Shadow Clone Sorcery
Chapter 48: Uncovering The Truth (2)

One of Lukas’s teachers was in recovery. The other was busy with all of her patients. Figuring out his new magic and abilities was all on him, for the time being, at least. He believed that the odds of things going ‘tits up’ during or after the auction were high. His departure from Iskander was going to be anything but easy. Lukas needed to be stronger for what lay ahead, and it was on him to get where he needed to go.

Thanks to the clones, he had a head start. Memories of what they did and how they did it, the process, physical and mental strain, and everything was still fresh in his mind. Now that he had had an ample rest and had recovered from the stress of the delve, it was time to embrace everything he picked up.

First, he ripped a hand-sized piece from the Shade’s Mantle. It floated into Lukas’s hand and hovered in place. He didn’t compress it into a sphere. Instead, shaping and manipulation helped him stretch and twist it into a solid spike. The surface texture changed, skipping the liquid phase. One second, it was intangible and like a drifting scrap of light fabric; the next, it looked like burnt metal.

The clones had taken the same path. They hadn’t bothered turning Shade’s Mantle into a more neutral form before hardening pieces. Instead, they had flared the creation and straight away hardened and weaponized it. They had pushed themselves far too hard, and two of them died from the strain instead of external stimuli. But, now their experiences were the best teachers.

He threw the spike, using his arcane manipulation skills to control its release and launch trajectory. Lukas needed more practice before adding power to the mix. The spike flew fast and true. It struck the nearby wall, ten feet away, with a loud thud and embedded itself.

Lukas froze, eyes darting back and forth. He stood in a secluded corner of the docks where several cargo containers sat, but there was little foot traffic. The spot gave him a clear view of the extremely busy secret docks where a clone was working to gain more information. Given the sudden influx of armed individuals, he believed the likelihood of El-Four dying was high. So, he stuck around, ready to create another and ensure anyone trying to flee didn’t succeed without their face unseen.

Much to his relief, no one seemed to have heard him. He didn’t expect the attack to hit so hard or so loud. He pointed his open palm at the spike and exercised his will. The burnt metallic spike softened, losing tangibility and releasing itself from the surface. It hung in place for a moment before floating toward Lukas. Unfortunately, it didn’t return to Shade’s Mantle as he hoped. Instead, the scrap dissipated, fading from existence.

He grinned. It was progress. Lukas now had a ranged attack. A projectile. The ability to attack or manipulate things from the backlines would allow him to function as a true mage. He still had a long way to go, and Lukas had ideas of how he wanted to proceed.

The next experiment he ran was condensing Shade’s Mantle, wrapping it tightly around himself and hardening all of it at once. It worked, but left his head and eyes hurting. He also extended, encasing himself in a solid coffin of shadowsteel, losing the ability to move. The shadows lost tangibility a second later. The drain on his magic stores was too great.

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Perhaps just an emergency defense for now.

With enough practice, Lukas was sure he’d learn only to harden sections of it and create more flexible armor. He also needed to remember to leave sections around his face intangible for easy breathing and vision.

Taking anything larger than a hand-sized scrap from intangible to steel was the most Lukas could currently manage without stressing himself. He needed something simpler and lighter for the time being. Manipulation helped loose parts of the mantle to his arms. Lukas coiled them into a pair of tentacle-like lengths. He didn’t take them all the way to the hardness of rigid steel but more to that of thick cloth.

Lukas whipped, slashed, and pulled, making the lengths dance. They cracked and sang audibly, moving through the air. Next, he added manipulation to the mix, taking command of the ends and using them to control the creation. Once satisfied with his control and sure the drain and strain were manageable, he made a few tweaks. Lukas hardened the tips further, turning them into a pair of blades attached to the ends of the straps.

Now, these are going to be useful.

Lukas could envision eventually manipulating shadow strings with steeled tips, ripping through anyone who got too close. He also hoped to figure out how to stretch and extend the mantle or take control of shadows unattached to himself. Perhaps launch a shadow spike or sphere to create a distant pool of controlled shadows, and then turn them into spikes, tethers, or more to assault his foes.

The tangible straps moved from Lukas’s arms to his shoulders. They danced in unison, moving completely synchronized. He thought of them as one and controlled them accordingly. The ability to manipulate them individually still felt far away. He was considering turning them into a tail or a powerful and long appendage capable of devastating enemies. It wouldn’t just benefit him but also the clones.

El-Four’s death put an end to the practice. His memories threatened to overwhelm Lukas for a moment. The clone had crept onto the caravel-class ship, following the crew moving large, heavy crates from the dock to the deck. He had crept into the lower levels, hoping to investigate the cargo. A familiar figure gave the clone pause. He glimpsed a woman. The shape and her voice were familiar. Lukas had encountered her in the secret meeting. She stood arguing with a man wearing a captain’s hat, animatedly pointing at a caged child.

Unfortunately for El-Four, her arcane senses successfully penetrated Silencing Shadows in close proximity. She spun on her heel, launching a bolt of violent violet energy. It struck the clone’s torso, and incredible pain followed. He just about managed to dispel himself before death took him.

It was tempting to make another clone and send them back in to find the woman and see her face. But chaos poured from the vessel and spilled onto the secret docks. He doubted a stalker clone had the current mastery to infiltrate the mess and instead send one to the high ground in the hopes he’d successfully gather more information. Meanwhile, Lukas left his hiding place and joined the crowds departing a just-docked ship, Shade’s Mantle pulled under his clothes. They were rowdy, shoving each other and bumping shoulders. It was uncomfortable, but the perfect mass of faces to get lost in.

It took far longer than if he just used low mass and Frar to speed out of the area, but he didn’t want to use magic in case the mysterious woman was close behind him. So, he took it slow and remained patient. Relief hit him like a sack of bricks when he left the port for familiar ground where he could easily disappear. Lukas found a narrow, deserted alley and manifested Shade’s Mantle. Then, he took to the roofs and sped away, eager to report what he had seen.