Chapter 7

I kept staring in astonishment at my status sheet while Riveria examined it with a mix of interest and surprise. I now understood the reason behind Loki's question, it was really suspicious. Even I would doubt someone who unlocked the same skills I have right now.

I stopped worrying about my skills when I saw Loki pull out a needle with a theatrical attitude, pricking her finger with exaggerated grace. She started drawing something on the paper that was on Seri's back. Slowly, a glowing tattoo symbolizing the Loki Familia appeared, with a dazzling light enveloping both Seri's back and the paper. Finally, Loki removed the paper that contained Seri's written status and handed it to her with a triumphant smile.

"Well, well!" Loki exclaimed with a mischievous smile and a gleam in her eyes. "It looks like we have a couple of interesting Pallums on our hands. Maybe you'll have more kids to take care of, Mama."

The fury on Riveria's face was palpable. The anger that Loki provoked was evident, though she tried to mask it with a small smile before clearing her throat with a light cough. "Loki, I'm going to meet with Aiz for her lessons."

As she tried to walk away, Loki said with a smile so mischievous it looked like she was about to burst into laughter, "Take them with you, so they can meet Aizuu. Maybe it'll be good for her if they accompany her in her general studies. Besides, you can take them to register at the guild afterward." Although her proposal seemed quite logical, Riveria didn't look convinced at all.

"Fine," Riveria said reluctantly.

As Riveria left through the door, I heard Loki's voice "I'll meet with Finn so they can decide what to do with the kids." Loki turned to us, her smile widening. "Welcome officially to the Loki Familia." Then, she took our status sheets with a carefree expression. "I'll hold onto these for a while," she added with a nonchalant attitude.

As we were about to leave, with Riveria waiting for us several meters from the door, I said, "Thank you very much," and bowed to Loki. I noticed that Seri imitated me, though she did it a bit awkwardly just before we left the room.

As Riveria guided us through the hallways and showed us places of interest, I felt curious about Aiz. Maybe her arrival could serve as a reference to know when the canon begins or to get an approximate idea of the events to come.

"Miss Riveria, who is Aiz?" I asked.

Instead of giving me a direct answer, Riveria asked us a question with a slightly incredulous tone "Haven't you heard about her? Not even her nickname?"

I shook my head, and Seri, with a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes, asked, "Is she some kind of famous heroine?"

"No, she's just a very reckless and stubborn girl. That's why many adventurers started calling her by a nickname. That's all," Riveria replied with a mix of indifference and slight sadness in her voice when talking about Aiz's nickname.

After a few minutes, we arrived at the outdoor area of the main building.

"This is the central courtyard, where our Familia members usually train. Though, to be honest, it's mostly empty since we have to deal with Evilus and the dungeon," Riveria explained as we approached.

In the distance, we could see the silhouette of a girl wielding a sword. When I focused on observing her, I could see beautiful golden blonde hair wielding a normal-sized sword. Due to her size, it looked like she was swinging a fairly large sword, but not too much.

As we got closer, Aiz looked at us without any particular expression, as if she were completely immune to our presence.

"Aiz, it's time for you to start your studies," Riveria said with an authoritative tone. Aiz pouted before nodding, as if she was used to that routine.

When Aiz looked at us, Riveria began the introduction "They are new members of our Familia."

"I'm Seri, I hope we get along well." Seri seemed excited to see another girl her size, but Aiz only gave a slight nod before saying, "I'm Aiz," which confused Seri a bit, as she didn't expect such a dry response.

"I'm Cris, I also hope we get along well." After our introductions, Aiz looked at Riveria. "They will accompany you during your general studies today. They're new to Orario, so it's likely they don't understand how the dungeon works. Afterward, we'll go to officially register them at the adventurer's guild."

"Riveria, may I have a few minutes? I want to try my magic." Just thinking about casting magic fills my heart with excitement. I could never do something like this in my previous life, so I want to experience what it feels like to use it as soon as possible.

Riveria seemed to think for a moment before saying, "Yes, I'm also curious to see how your magic will manifest."

When I heard her affirmation, I didn't hesitate for a second and immediately started shouting "Ephemeral double, answer my call. Doppelganger!"

When I finished shouting, I was overcome with embarrassment. Nothing appeared in my field of vision, I felt like a clown, until I turned to where the girls were, and I could see it. It was me, exactly the same, except instead of having the same skin tone, hair, or clothing color, everything was covered in a dull gray.

It's supposed to be an exact clone of me, except it can't use magic, so it would be great to use it for training. That way, I could strengthen myself by fighting against my own clone.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, my clone began to unsheathe the slightly worn knives that I had brought. It prepared to face me, adopting a low and fluid stance. Its legs, slightly bent, were ready to move quickly in any direction. It kept its arms close to its body, with the knives held in a reverse grip, the blades pointing backward along the forearms.

My clone's head was slightly tilted, its dull gray eyes watching me with a penetrating intensity. Its entire body seemed to be in tension, like a compressed spring ready to release at any moment. Before I could prepare, it lunged at me with surprising speed.

The first attack was a diagonal slash aimed at my torso. I barely managed to dodge it, stepping back. My clone wasted no time and continued with a series of quick slashes, forcing me to retreat and evade. Each of its movements was precise and calculated, and I could barely keep up. Its knives gleamed dangerously as they cut through the air around me, and I was forced to focus on each of its attacks, looking for any opportunity to block or deflect.

I defended myself as best I could, using my forearms and hands to divert the blows. I felt the cold metal graze my skin each time I narrowly dodged. My clone, however, showed no signs of tiring. It moved with an almost supernatural grace, attacking from different angles and with a variety of movements that kept me constantly on the defensive.

I tried to maintain distance, retreating every time it launched an attack, but it followed me relentlessly. At one point, it made a quick thrust towards my face. Instinctively, I raised my arm to block, feeling the clash of the knife against my wrist. The impact was strong, and I almost dropped the knife I was holding. But my clone didn't give me time to recover, it spun around and launched a spinning kick aimed at my side. I blocked the blow with my forearm, but the impact made me step back several paces.

My clone continued pressing, attacking with a series of slashes and thrusts that forced me to focus solely on defense. Every time I tried to find a rhythm or an opening, it changed tactics, mixing quick attacks and unpredictable movements. I tried to counterattack several times, but each attempt was thwarted by its speed and precision. Every time I threw a strike, it was already a step ahead, dodging or blocking with ease.

Sweat began to cover my forehead, and my muscles started to protest from the constant exertion. My clone, on the other hand, moved with inexhaustible energy. It launched a low kick that I managed to jump over, but upon landing, my clone had disappeared, and I couldn't see it anywhere. It must have been that the magic's time limit had already expired.

I noticed that Aiz seemed ready to draw her sword, but suddenly I heard Seri shout, "Watch out, Cris!" Before I could react, I felt a blow to my leg, and my clone was already on top of me. I felt the cold of the knife barely grazing my neck, with its dull gray eyes staring at me, but it no longer continued to attack.

"Stop," I ordered, and instantly it released me, sheathed the knives, and abandoned its combat stance, waiting for my next command with its eyes fixed on me, as if awaiting an order.

Riveria, Seri, and Aiz were watching us with different expressions. Aiz showed a spark of curiosity, though she didn't seem very surprised, while Seri seemed worried, and Riveria maintained her usual serene expression, though with a touch of analysis in her gaze. The scene was filled with a heavy silence as I tried to process what had just happened.

"Sorry," I murmured, feeling a mix of embarrassment and relief. "I didn't expect my clone to attack so suddenly. I guess it was my fault, I was thinking about using it for training, and it seems it interpreted that as my will when I summoned it."

Aiz looked at me for a moment. "That's pretty impressive," she commented in a neutral tone. "Can you lend it to me?"

I nodded, still somewhat dazed, before saying, "Yes, no problem with that." I tried to give a calm and firm response, though inside I felt very embarrassed by everything that had happened a moment ago. My clone took me by surprise, and I hoped that no one besides the girls had seen me.

"Sorry, Aiz, but I don't think you can use it for training. Also, it's unlikely it would withstand one of your blows like Finn or Gareth." When Aiz heard what Riveria said, I noticed she seemed quite upset, though her facial expressions didn't change much.

Riveria stepped a little closer, observing the clone closely. "It's an interesting magic," Riveria commented with interest. However, the clone began to disintegrate in less than a second. This time it did disappear completely, as the time limit had already passed.

Now that I think about it, could it have used the Fading ability on me? Even though it was only for a very short time. When it gave me the low kick, and I jumped, it went out of my field of vision for a moment. After that, I only focused on the girls, completely forgetting about it or ignoring it as something minor. Just thinking about it gives me chills, and now that I realize it, I feel like an idiot for not trying to use Fading to ignore the attacks it was launching at me.