Shadow Clone Sorcery
Chapter 28: Revelations In The Dark (2)

Entering through the window proved harder. The inn had wards to repel infiltrators, and Penelope had added to them. Lukas knocked three times. Much to his delight, the clones had returned from their tasks and invited him in, helping him bypass the security.

“Good thing you’re back, El-Prime,” El-One said. “We were discussing. You need to rethink the appraiser job. We can earn a shit load of money super fast and get all kitted up with shards, essences, and high-end equipment. The information is out. You might as well take advantage of it.”

“Maybe wait until after Mister Grey’s job,” El-Two added.

“It's an excellent idea,” Lukas said. “But I’d rather not be trapped in a storefront all day and night. Maybe once you can summon and use the journal. Then, I can leave one of you in the storefront and do my own thing. It won’t be a big deal if Mister Grey or one of his competitors comes for us.”

“We can just be the sacrificial lamb,” a clone said, finishing the thought.

“Precisely! We’re making decent money with Penelope, and Mister Grey is already starting to deliver. Let’s not needlessly complicate our lives.”

“Journal!” Lukas called, summoning the floating object. “Enlighten us.”

The degree and potency of available upgrades will depend on the completed quest. You can sacrifice material and ability progression rewards to empower me instead. Each completed job will allow you to add to my functions, increase the potency of my functions, or gain quality-of-life improvements like the clones being able to summon and use me.

“I guessed as much.”

“You were right.” El-One’s eyes narrowed. “The bitch really switched to the carrot from the chain. I get why you want us to investigate the undercity now.”

“Do you guys lose deductive abilities alongside inhibitions?” It wasn’t a jibe. Lukas was genuinely curious.

Both clones shrugged. “I don’t think so,” the El-One replied. “It’s been a while since you summoned me. My brain has had other properties and followed different trains of thought. I’ve been mostly focusing on metalwork and the magic exercises you gave me.”

“I was trying to find the best spears, shields, and deals without the journal,” the other clone added, his tone betraying disdain. “It doesn’t mean we’re stupid. We’re a part of you.”

“Oh. Did I hurt your feelings?”

“Well, now that you mention it—”

Lukas dispelled both clones. Their equipment noisily fell to the wooden floor.

I’ll need to apologize to the landlady for that later.

When using Arcane Clone again, Lukas clamped his eyes shut and reached deep within himself. He didn’t just let the ability tear a chunk of magic away and use it to mold a shell around the fragment of his soul. Lukas tried to guide the flow and make modifications. It was like working with set rubber. No matter how he twisted, tugged, and compressed, it all snapped back to normal.

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“Well, that was rude,” the new clone said. He looked identical to Lukas and lacked the physical differences born of any empowerment.

Attempts with an empowered clone appeared the same. Lukas attempted to create a clone enhanced for agility but without the physiological markers.

Lukas refused dejection and pushed on, trying several permutations and combinations until he was confident that no matter what he did, he could change the clones’ appearance. He then approached the challenge from a different direction. Lukas attacked the way the magic and his soul fragmented interacted. The edges seemed to weave together when he created empowered clones. He memorized the two different patterns and attempted a version that used both.

Another failure.

Success came by accident. When the delicate, finessed approach failed, he turned to intent and hamfisted it. Lukas focused on an arcane exercise that Penelope had taught him. It focused on gathering ambient magic for storage or channeling into a spell. He didn't intend to fuse it with the one but keep his personal stores topped up for continued experimentation.

Something clicked during the process. The journal vibrated, demanding his attention, and the floor that formed drained almost all of his magic, leaving Lukas gasping for hair. The clone that formed looked no different from Lukas, lacking the physiological changes of the other empowerments.

“Holy shit, El-Prime!” The clone exclaimed. He closely studied his hands. “What did you do?”

“I'm not entirely sure,” Lukas replied. He analyzed the clone with his arcane senses. It was indistinguishable from him besides the smaller magic stores. He could feel ambient magic revolving around and flowing through the new El-Two. It seemed the magic gathering and channeling technique was an integral part of the clone.

You have unlocked a new Empowered Copy and may now create clones with arcane specializations. Channeling a technique during creation will make it an innate part of the clone. New creations will immediately be added to Empowered Copy for swift summoning afterward.

The current specialization excels at absorbing and channeling magic.

Arcane Clone is now ready for ascension to the next tier. Please pick an essence to start the process.

“We did it.” Lukas's smile stretched from ear to ear, and goosebumps covered his arms.

Before jumping to ascend his Soul Pillar, Lukas ran a couple more experiments. He attempted to create clones while channeling his shard abilities. Unfortunately, the journal didn't react, and he didn't get the results he desired.

Let's not get greedy.

“Do you still want us to go down to the undercity?” The clone asked, eyeing the weapons on the floor.

“Go on. I know you want to experiment too.”

The clone grabbed the mundane shortsword meant for them to delve without Lukas. “Bryna,” he said, annunciating the word slowly and precisely. Lukas could feel the intent behind it.

Ambient magic flowed through the clone, barely sapping his internal stores or harming the magic shell that formed his body. It gathered in the shortsword's blade. Lukas saw another noticeable change. Minor glints and delaminations smoothening. The clone grabbed a piece of parchment out of the waste pile on the floor. He smoothed it out before running it over the blade. The parchment fell into two soundlessly.

“Any headache from casting without a focus?” Lukas asked.

The clone shook his head. “Skina,” he said next, and his irises gained luminosity. “This is incredible. I wonder if I am an arcane focus.”

“You're still going to the undercity, but only after I've ascended the pillar to tier two,” Lukas said, massaging his temple. The extreme magic drain was strenuous. It meant he couldn’t just create the arcane specialization clones when he wished it and needed to be more strategic with their creation. “We still need to figure out what Silverspine's interests are down there and discover whether it's within our current capabilities.”

“Got it, boss. Take a load off. Ascend. I got your back.”

“Give me a moment to recover more magic. I want ‘Elvis’ around in case this knocks me out for ages, like with the Body Pillar’s awakening.”