Chapter 32

She shrugged her shoulders. "Alright… it's not like she can understand it anyway." We sat and began a long conversation in Abyssal that took up most of the time of the magic club. It took all my concentration to maintain my complete focus on her as she spoke fervently and quickly in an attempt to finish telling me before we ran out of class for the day.

After returning my grimoire the vice-president bid farewell and closed the door for us. She left a note in my grimoire which told me she'd call me later to set up a time and a place for the meeting. By the time I was done listening to the spell she gave me a 1x1x1 inch cube of flesh. "Something with which to practice," she said giving me a sly wink.

One of the components necessary for this spell is a cube of flesh. She probably either expects me to fail on my first attempt and doesn't want me messing up… or… she wants me to own a clone of her… which I could turn into an undead if I wanted to. It'd be alive when I make it but if I find a powerful enough spirit in a graveyard, I could turn it into a lich. All I'd have to do is stab it through the heart first. But then its growth wouldn't happen. And I'm not about having a child as a pet. Might as well just get a real child at that point.

It's not that I'm opposed to raising kids… it's that I'm opposed to raising other people's kids… wait… I just remembered something. After bidding farewell to the teacher who had a sly grin like she just trapped me into trying to pull off the spell and failing just to come back and ask for further illumination on the spell I went down to the Labyrinth. "Twins I summon thee."

The two girls appeared before me. They were wearing what they usually wear for clothes at school. "Have you finally called us to see us naked?"

"Yes." I then began stripping them. They had looks of surprise in their eyes, but it was soon replaced by joy. "Is this finally happening?"

"Is what finally happening?" I then proceeded to take chunks of flesh out of both of their exposed bodies. "Ow!!" they both screamed in unison. "What was that for?"

"I learned a spell that can clone people and I needed to test to see if it works or not and I'm not about to use myself as a guineapig plus if it works there'll be four of you."

They seemed to take that to mean I wanted more of them around but really it just means I can have more guardians in my labyrinth to keep the riff-raff out when I need them. I also wanted to see if I could create life from unlife. If I can clone an undead and bring them back to life the living twins can take the place of the ones right in front of me not to mention they have a hivemind and can just share memories with the ones that won't be confined to the labyrinth until I need them.

I raised my spell focus up to the sky and tried casting this spell as it was taught to me with the cubes of flesh in my hand, but nothing happened. The spell didn't even activate. I began pondering how this could be for a minute before I remembered, "I need to replenish my components."

"What do you mean?"

"The focus doesn't invalidate the need for components it invalidates the need to have them with me, but I no longer have any components left. I need more."

"What do you need."

"Put your clothes back on and I'll show you."

The two reluctantly dressed themselves and I brought them into my shared bedroom. There was a shelf I brought over from my room behind the bed on the upper shelves were jars with components in them I grabbed a box with empty jars in it and marked some jars for cubes of flesh and put in each to its name except for the one I got from the club advisor which I left in an unmarked jar.

I then began grabbing at the jars that were already there. "I need… these refilled" I handed them about 20 empty jars with names written on them. "Do you think you can refill these?"

"Yes, we won't rest until the job is done, master."

"Oh, good you're doing that now," I said sarcastically, but they just smiled and teleported away. Hopefully, that will get rid of them for the time being. I spent the better part of the evening relaxing with my favourite person while reading about the future.

"Book says I'll meet someone with a hat tomorrow and that I should avoid him at all costs."

"What do you mean? Is it the assassin?"

"It could be. But in book, it says he's sleeping for some reason the me in book just sees him and is inexplicably drawn to him and can't help dying every time I get near."

"Maybe it's a sign. Just don't go where he'll be."

"That's just it… I think he'll be wherever I go."

As I scan through my potential futures, no matter what changes I make to my schedule, whether I lock myself in study at home or in the labyrinth whether I go back to the village or out on a journey he seems to find me and he's always just sitting there, doing nothing waiting for me.

Book seems to think I'm doomed. I scour the pages looking for anything that might help me to avoid this man but all it shows me is ways to meet him faster. And then I found something that might just work.

The next morning, I woke up to the twins naked in bed with me… again. My girlfriend was on the floor no doubt pushed off the bed by these two in her sleep. "Who told you, you could do this?"

"…Um…"

"Tell Um he doesn't work for me and that you're not allowed to do this again."

"We're sorry… we just got the components but when we got back you were asleep, and you never told us not to do this."

"I'm telling you now. Go get dressed don't do this again."

They grumbled but they left and got dressed my components were on my desk as I'd asked. Within my Labyrinth, I created 4 coffin-shaped boxes and cast the spell with the components necessary and the flesh given by the twins. The first few casts failed, and I realized there was a trick to the spell I wasn't getting.

"I see… it's passed down orally because there's a riddle involved…" I began to ponder what the riddle could be and how it could be solved. I began trying to see if this was another spell that mimics a spell from another domain but the best, I can think of, is the hidden Animate Dead spell but these spells don't look very similar at all. But then the necrotic healing spell look's vastly different from the radiant heal spell. But somehow the circles drawn look the same… wait.

I began going over the spell's theory as it was taught to me over in my head and began sketching what the circle would look like on a piece of paper and held it side by side with the Animate Dead spell's circle. Sure enough, they're a fairly close match. With this in mind, I began trying to invoke it as if it were a bit of both.

So, I tried again and one of the cubes from the jar disappeared. I went over to the labyrinth and checked. One box was now full. I tested again with the other twin's flesh chunk. Again, I saw it begin to rapidly develop itself into a body slowly. Both masses of writhing flesh were growing fairly quickly at first and then began to slow down. I estimate that by the time these cubes reach physical maturity a month will have passed.

I then very carefully repeated the chant and saw the third mass of flesh begin to grow into a clone. This one was my teacher. Might as well conduct undead experiments on her she did give me the chunk of flesh after all. Lastly, I tried the spell on myself. It was a bit painful for the spell to take the chunk of flesh while it was still attached to me but with all my defensive spells it would be hard not to go this route.

All four boxes were sealed and the room in which I kept them was sealed as well. After that, I went back to my room and carefully carried my girlfriend back onto the bed and woke her with a kiss. "Morning." She said.

"Do you want to make breakfast or should I?"

"As much as I love when you cook for me, the same thing every day gets old really quickly you know."

"Aw, it's not the exact same thing."

"Making mistakes does not a new recipe make."

"I think it's more creative liberty than making mistakes."

"Call your mistakes whatever you want I'm making breakfast."

"Oh yeah, I'm going to be cutting class today."

"What are you going to be doing then?"

"I'm going to go wander, there's an assassin out to get me and book said my highest chance of survival is to find him before he finds me."

"You're going to kill him then?"

"No. Actually…"

"…Ok?"

After breakfast, I gave her a kiss on the elbow and cartwheeled out the door. As I walked, I made like I was going to walk to school and then did a backflip and ran away at the gate. I wandered about the forest for a good few hours and saw a bard trying in vain to seduce a mermaid with a cheese coated slab of flatbread.

I dressed myself as an angel and accompanied his ballad until his eccentric attempts at seduction resulted in him breaking both of his legs after which I abandoned him to his fate and left. I teleported halfway across town and found an old, abandoned post office with a bench sitting out in the light of day. I saw the man I was destined to meet today as he'd just sat himself down and was about to go to sleep.

As I watched him begin to slump himself down in his seat as if drifting off to sleep I could feel an urge within me start to build. The will to flee was quickly leaving me and an uncontrollable urge to steal this man's hat began to settle deep in my soul.

I took shaky uncertain steps that began to grow more determined as I walked. Soon I stood directly behind him. My plan to deactivate his trap by setting it off seemed to be working. My hand moved on its own to try and take his hat but the second my finger touched the brim I hesitated. In that moment of hesitation, I felt something hard and sharp enter into my throat.

I stood frozen. My sense of self-preservation was urgently fighting my desire to take this man's hat. But the longer I held myself back the less I felt drawn to take his hat. I began to see his eyes begin to flutter open. My self-defence spells aren't working and he moved much too quickly for me to have been able to respond in time.

The moment his eyes opened, and his gaze met mine it was as if I was released of a heavy burden and I was immediately able to feel my will to flee return, and flee I did. I teleported right back to my dungeon the second his nails were out of my veins.

I sat on my dungeon floor breathing hard and heavy, the knowledge that I could have died hung heavy in my mind. The fear of having been so close to death and refusing to take that step further. A sudden chill ran down my spine. "Don't I have an anti-magic self-defence spell?"