In a dungeon, three casters were on a quest, wandering inside in search of Mana Shards. But suddenly, a screech ran through the deep dungeon, causing the three Casters to flinch and their little familiars beside their shoulders.
Familiar. A Caster's source of magic but it could not talk.
Then, the ground began to reverberate.
The Casters took a stance, preparing to release their spells. There! A horde of large ants with thousands of feet, rumbling through the dungeon called Antipede.
Antipede. A creature with the head of an ant and the body of a centipede. But due to its hard body, magic wouldn't work against it. Only physical damages could only work on them.
The Casters weren't expecting it and immediately took out a TP (Teleportation) scroll.
“What about Kiri?!”
“Forget him!”
*SCREECH!!*
The girl and the boy exclaimed, “Take us to Aegis, TAKE US TO AEGIS!!!” causing the three of them to teleport.
*VWWWMMM!!*
They warped all the way to the entrance of Aegis Town. The two casters lay down on the grass.
“For a second there I thought we were goners…” said the guy Caster, panting.
“Ye-” The girl Caster noticed the shards were gone. “Tarph…”
“Yeah?”
“Where are the shards?”
Tarph raised his head a bit, checking the area. No sign of shards at all.
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“Ugh,” he hung his head low.
The girl threw a pebble toward Tarph's forehead.
They began to quarrel while the other caster was in deep thought about the disappearance of mana shards. He remembered every bit of detail of what happened. A figure grabbed the sack the moment they were about to teleport. He couldn't see the figure's face but he saw the figure's hair. Curly and fluffy.
“I hope Kiri is okay-”
Tarph threw a book to her face.
“Kiri that! Kiri there!” Tarph mocked. “We just met him an hour ago! Every time you meet someone who looks so handsome, you look like a Flabbergish! Like this!”
Tarph showed an example of what the girl looks like every time she sees someone stunning.
She gasped before crossing her arms, “You’re just jealous!”
Taprh threw his boots this time to her.
“We’re cousins, you moron!”
Their quarrel continued and the other one covered his ears.
***
Meanwhile, back at the dungeon.
“Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!”
Roy was counting them and put the loot inside his sack.
“Welp….” Roy thought and noticed the Antipedes vanished the moment the scroll withered. “At least I got a higher chance this time.”
Every scroll could only be used once. The side effects were that they disappeared after using them for a certain amount of time.
“I should've bought the better qualities.”
Roy only purchased the low qualities of the Clone Scroll. The better the quality, the merrier the clone scroll could copy. However, the lower qualities usually rely on chances. More importantly, an echo of sticky movement illuminated the hall. Roy quickly hid behind the wall and reached out his hand to get another clone scroll from his sack. But there was none left.
“Already?! I swear I have another one left!”
“Ooh! Shiny!”
The voice of a childish boy was heard, forcing Roy to take a peek. To his surprise, it was a talking slime, holding a scroll.
Roy squinted his eyes and saw the symbol of the clone scroll.
“It must've fallen earlier,” Roy scratched the back of his head, vigorously.
Before Roy could show his appearance, the slime did something:
“Hmmmm…” the slime scratched its chin.
*NOM!*
The slime ate the mana shard.
“HOY!!!”
“Hm?”
“Spit it out!” Roy pointed his arrow at the slime.
*GULP!*
The slime quivered as it didn't like the taste. Aside from that, the arrow directly hit the slime in the head and got knocked over.
Roy ambled toward the slime and checked carefully.
The slime rose, giggling.
Roy flinched as he hopped back, preparing to shoot another arrow.
The slime saw someone behind Roy and greeted, “Hello!”
Roy heard a step from behind, and when he turned around, he found himself only to be pointed by a magic staff from a cloaked stranger.
“Hand over the Crystals.” The Caster poked Roy's back with its staff, “Come on!”
“Engot,” Roy said.
“What?” the caster got confused about what language he used just now.
Roy took the chance to duck and did a spin kick from the caster's ankle, causing the caster to lose its balance.
Roy pointed his arrow at the enemy.
The caster grinned, but Roy couldn't see its face, and the Caster just vanished.
“A clone?!”
The enemy already got Roy's sack of Crystals the moment he was distracted by the clone. The Caster was running away but he unexpectedly tripped when the slime vomited the Crystal it ate.
Roy almost laughed but held it in.
The Caster tried reaching its staff but Roy kicked it from afar. Roy grabbed onto its cloak to remove the hood.
“...”
Roy couldn't remember his name, but his face was familiar.
*POOF!*
It was a clone.
“Tang-”
*WHACK!!*
The real caster came from above, smashing its staff on Roy's head in half. Without a doubt, Roy got knocked out unconsciously at that point.
“That’s it?!” He lifted Roy's head, slapping him left and right. “Wake up! WAKE UP!” He flung Roy's head back to the ground. “DAMN IT!” After two years of embarrassment! THIS IS WHAT I GET!” The caster expected Roy that he'd dodge the staff easily. The caster sighed in disappointment and spat at Roy's face. He took the mana shards with him and used a TP scroll. He looked back at Roy and clicked his tongue.
He warped from another location but an item was left on the ground. An amulet with a symbol of a single Feather. The slime took it and wore it as a helmet.
