After some more time, I finally reached level 40. When I did, I received the option to evolve again, just like Zen and Chen.
I hadn't evolved them yet—I was waiting until I reached level 40 myself.
I immediately accepted the evolution.
As soon as I did, I felt my body heat up, and it began to glow with a strong golden light. After a few seconds, I received several system messages:
[ Evolution complete ]
[ User level has been reset ]
[ All stats x3 ]
[ New skill acquired ]
[ The skill "Joint Attack" has been added to your status ]
[ Required EXP for leveling up has increased ]
I read through all the messages, but the last one caught my attention the most.
So I opened my status to see how much the EXP requirement had increased. To my surprise, it was quite a lot.
Maybe the system is trying to limit me... or was this just part of the script from the beginning?
Name: Zane
Level: 1 (EXP: 0/10,000)
"Damn, 10,000 EXP just to reach level 2? Sure, my exp gain will increase a lot over time, but isn't this a bit much?"
At least I got some benefits.
Now, every time I level up, I'll receive 20 points instead of 10.
And all of my stats will increase by 10 with each level.
"It'll take longer to level up now, but the effort will be worth it. I need to summon the rest of the clones to boost my EXP gain."
Speaking of which, should I just kill all of my current clones?
The new clones will be summoned with half of my current stats, and all of my stats are already nearing 1,000 points. They'll be strong right from the start. Their potential will be way higher.
But first, I need to test something.
I dismissed one of my weaker clones—number 16—and summoned him again.
He appeared wearing the same clothes as me, so I decided to try something.
I opened his status and saw there was an option to equip gear. And I had a few choices available. "These are the items I currently own. The same armor and sword I bought from Welf."
I selected the sword, armor, and even had the option to equip the mask.
The clone was instantly geared up with everything I selected—just like in a video game.
"So if I have the gear, I can equip it on any clone I want? That makes things way easier."
I dismissed the clone again and summoned him once more. He reappeared wearing all the equipment I had chosen. "This is great. Now I need to buy powerful gear and equip my clones with it."
So I decided to take this opportunity to run another test.
I grabbed my sword and stabbed it through the clone's head. He didn't feel pain, so he just died silently. As soon as he died, he turned into a strange mass and quickly disappeared.
[ Clone 'Clone 16' has been killed ]
"Alright, I get it."
I summoned him again.
He reappeared in front of me, wearing the same equipment, but with his level reset. His skills levels were reset, too. And not only that—his memories were wiped.
I asked him what had happened just a few seconds before his death, and he couldn't answer.
"And his status…"
All his stats are above 400. He is already stronger than all the other clones, even though he is level 1 and has just been summoned. "Yeah, it's worth killing all of them."
I dismissed clone number 16, then dismissed the clones of Akame, Frieren, Natsu, and Zoro.
Then I summoned them at my house.
"Kill yourselves." I equipped them with my sword, and all the clones immediately stabbed themselves in the necks, dying instantly. After that, I summoned them again.
Their levels were reset, but their stats were significantly higher.
As a result, my stats went up thanks to the 3% from the "Shared Stats" skill. It's like a snowball effect.
"I'll leave Chen and Zen for last. They've been with me since the beginning, so they've gained a bit more awareness."
After equipping the four characters, I dismissed their clones.
####
After a while, I had finished destroying and re-summoning most of the clones. All of them came back with high stats, which made my stats rise even more. Every single one of my stats passed the 1,000 mark.
I smiled in satisfaction.
The only two clones I hadn't destroyed yet were Chen and Zen.
I took control of Chen's body, which was inside the dungeon, summoned the clones I had previously "killed" and "resurrected," and then took control of Zoro's body.
After that, I asked Chen to stay here and summoned Zen using the "Transport" skill.
Once the other clones moved away and began hunting, I explained the situation to Chen and Zen.
When they heard that this needed to be done to make them even stronger, they agreed. I made it clear that they would lose all the memories they had made so far, but they didn't mind.
So, I asked them to kill themselves.
Chen and Zen smiled, then stabbed their swords into their throats, dying instantly. I sighed and immediately summoned them again. Since all my stats were already over 1,000, they came back with even higher stats than the rest of the clones.
My head started spinning with all these numbers.
I talked to them, and they had forgotten everything. They were back to being the same clones they were at the beginning—but a bit smarter.
I equipped them, and they knelt before me.
"There's no need for that. Start hunting."
"Yes, sir!" they replied in unison.
Then, they vanished in the blink of an eye.
I smiled and opened Zoro's status screen.
"These stats are good enough for me to have some fun. Plus, I want to see how fast a clone can level up. Should I kill some monsters using this body?"
Then I remembered—I'd received all the battle experience from the clones, but now that I had completely reset them, they had forgotten everything they'd learned.
I tried swinging my sword, and thankfully, all the knowledge was still stored in my head.
"Thought I screwed up there for a second."
####
POV: Third Person
Freya sat in her luxurious chair wearing provocative clothing while sipping a glass of wine. In front of her, Ottar waited for her to speak.
The events of the past few days had intrigued her deeply.
Multiple humanoid creatures with identical appearances had started appearing inside the dungeon.
After a few days, they began wearing masks to hide their identities and avoid drawing attention.
But of course, that only drew more attention.
Not just Freya, but all of the Gods had grown curious and increasingly disturbed by the situation. And that unease escalated when some members of other Familias began wearing masks without permission.
They blended in among those creatures, causing even more confusion.
Everything was becoming chaotic, and it needed to be stopped.
"So they're using different appearances now," Freya said.
Ottar nodded. "Exactly. In recent days, all of the creatures have taken on different appearances, which makes it much harder to tell who's one of them. Especially now that adventurers from other Familias are also using masks."
"Hmmm. And you told me you're certain there's an original body controlling all of them."
"Yes, I'm sure of it."
"And you believe the original body has the same face as the man whose face you saw?"
"At first, they all shared that same face, which makes me believe that's his true appearance. I won't rule out the possibility of him being a human with some unknown ability."
"Even without a falna?"
"Yes."
"…"
Freya smiled and took another sip of her wine before saying, "Join forces with other Familia members and try to discover where the original body is located."
####
Read more chapters on my patr eon: patr eon.com/ZhangYe
Next chapters: Chapter 23 - You can leave the dungeon. / Chapter 24 - Frieren and the Loki Familia. / Chapter 25 - Zoro causing trouble. / Chapter 26 - Equipment for my clones.