotheses.

Force = mass x acceleration

The amount of force exerted doesn’t change when at low mass. Hence, acceleration is increased. At high mass, strength is high, allowing for increased acceleration, therefore, total exerted force is significantly higher.

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Weight = mass x gravity

Low weight at low mass is a given. It almost feels like floating. Possible to mimic the Feather Fall spell at higher tiers?

Stamina feels significantly higher when weight is low than high. Calorie demands are also probably lower. Testing needed.

Density = Mass/Volume

The Phaser’s physiological reaction to light was likely changing with its density. Will the same be possible in the future?

Will low mass and, therefore, low density eventually allow water walking?

Kinetic Energy = ½ (mass x velocity²)

Must test starting at low mass, charging, and then switching to high mass just before the moment of impact. High mass at terminal velocity equal to a big boom.

Gravitational Potential Energy = mass x gravity x height

Need tiers and essence upgrades to maximize use.

Lukas couldn’t be happier with the shard ability. It was not intangibility, but it kept his chances of getting something related to lightning open. He also appreciated the low magic cost. He, more specifically, a clone, needed to practice going around at low-mass, moving as fast as possible. If he eventually picked up Body Reinforcement Magic, too, Lukas believed he could achieve speeds significantly higher than his former body’s records.

It was late in the evening when ‘Elvis’ returned from the smithy. He seemed in a good mood, and it faded as soon as he saw Lukas awake. The clone was immediately dispelled and then resummoned at low mass and empowered for speed and agility. El-Two departed wordlessly for the nearest courier office. Since Penelope had given them some time off, he went out, too, heading straight for Esther’s clinic.

“Look at you!” Esther exclaimed when he walked in. “You’re actually handsome. Body Pillar?”

Lukas nodded. “Penelope held up her end of the bargain.” He moved the slider to its base position. The clinic contained far too many loosely kept tools and tripping hazards. A minor injury would likely come with near-intolerable pain. “It’s good for Elvis, too. He’ll have something tangible to show besides showing up every morning with all injuries healed.”

“Good. And the sorcerer. She’s satisfied with what you’ve told her and your performance.”

“And then some. Elvis and I took out a phaser.” The vet’s eyes widened as Lukas explained the story of their delve. He didn’t disclose the objective of it or what they had brought out since it would be in violation of Penelope’s contract. However, he was sure the vet would figure it out.

“Foolish but impressive,” she said. “I take it ‘Elvis’ suffered the brunt of the attacks?”

“Of course. He had a few broken bones and deep torso wounds, but his shard ability fixed him as it always does. Convenient, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Esther snorted, rolling her eyes. “So very convenient. Well, sounds like this ability will help cover him better. Don’t be too cagey about it at the guild, either. It sounds like the type of ability you need all the help you can get to master.”

“I’m only disclosing half of it to them,” Lukas said. “The getting lighter and agile part. Elvis will be taking advantage of the other end of the spectrum.”

“Fair enough. I take it you’re here for guidance on the recovery and manipulation techniques?”

“I thought we could push harder today. The light spell didn’t work as I wanted, and I ended up wasting more magic than intended. We can’t afford to let that happen again. The Body Pillar awakening came with more energy, so I thought we could take advantage—”

“More magic from Body?” Esther raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. It feels as if my stores grew by approximately fifty percent. Why? Isn’t that typical?”

“Far from it,” she answered. “Generally, only Soul and Mind Pillars increase magic stores as they unlock sixth senses related to them. Occasionally, Heart abilities come with more magic—like that fire-breathing one you mentioned. It would’ve likely come with a boost. But that’s almost never true for the Body Pillar. If it's an active ability that uses magic, it might make you wary of your body’s natural stores or increase sensitivity to ambient energies, but that's it.”

“Interesting,” Lukas said thoughtfully. “I wonder if the ritual had anything to do with it. We used two essences and a hollow shard to repair the cracked one.”

“Maybe. Certainly not typical, given what I’ve heard. You’re well on your way to a conjunction ability. Hopefully, by the time you master your current shards, you’ll have saved or delved enough for another. Do you know what you want yet?”

“Metamagic or Lightning-generation abilities for Mind. I haven’t given Heart much thought. Range isn’t a concern if I’m fast and can use hit-and-run tactics.”

“Or Elvis can play vanguard while shocking them, right?”

“Right.” Lukas nodded

“You know how I feel about lightning magic and think you should hold out for an essence and equipment instead, but it's your life. I can only advise.” Esther conjured her light stick and wrote down the shortsword enchantments along with all the related ones they had discussed. “How about we start with where you screwed up Illuminated Eyes?”

“I was hoping we could also figure out how to manipulate the shard ability. Perhaps figure out how to change the weight of something I’m holding, say a weapon.”

“Along with or instead of your body?”

“I think it might be easier to start with both and then transition into the latter.”

“It sounds like a decent place to start,” Esther replied. “Let's see if we can figure something out.”