Abcier came by to visit to ask if Michael had any general questions and to help with thinking through his ideas. Over the course of the few days Abcier stayed with the Coan’s, Michael had developed a plan, what the next Powers should be and the best method to survive in this world thanks to the now shared knowledge.

  Michael knew he couldn’t stay here on Farmers Rest Island, while somewhat far from the mainland, the Institute would eventually search it and it would not be hard to track him down on the island. Furthermore, there are places in the world which are out of the normal range of the Institute and governments.

  But how to create a base while learning about the world more and gaining more power and skills? Can’t just stay in one place like a hermit for years trying to find a way back to Earth, that would be insane.

  Another point of worry was memory, trying to remember all the different words and phrases from this new language was hard enough despite the System helping a little, but trying to remember things from Earth was also a worry. Will he eventually forget about Earth, his family, friends, novels, shows, science and more? Will he be unable to share these things with his friends in this new world?

  An old idea came to him one night, an old American TV show had a character with a Mind Palace, a space he knows extremely well and so was able to store his memories within it. The basics were talked about on the show but it is always more difficult to do outside of a TV or novel. But it was a start, so a memory palace consisting of his old childhood home was slowly created.

  To achieve all these things, more manpower is needed and so a new Power needs to be created.

  Shadow Clones from Naruto was decided to be the best bet, easy to visualise and with fond memories from watching it as a child along with a somewhat better than average knowledge of medicine and the human body from First Aid skills, he was quickly able to make some progress before getting stuck.

  Watching as a bare right foot dissolve back into mana, trying to find the next breakthrough point to bring the Power into reality, a short discussion with Abcier helped bring it into focus.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing man, it takes all my concentration to make a foot!”

  “You are probably overthinking this”

  “Hold on a second I was just.”

  “Thinking that yes, Knowledge is letting me know now.” Silent, he raised an eyebrow.

  “Alright, lay it on me. What am I overthinking?”

  “With Psychokinesis, well done by the way, you are not thinking of how the individual pieces of mana are moving but broad strokes. Think in broad strokes with a clear goal and with enough practice, and by that I mean a lot, you will eventually get a completed Power. You have a lot of knowledge of the human body, but none of your current Powered body, and so it is taking you a longer time to create a clone”

  “Broad strokes huh.”

  “Yes and once the picture is completed, Power will give it a little push, and if it's ready it will become completed. Do you think a single person is focusing on all the narrow, tiny details of a Power and its Mana while being used? Power allows us to guide the Power with little effort once you create or increase its rank.”

  “And you're also right, having the name of a god be Power and calling our magics “Powers” does get a little confusing in English.”

  Over the next thirty days, “Broad Strokes” sits in his mind while working on this Power. He’s started noticing that while running with Aikoki he’s able to think clearly or get more ideas. The idea for a more general approach to the Shadow Clones becomes just creating a basic shape of a body, then adding more features like face, eyes, nose, ears, mouth and more.

  Just general features, like a drawing. The mana is pouring out of his right side into a general shape to a human sitting cross legged, like how Michael is right now. Slowly, to the outside observer the mana present there starts to become more opaque, colours start to emerge.

  Wait, will my clone be naked if this works?

  Concentration shattered thinking of the possible awkward interaction, the ethereal body phasing out into whisps. it takes a few days of more concentrating to not only picture the whole body but clothing as well. All while taking into account how the clone should work with mana, independent memory and will.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  30 more days pass trying to break through, 60 days of trying to create Shadow Clones and finally something clicks, a satisfying poof sound is made. He opens his eyes to look into his, the clone smiles and says.

  “Ello boss, Scarnon?”

  “Not bloody much mate, how goes it?” Michael replies, shaking his clone's hand.

  “Eh, can’t complain but fair dinkum this is mad!” the clone exclaims pointing with both arms towards Michael.

  “Bloody Strewth”

  “Think that's enough bogan for one day, you want to check your messages?” the clone asks

  “Oh yea sure, give me a sec.”

  Alright!

  “Hey Michael,” Aikoki yells from the house. “I think its time for some combat training! Where are you?”

  “Oh man” they both say, dreading the upcoming combat training and wondering how Aikoki knew!

  Thanks for reading. Don't forget to the story. It helps more than you realise!