SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

A woman was standing in a tall canyon where strong winds were blowing. Her shoulder-length, white hair was waving while her right hand was holding a telescope.

Below the canyon was a shallow white river with pebbles and scattered big stones. The river came from a waterfall taller than a skyscraper. The waterfall was many kilometers away, but it could be seen with her naked eyes.

Beyond the canyon, there was a very wide river and tall trees. The trees were like banyan trees. They were three hundred meters tall with vines hanging on their branches. Magic beasts were flying around them. Some were resting on long branches, while others were guarding the nests.

She was inside a Tier 3 broken world, the Sky Islands.

Even with a telescope, she can't see the edge of the island. She raised her left hand. There was a silver ring with magic runes on her finger. She walked toward the edge of the canyon as she put the telescope in the storage space.

Below the canyon, the guild members were resting. There were two young women and one middle-aged man wearing armor and cape.

The man drank water from the river. He smiled. He felt refreshed by the water.

"The water tastes refreshing and sweet," said Robert with a big smile.

"Kyaaa! Uncle Robert! There are floating feces of beasts in the river!" shouted one of the women named Merryl.

Robert's face turned blue. His cheeks bulged, then he vomited. The mischievous Merryl laughed.

The other woman, Susan, patted her forehead for the behavior of her friend. Her face suddenly changed when she saw flying beasts moving toward them.

The beasts were like pterodactyls. They were three meters tall with upper limbs and two feet. Their wings were made up of white feathers. They were called Pterabeasts.

"Get ready! Beasts are coming!" shouted Susan as she released her aura. A red aura covered her whole body. She cast magic on her arms, then wind energy moved around her hands.

Robert took a sideways stance. He released his aura and cast magic. Earth energy rotated and gathered over his arms, forming big shields.

Merryl was also covered with an aura.

The pterabeasts attacked with wind magic through their mouths. Wind bombs were rapidly moving down.

Robert dashed while raising his left shield to protect himself.

Threads of wind were moving around Susan's body, helping her to swiftly move.

Boom! The wind bombs missed Susan. Pebbles and high splashes of water were flying in the air.

Boom! Wind bombs were hitting Robert's shield, but he kept running forward.

Merryl was moving around the shallow river as she rode a water wave she cast.

Robert jumped on a huge stone.

Bang! The top of the stone cracked when he jumped up. His left shield blocked the attack. He used more mana, then earth energy flowed to his left shield, causing its size to become bigger. His right arm, with a big shield, was stretched to his back.

"Ahhhh!" shouted Robert as he swung the shield to the side.

The big shield flew to the side like a boomerang and rapidly moved toward the pterabeasts.

Boom! "HWAAAK!" screamed the flying beasts hit by the shield.

Outside of the broken world, where the weakest of the weak hunted, there was someone who strongly aspired to become like them.

On a mountain with a lush forest, a twenty year old young man with an average look was looking at a beast. The beast was a black boar nearly two meters in size with a large tusk and thick hide. It was called Valhog.

"I will shoot it with an arrow to catch its attention, then direct it to the trap when it charges at me," thought the young man named Edgar, then he moved 12 meters near the beast.

He estimated the right timing and shot the giant boar with an arrow made with special metal. The arrow hit the Valhog's body, but it only caused a small wound. Even small guns can only cause skin injuries to those types of beasts. The role of guns against the beasts was small. Hot weapons that could cause significant damage to beasts were only heavy weapons, but beasts were getting stronger. The role of hot weapons was getting lower, and the role of hyperbeings was getting higher.

"Wiiiiik!" cried the Valhog.Its eyes turned red from rage. It charged toward Edgar.

Edgar ran to the trap. Hidden near the trees, a large log was tied to a rope. There was a big root in front of him. He jumped to the root, then moved forward and drew his sword while in the air. The blade of the sword was moving toward a rope.

Slash! The rope was cut, and the big log started swinging down.

SCHWING! He sheathed the sword while in midair. He landed and immediately held the body of the spear stabbed on the ground. He turned around and ran.

BOOM! The big log smashed into the head of the Valhog, causing the beast to wobble.

Edgar jumped and landed on the root. He firmly held his spear, then charged at the giant boar.

"Die!" He stabbed with all his power at the Valhog's neck. The lower part of the beast' neck was a weakness. He learned about it in his research. The muscle was softer, and there was a hidden artery.

"Wiiiiick!" wailed the Valhog.

Edgar immediately moved back while panting. He hit the large artery in the Valhog's neck. The beast started to bleed. It got weaker until it died. Edgar felt relieved that everything went according to plan. He spread a powder on the dead beast to prevent the smell of blood and avoid attracting predators.

"This third hunt should be enough to buy another strength potion," Edgar thought as he gripped his fists. It was very difficult to close the gap of strength between hyperbeings and non-ability users. A strength potion was the only method for people with no magical power to quickly gain physical strength and become a little stronger than ordinary people. It was sold in the black market. It was intended for the army of governments, but some flowed to the black market.

He did several odd jobs for several years to save a lot of money, so he could buy his first strength potion. The remaining money that he earned was to support his eight year old sister and contribute to the bills on his uncle's house where they lived.

Edgar's desire for strength was to protect his family from magic beasts and hyperbeings. The hyperbeings abused their powers. One of his friends was a victim of their lawlessness. He remembered the howl of despair of the parents when they held the body of the dead girl. The girl did not die peacefully.

Edgar bit his lip and gripped his fists tightly.

"If a non-ability user is not allowed to enter the broken world, then I'll find an unregistered broken world! I will find a Palace of God and inherit God's power! I will gain power that can protect what matters to me! I will have the power that will put lawless hyperbeings beneath my feet!'' thought Edgar. He knew that the road chosen by himself was very dangerous and difficult.

Broken world. A huge land mass within a portal. It was like an independent world. The higher the tier, the higher the land mass. Tier 1 has the size of a town. Tier 2 has the size of a province. The highest tier 3 has the size of several provinces or a small country. It appeared in the year 2023.

Governments tried to clear the broken world using the army, but they failed, and their army was annihilated. They found out that modern weapons cannot be used inside the broken world. Hyperbeings volunteered to clear them.

When the broken world appeared, humans around the world started getting magical abilities. Many of them called themselves hyperbeings, an indication of a higher life form. Some of them had entered the Palace of God and passed the trial. They were called God's heirs. An heir wielded great power and influence in their own country and around the world. An heir was entitled to everything that God left for him or her, but it required qualification.

The year was 2033. In the Philippines, there was a powerful heir who wielded great power and influence. He ruled a huge island, the Palawan Island. He was known as Poison Lord. He was the law of the island. He led the infamous number-one guild in the country, known as Poison Guild.

Poison Guild had branches around the country. The guild members were infamous for their arrogance and frequent involvement in crimes. The government body, the Philippines Hyperbeings Association, or PHA, which supervised hyperbeings, could not destroy Poison Lord because behind him was Death God. Death God ruled the strongest underground force in the world. He was one of the strongest heirs and was considered a walking nuclear weapon.

"There is no useless power. No matter how weak the power of God in the gate of inheritance, it will definitely give great power as long as one finds the right way to use it! I will find a gate no matter what! I will destroy that damn Poison Lord!" thought Edgar. He was very determined to gain power. He will not wait for luck to become a hyperbeing. He will find the chance to become God's heir!

He was preparing to cut the corpse of the Valhog, but he suddenly noticed a huge dust more than a hundred meters away, and he was shocked to see a Tier 1 gray wolf running toward him! The Valhog was just Tier 0, but he can't even fight it head-on.