Chapter 125 – Doppelganger

Chapter 125 – Doppelganger

'Status'

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 306]

[Health 45,986*/50,000*]

[Stamina 15,596*/20,000*]

[Magicker 70,000*/70,000*]

[You currently have 43000 unassigned points]

'Huh... looks my health still isn't full, I guess even the healing isn't that quick. My stamina also hasn't fully recovered as well but I did sleep like shit I suppose'

Waking up the right at the start of the next morning, I've made my way into the woods since it seems like a good place to buy and test out some new abilities. Should probably increase my stats as well, those arrows in particular did knock me down to about half HP, I suppose.

Right now, as the sun rises, the town is dead quiet due to the celebrations last night. It appears that many have slept in because of celebrating too heavy, even the dragon Mute is out cold sleeping in the middle of the town square right now. Me and Petra left after the meal so most of what went down, we got to avoid. I kinda had to as well, our cutesy stuff is best left hidden despite the town now trying to encourage it... although nothing additional happened last night other than sleeping. I'm aching way too much for a bit of fun time right now

Even the restless Petra is still sleeping and so I didn't dare wake her. My reason for getting up this early other than just wanting to sort my stats out is also down to my hip and wing, I'm still in a little bit of pain so sleep wasn't great. Another reason is that we'll need to decide what to do next in retaliation towards the monastery and this seems the perfect time before important discussions need to be made.

'Aesa, split twenty thousand in half and put it into stamina and health please'

I'm neglecting magicka this time around because if that last fight was anything to go off, it would've been useless to increase it. Eh... maybe not useless but it definitely seemed like abilities are better to rely on even if you exclude the daily cooldown. Also, I've been neglecting stamina for a while and sleeping like shit has given me the encouragement to invest in it.

[<Confirmed, invested points have been doubled and this is what -Ikarus's- stats now look like>]

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 306]

[Health 65,987*/70,000*]

[Stamina 35,596*/40,000*]

[Magicka 70,000*/70,000*]

[You currently have 23000 unassigned points]

'Thanks... no point delaying the inevitable then, Aesa?'

[<Does -Ikarus- wish to confirm -sacrificial lamb- purchase?>]Rread latest chapters at novelhall.comed... -Ikarus- has unlocked ability -magma walker-. Unfortunately, Aesa thinks -Ikarus- might dislike this ability>]

'Why's that then Aesa?'

[<Ability -magma walker- allows -Ikarus- to create a small lake of magma every 24 hours. Despite phoenix resistances allowing -Ikarus- to walk over it, may be slightly underwhelming compared to other abilities>]

'Well that sucks... actually, I kinda want to give this a try one second. Aesa, activate it please'

[<Confirmed>]

Once Aesa confirms it, the ground beneath me within the woods turns into a steaming lake of lava spreading to a sizable distance away from me. It's only a small lake and it doesn't seem to have the same gasses an actual bed of flowing magma would have but it's not that bad. Despite Aesa downplaying it a little, it's a relatively decent size and I could see this being pretty useful depending on the situation. Any species that can't withstand fire would get trapped and continuously burn while inside this. This actually could be really deadly against nearly anyone and might of even worked against that mecha guy I just fought yesterday.

'Huh... I think you're being a little harsh on this Aesa but let's continue on though'

Also, I wonder if this ability could help out the blacksmiths around here as well? I'm not sure how they make their forges but having that lava could be useful, right? I'm not sure if I can scale it down though, will have to give this some more testing to see down the line.

[<Does -Ikarus- wish to confir-... Aesa is now getting tired repeating the confirmation message as well so Aesa will forceably skip it... processing... ability -plot protection- has been unlocked>]

'Huh... thought you said the confirmation message couldn't be skipped but oh well. What's plot protection do then?'

[<-Plot protection- allows -Ikarus- to neglect any form of damage for up to 5 minutes. Same daily cooldown time applies>]

'Okay... so basically you're saying this ability would technically make me actually immortal? Not just the ageing side of things, like for those five minutes I'd be completely untouchable by anyone?'

That honestly sounds a little overpowered if I'm being honest. Sure, at this point complaining or being sceptical could be getting a little boring but I'm not really sure what to make of this just yet.

[<Heh, it seems both Aesa and -Ikarus- are starting to become numb to obvious abilities that could be considered 'overpowered'. This one appears to be exactly as -Ikarus- describes, HP will remain locked for the duration and cannot be reduced by any means>]

'Looks like my dream of swimming in a volcano might actually be possible then...'

It really says a lot we've got so much cool shit hidden away, having just unlocked a proper immortality ability is basically nothing now. Hey, it's not like I'm complaining, I'm definitely enjoying basically being a walking nightmare to deal with at this point but it's just this sort of thing is a little difficult to be excited on. Hmm... my stats might be even higher than father's as well...

'...Next one then please Aesa'

Hang on, there's only one person who talks like that!? That's sounds so weird in my own voice though.

"Aesa! You understand how creepy that is using my second body like that, right?"

"'Creepiness' plays no part in Aesa's thinking..."

Aesa's using the clone finally manages to shift herself into a sitting position but looks like she's struggling a little with the human body. Well, technically it's not human because it's still got the folded-up wings and feathers but you know what I mean.

"How does this even work Aesa? Something like this was never possible with my voice way back when"

"-Ikarus- is an anomaly even with other G.A.P system users so something like this is an impossibility for most. The shortest answer Aesa can give is that ability -doppelganger- allows control of a separate body loosely connected to the original. The unfortunate problem is that this body provides no combat potential but can be activated anytime with no cooldown timer"

Despite Aesa sounding a little negative about this ability, this actually seems pretty cool. Of course, it would be nicer if it actually could fight or do something but I guess it could just be considered an NPC version of me then. By the sounds of it, that body can't function automatically though.

"So... does that mean I can control that in sync with my normal body then?"

"Negative -Ikarus-, only one conscience can be controlled at any time and would cause complete mental shutdown if -Ikarus- attempted to control multiple at once. This is why Aesa pointed out -Ikarus- may find this ability useless since there would be no reason to control the weaker body"

Once again, Aesa is right. It's almost as if this cloning ability is a gimmick that was purposely designed to be useless if that body is basically nothing... Despite me and Aesa clearly looking a little annoyed with the new unlocked ability, Petra seems to find this rather amusing.

"Heh, you say it's controllable Aesa? Does that mean I'd be able to use it too?"

"Affirmative, does target -Petra- want to try clone body?"

Hang on, Petra's not doing that!

"Erm... can we not do that please? Aesa is one thing but having Petra inside me is something completely different... I know how that sounds!"

"Why does -user- have to make everything dirty minded?"

"Heh... Ikarus..."

Damn it... I know what I said is actually true because of the stuff we've don-... sighhh, let's just move on from Petra's smiling and Aesa's glare. Out of all the bodies she could get, it just had to be this obnoxious mirror, didn't it? The idea of Petra being in my clone body is something I really don't want to see though, just imagine if we did something like kissing or anything further and it would be like doing it with myself! That's all kind of narcissistic behaviour I don't need and knowing Petra, she'd obviously start to tease with it as well...

"What are we going to do with you though? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for giving you freedom but this feels a little weird"

As bad as it sounds, AI freedom here is something I'm kinda afraid on. Literally everything with my system goes through Aesa so having her gone would be a trainwreck waiting to happen. I know it's possible to run the system without the voice but I don't have a clue how to do that!

By now, I've helped 'Aesa' up, I'm actually surprised Petra hasn't mentioned anything about the nudity but I guess her teasing is reserved only for me... even if Aesa is in my body and all.

"Don't be absurd -Ikarus-, Aesa only took up form to show -Ikarus- how ability works, Aesa can still communicate..."

[<...even like this and can still help -user-...>]

"...Since ability has now been explained, Aesa will discard form shortly"

Despite me looking a little reassured about keeping Aesa around albeit feeling a little weird from Aesa speaking inside and outside my head, Petra actually seems to be the one more concerned for her right now.

"You really don't want to experience living in an actual body for a little while Aesa? You've only got a limited amount of time and you're happy to stay cooped up?"

Ah right, systems aren't immortal so I can see why Petra would worry about something like this, at least the voices anyways. I'm more than willing to discard my selfishness for system if it makes her a little happier but I really can't see this working how Petra might be intending since Aesa is still an AI at heart. I guess in some ways, Aesa could even be compared to an advanced tutorial NPC.

[<Don't compare Aesa to tutorial NPC -user->]

'Ah, sorry! Having you in front of me and still inside my head is kinda confusing'

You know what's better than one moaning robotic wife? Two! Let's try to focus on the actual conversation though.

"Such a thing holds no appeal to Aesa but if -Petra- views it as important... then Aesa could stay like this for a while. This isn't an easy experience though"

"Ah, great then! What do you fancy doing Aesa? Food? Drink? Anything else?"

You know, Petra did say once that Aesa reminds her of her own lost voice so I can see why she's happy over such a thing. I guess we can make a day for Aesa even though I'm pretty sure she's just doing this for Petra at this point. We've still got some time to spare since it's still pretty early despite us being here for a little while already and I can already tell most people aren't going to be working how they should be today. Late night drinking always does that and the entire settlement did celebrate such a thing, we do have to decide how to follow up the monastery attack soon though.

"Again, suggestions are unnecessary. Any memory, emotion, sense or feeling -Ikarus- has always shared. Instinctive activities like breathing and walking are not considered natural or memories to Aesa so focus is on staying alive for now"

Wait, I guess she weren't kidding when she said we share everything. Wouldn't Aesa be more a part of me than I first realized if that's the case then? It can't be, right? I've been arguing nonstop with myself for God knows how long then!

"We can decide what to do soon... can we at least do something about her hair? And get some clothes on... give me a hand Petra"

I wasn't exaggerating when I said we look identical, even the hair style is the exact same and it's making me feel a little worried that Petra wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I know deep down she would but I'd rather us not look that identical if possible.

"Heh, sure Ikarus"

I'm already holding Aesa up but she really isn't adapting to human-phoenix life all that well just yet, she's pretty adaptable so I reckon she'll get used to it but it doesn't look easy for her right now. I guess even an AI can't completely adapt to everything, to think breathing is that difficult.

'I guess if anyone asks, I could just say I have a twin. Considering everything weird the town has experienced recently and been fine with, this will be like nothing to them...'