I Am Just A… Copy?

"Yeah, we do," Jack nodded. He displayed the human doll to get Tlod's attention. He wouldn't have dared do such a thing if he didn't know his personality. Fortunately, he created everything, so he predicted how Tlod would react accurately.

Tlod was not a violent or evil person; he wasn't the type of mad scientist who experimented on living humans or who would be tempted to capture him and torture him until he found out the truth.

The two walked off to two chairs and a table and sat down. Tlod brought a very dark blue coffee for both.

"This is called Deep Wisdom Coffee; it has the magical effect of increasing thinking speed by 10%! It's said that sea monsters fight over it without regard for their survival; for them, it's extremely addicting, but for us humans, it's only pleasant and not addicting. Please try it. It is my most cherished coffee," said Tlod.

Jack nodded through all of this. Coffee-making art is very popular among wizards; there are all kinds of coffees and different mixtures. There is Skyline Coffee, which is the essence of the sky, the Four Elements Coffee, coffee with milk from all kinds of creatures, many coffee formulas, etc. Because these coffees were all made from supernatural materials, they had astonishing effects. For example, a masterfully brewed Fire Element Coffee can improve the speed of casting fire spells and increase one's understanding of Fire Dao and other related Daos.

Very high-level coffees can even affect detachment realm wizards; those have such an effect that one drop can kill lower-level wizards.

Jack took the coffee but didn't take any sips; instead, he spoke as Tlod took a sip.

"Let me be clear: If you plan to publish your findings, put that idea aside; doing that is no different than suicide. If you want to kill yourself, do it properly, not like that," said Jack, clearly stating his true thoughts.

Putting down the cup, Tlod said seriously, "You even know about my essay? Who exactly are you? Never mind. I won't ask; just know that I am willing to take the risk. If everyone acts scared, then who would reveal the truth? I won't back down!" Tlod said with determination.

"Dear Wizard Tlod, do you think you are the first person to discover the truth? In fact, many secret societies have been trying to fight against the tyranny of the Holy Council for many years! What makes you think you can achieve something so many have failed at?" asked Jack seriously, without smirking.

Tlod looked at Jack deeply and said, "I have a way out!"

Jack nodded and said without delay, "You mean the door?"

Tlod's face remained as motionless and serious as before, but the moment Jack mentioned the door, his heart pounded. The door was his top secret, and nobody knew about it.

"What do you mean?" Tlod said; he pretended not to know.

"The door, the one that you found in Wizard Timelord's remains! The one that opens occasionally and delivers to you what you need the most, the knight with the mustache? Does it ring a bell?" Jack asked as if it were a genuine question.

This time, Tlod's face was dark; he was sure that Jack knew all about the door; it left him no choice but to kill Jack to stop the spread of this secret.

The door was an unimaginably high level tresure; if anyone finds about it, there is no way Tlod can keep it..

But Tlod wasn't that dumb. Jack exposed his most valuable secret right in front of him. He obviously had a backup plan. Maybe someone outside also knew about it. Maybe he had some trump card. Maybe he was actually a stronger wizard than him.

At the moment, Jack had no aura; this meant that either he was a stronger wizard or he had an item that shielded his aura. Tlod didn't even consider the possibility that Jack could really be mortal.

"You know everything?" Tlod asked.

"I even know what you don't. Let me tell you, that door is not a way out; you are not strong enough to survive it. Later, you may be able to survive even after passing through it, but if you try it now, you will only die," said Jack.

"So, that's why you are trying to convince me not to publish my findings? You are trying to keep me alive?" asked Tlod.

"Exactly!" said Jack.

"But why?" asked Tlod.

Looking in a certain direction, Jack sighed deeply and said, "I came from the other side!"

"From the other side of the door? How is it possible?" said Tlod.

"Our timelines are out of sync; it hasn't yet happened, but it will in the future. My future is your past, but your past isn't my future; the door has convoluted the timelines, in the process, creating a few paradoxes. Fortunately, it can tolerate the existence of a few trivial paradoxes; after all, this door is the creation of a master who is at the moment the Beep!" said Jack.

"What was that, Beep?" asked Tlod.

"I can't reveal too many things; the parts I must keep secret are Beeps!" explained Jack.

"If you came from the other side of the door, does that mean I would eventually find a way to utilize its complete ability and easily travel to any dimension I want?" Tlod asked.

"There are quite a few rules; for example, you should be wary of paradoxes. If you create too big of a paradox, it can destroy the entire world; even if the world survives it, you will die. For example, your past is fixed, so you must not use the door to change your own past; fortunately, the present we are experiencing is an isolated world, so no matter what we do, it will never result in a paradox," said Jack.

"What do you mean by isolated?" asked Tlod.

"It means that we live in a fake world; this is not the real world and timeline; it is real and exists, but only as a copy of the real world. What's more, this world resets every time the potential inheritor dies and fails to get the treasure," said Jack.

"Inheritor? Reset? Treasure? Explain!" said Tlod, feeling his worldview was falling further and further.

"Yeah! The future 'you' succeeds in becoming a true immortal and leaves the world; before leaving, he leaves behind an inheritance, this world. Potential inheritors can enter, but if they fail to win the treasure, which is the door, they are expelled, and the world resets itself. It means that if I die or am expelled, you will forget all this; maybe many previous versions of you met other inheritors who said the same thing to you, but you have forgotten all about them." Jack seriously doubted that there were other inheritors, but it wouldn't hurt to say it.

"So, I am just a… copy? My struggles, pursuit of truth, all of that, are all… nothing?" Even though Tlod was a mage, he still felt his blood pressure was dropping, and the world was spinning in his sight; it was too much even for him.

Even though, according to the mysterious mage in front of him, all of these were set up by his future self, it is still too much; he can never forgive someone who did these to him, even if that person is himself.

"Not quite so; even though you are indeed a copy of the real master Tlod, you are a real being. Even incarnations and clones are real beings with potential; you are not connected with master Tlod, so besides his memory and way of thinking, you are actually a distinct person. You have self-will, the right to decide, and freedom; however, the road ahead is full of traps. If you listen to me, you may be able to get out of this inheritance world safely, but if you fail to listen to me, I may be expelled, and you will lose your memory again in the next reset." warned Jack.

"First of all, do not publish any of your findings; live here in your Penland territory in peace, try to buy as much time as possible; give me time to develop. I know a lot of future techniques that I can teach you; in addition, I myself can very quickly increase my strength. If we get powerful enough, there would be no need to fear anyone anymore; in the end, I would take you out of the inheritance with me," said Jack.

"How can I trust you?" asked Tlod.

"You really can't! But, I am your best choice; if you lose this opportunity, the inheritance world will eventually be reset again, and you will forget all of this," said Jack.

Tlod closed his eyes and started thinking. He was a person who was always seeking truth. Now, it turned out his whole world was built on falsehoods; now, he felt disgusted by everything. He still had some doubts about Jack, but honestly, he had a deep feeling in his heart, screaming at him that all Jack had said was true.

"I will believe you for now," said Tlod after deep thought.

"Smart decision!" Jack smiled.