New Developments

Michael blinked in confusion for a moment before he shook his head to clear it. He stared at the prompt given to him by the game system. This time, it was different than usual.

"Hmm, what might it be?" He rubbed his jaw as he thought about it a bit. "Well, only one way to find out, I guess." With a firm nod, he accepted the new skills the system hinted at.

An unexpected rush of information suddenly slammed into his mind, making him yell out in pain and clutch his head. Different packages of information containing various messages assaulted his mind as the knowledge of the skills was bestowed upon him. He felt like his mind was being ripped apart and stomped on as this went on.

A few minutes later, the flow of information finally slowed down and stopped. Michael lay a panting, sweaty mess on the hard ground.

With a low hiss, he sat up from the floor, casting a wary look at his surroundings. With the influx of knowledge, he had let down his guard, leaving himself exposed to the predators of this wild and untamed forest. By this time, the sun had set and two moons hung low in the sky. One was red and the other was a dull gray.

Despite the beautiful scenery, Michael knew he didn't have any time to take it in. He could already sense the approach of numerous E rank creatures. He slowly stood up, patting down his body as he tried to understand the changes within his body.

[High level of stress detected. Running diagnostics. Average stress limit exceeded by 14 percent. Adjusting internal limits. Internal stress limit raised by 30 percent...]

The game system chimed in his head.

[New Skill Derived - Split Consciousness... New Magic Skill Tree unlocked - Elemental Magic.]

As Michael went over the new changes, he suddenly had a feeling that felt like his mind was being split in two.

"Huh?"

'Weird.' At the same moment of his confusion, a voice that sounded exactly like his own, but not as prominent echoed through his mind.

Due to his unusual existence, some time ago, Michael noticed he could see the internal space of his mind. Before, it appeared as an empty space that was mostly unoccupied. What took up most of the internal space was just the skills and abilities he possessed.

Right now, Michael noticed that something had changed when he looked into his mind. It was considerably more spacious, but that wasn't the only change. Inside his internal space, there was a miniature lizardman!

Aside from the diminutive size, what stood out to Michael was that the lizardman looked exactly like him!

'Oh, I see what's going on here! Split Consciousness must have split my mind into two to cope with the excess load that my mind bears whenever I learn a new skill!' Michael felt like a genius when he came up with that conclusion.

The miniature lizard within him slowly gained consciousness, rousing itself from its sleep.

"Hello there, me!" Michael screeched internally.

"Keep your voice down! I don't need you screeching at me, you lizard!" The lizardman screamed back.

Michael paid its complaints no mind before continuing, "We need to give you a name, I can't always refer to you as 'little me'. It sounds weird. How about 'Mee'?"

"Mee sounds okay." The lizardman nodded, stretching its body. Michael admired the craftsmanship of whoever came up with this Ability. To be able to recreate his body, down to the tiniest detail was something that would be hard to do, yet he was looking at himself, albeit a miniature version.

"Mee it is." While this little conversation was going on through his mind, Michael had already left the clearing and was not entering into the tunnel that led to the lizardman settlement. He stopped just by the entrance before turning to take a look back.

The overlapping glows of the moons and the stars that twinkled in the sky looked down upon him. It was then that Michael understood. He understood that this wasn't a game. It was a struggle for survival. A struggle he had to do his best to survive...

***

In a remote dark location...

The only sources of light in the dark room are the numerous screens that were currently showing the image of a lone lizardman. On one of the screens that is placed to the side, instead of a lizardman, the image of a young man is displayed. His personal information is also displayed by the side of his image.

"How is the subject?" A voice asked from within the darkness of a corner.

"The test subject is doing okay so far. He seems to be adapting quite well to his situation, although he is moving a bit faster than we anticipated." The lone individual that was seated before the screens responded his superior who was still shrouded in darkness.

"Ah, hold on! There's a spike in mental activity!" The person monitoring the situation of the lizardman suddenly jerked, slightly alarmed by the developments. He rapidly hit some keys on his sophisticated keyboard as he tried to stabilize the situation.

"Sir! The subject just consumed a human! He has unlocked the Magic Skill Tree!"

As soon as he heard that, the man in the shadows stood up, taking long strides to the front of the room so he could get a good look of what was happening. Although he had stepped into the light, his face remained hidden behind a black mask that left only his eyes exposed.

"Hahaha! This is wonderful! We chose right this time. He unlocked the Magic Skill Tree two weeks before schedule!" The man laughed heartily. "Alright, what else?"

"Due to the influx of information, his mind has been put under a considerable amount of strain. Shall we introduce the Split Consciousness?"

"Yes, yes. Do just that, and then tell me the outcome..." The man rubbed his padded chin. "Keep me updated." He spoke and then walked back into the cover of the shadows...