Ch 140

  The moment his next clone was complete, Matt promptly sent it to attack the writhing mass of tentacles once more. Despite the lingering effects of the mental shock he experienced from witnessing his previous clone's destruction, his curiosity and excitement about the new gains he had just received overshadowed any discomfort. The revelation that he could increase his base stats by utilizing his clones was a groundbreaking discovery for him. Eager to maximize this newfound potential, Matt was determined to push his limits and attempt to create more than the two clones he seemed to currently be capable of producing.

  However, the mass of tentacles appeared unwilling to allow him to act freely as he dropped to the ground, with a tentacle sweeping through the tunnel he was still in. Fortunately, it hadn't struck directly downwards, as he doubted he would have been able to evade such a blow. This observation led him to believe that the creature couldn't actually sense him, prompting him to tip the scales in his favor further. To that end, while his newest clone was working to reach the creature, his largest clone busily dug a hole right next to the tunnel's end, precisely four inches above it head. The scene was tense, the looming presence of the writhing tentacles sweeping just inches away from the hole.

  Immediately afterward, his newest clone reached the mass of tentacles, and once more, he experienced the excruciating pain of having his body ripped apart as it was destroyed. However, the backlash was significantly less intense this time, and the mass of tentacles reacted violently once again as he sent another clone out just before a tentacle came crashing down upon him. Yet, aside from the top of the hole caving in slightly, nothing else happened. Matt smiled, feeling as though he had discovered the trick to winning the battle ahead of him, and he settled in for a long, drawn-out fight. Still, despite his newfound confidence, he remained worried about how long Greg could manage to keep the others at bay.

  Three hours had passed, and Matt had shrunk back to a mere two feet tall. The hole he had dug had transformed into more of a crater in which he now lay, when he spotted Greg and the others approaching. Although he was managing to execute one attack every five minutes, and progress was evident from the fact that over half the tentacles lay motionless, it still wasn't enough. Nevertheless, he smiled as he watched Greg struggle to slow the others by turning the ground beneath them into mush. This maneuver left them submerged up to their chests in the ground, moving forward at a painfully slow pace.

  Part of Matt pondered why Greg didn't simply harden the ground once they were stuck. Even though Matt knew there had to be a reason, he waved to Greg to signal that he was still there before dropping back down to avoid being crushed. There had been several occasions when Matt hadn't completely dodged damage, as his crater had deteriorated a bit too much, causing him to be slightly slammed down. However, none of those instances had been a major issue since most of the momentum had already been lost by that point. In reality, Matt was more concerned about not eliminating his target quickly enough, as he estimated the others were only ten minutes away at most.

  This prompted him to decide that he had no choice but to risk everything. He surged forward and plunged into the water accompanied by his largest clone. As he reached out, his last clone perished, granting him yet another point in his mind stat. Undeterred, Matt swiftly created another clone with a flick of his finger and sent it forward. This maneuver resulted in significantly increased speed, as it took less than a minute for his clone to complete its sacrificial assault. With determination etched on his face, Matt gritted his teeth and repeated this process, drawing ever closer with each successive attack. Soon, he was nearly in striking distance himself, as his attacks began to land almost as swiftly as he could produce a new clone.

  Matt’s clones were essentially performing this action on autopilot as his mind felt assaulted on a fundamental level. Even seeing one stat point after another stream in did nothing for him as he struggled to maintain the connection to any of his clones. Despite feeling the link with them slipping in and out, Matt pushed forward and risked everything. Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by a swirling green mist as giant eyes looked down on him. He was just about to attempt to fight back when he realized that he had no body to do so with, leaving him to wonder how he even felt present where he was. Then, he heard a deep voice speak to him.

  “It is unbecoming of those who are too strong to venture into areas where they do not belong, even as weakened puppets that they can control.”

  “I ventured nowhere by my own will,” retorted Matt. “I didn’t even know how to create a puppet before those far more powerful than I attempted to force their wills upon me.”

  “Show me!” demanded the voice, and Matt felt something slam into him like a truck.

  A moment later, Matt felt his memories being forcefully pulled forward, as if everything since he had been integrated was being sifted through. To call what he experienced painful would have been incorrect because there was no pain, but it was deeply uncomfortable, and he felt violated. Worst of all, he could tell that each memory was being stripped of his bias as it was shifted towards the reality of the situation. While that wasn’t too terrible for him, as Matt didn’t feel a need to lie to himself, it was still disturbing to see the little lies he told himself being ripped away however small they might be.

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  The biggest of these lies was that Tempormr had left him with choices more than once and that Matt owed him nothing. No, the truth was that, despite it clearly being a situation where Tempormr had become forceful towards the end, Matt had done little to repay him and had only ever been difficult. While this didn’t mean for a second that Tempormr was in the right or justified, it did mean that Matt would have been angry with himself if he were in Tempormr’s shoes. Especially since much of what had caused issues was Matt’s own fault. If he had simply killed Hankin’s group the first time they met, rather than striking a deal to save the others, he might never have been captured.

  "It seems that a few individuals, who ought to know better, have been manipulating your fate with little regard for your desires," stated the voice, now much calmer than before. "Yet, you have gained significant benefits from their actions and show no gratitude towards them."

  "A favor with strings attached is nothing but the start of a rope to hang oneself by," Matt retorted, frowning deeply.

  "Yet, you will attach strings to those who wish to follow you as well."

  "I never hold the lives of others over their heads, nor do I ask more of them than I demand of myself."

  "How can you be certain of what they ask of themselves when you are too far below them to ever truly know?"

  "Why should the burden of figuring that out fall to me?" Matt countered. "They are the ones who have likely lived far longer than should be allowed."

  "The same could be said of a part of what you are," the voice stated. "Prime bloodlines are always a nuisance when they emerge. Even if I wanted to destroy you, all I would accomplish is making a mistake."

  "So, you are the same as Tempormr then."

  "No, I don’t actually exist."

  "Then all of this is just a hallucination?"

  "No, there is someone behind me, at least I think there is, but my first memory is this interaction, and everything I know feels hollow compared to what you do."

  "Great, you’re just some program created to deal with me for some reason."

  "You violated a rule by being in the instance dungeon, which was meant for those in D rank to face. You went unnoticed due to the weakness of your puppet, but the attack you were just using isn’t something a C, let alone D rank, should be capable of. Yet, you are only C rank and already possess a tool that can make S ranks hesitate before attacking you. It’s this fact that suggests to me you have a prime bloodline, as that is the only explanation that makes sense."

  “Great, so now what?” asked Matt, feeling as though he was wasting precious time.

  “Now, the system will correct a few things and ensure that those who hold too much power are compelled to allow those below them to grow as intended,” stated the voice calmly.

  “Oh, and how will it achieve that?” Matt inquired skeptically.

  “That is simple. Just as gaining experience is the main reward for those who strive to grow, reducing experience for those who engage in excessive slaughter can be quite effective. It is simply not something that is normally active because it creates a scenario where the powerful fear taking any action out of concern that they will lose levels,” the voice explained.

  “Does me supporting others count?” Matt asked anxiously, worried that simply trying to improve his party’s luck with his skills could be seen as an offense.

  “Unfortunately, yes. Even using a skill that enhances their luck would cause the system to offer you a share of the experience in most cases. It would be best if you separated from them completely after this. The system concurs, as it intends to allow you to bid them farewell before placing you into stasis until you return to your home world. This period will coincide with the duration of the current penalty,” the voice replied.

  “No, let my tiny clone stay with them. I’ll only use it to communicate with them, but return my body to the place it was before I stored it away. I don’t care if you destroy the tool I used to freeze time for it,” Matt insisted.

  “There is no guarantee that they won’t let you die and accept the penalty,” the voice cautioned.

  “Godfrey Enterprises should have no reason to care about my death if Radoznaormr can’t slaughter them without weakening himself,” Matt reasoned.

  “That will mean little, as it will only be a short penalty period,” the voice noted.

  “Yeah, but during it, I plan to try and meet him face to face,” Matt declared with determination.

  “You are truly a fool,” the voice observed, perhaps with a hint of exasperation.

  “Perhaps, but if there is one thing I am sure of, it’s that I should trust my gut,” Matt replied confidently.

  “I see. It is nothing that I should concern myself with, though. The system will decide what to do with you after considering everything,” the voice concluded.

  Matt went to respond, only to find himself back in front of the mass of tentacles as his now six-inch puppet sent one last grape-sized clone forward. With its destruction, the mass of blackness at the center of the tentacles dissipated completely, and all the tentacles disintegrated. It took Matt a second to process this, and as he turned, he saw the others coming to their senses just before he found himself next to them, surrounded by darkness once more. A moment later, several notifications appeared before him.

  Unnamed instance dungeon cleared.

  Rewarding one free level.

  Rewarding one piece of personalized equipment based upon needs.

  Awarding 500 personal merit points.

  Then, an error message flashed.

  Error: You do not qualify for any rewards due to being a puppet and over-leveled for the instance dungeon.

  Another notification quickly followed.

  Error: Penalties for not meeting instance dungeon overridden, awarding all rewards other than the free level.

  Your organization members have cleared an unnamed instance dungeon in the Darkened Expanse dungeon.

  Awarding 500 reputation to your organization.

  Advanced organization controls unlocked.

  Matt smiled as he found himself holding a dandelion that had gone to seed in his hand, understanding its significance. After all, every child where he grew up believed that by blowing on one, they could make a wish. However, before he could do so, another notification appeared, this time a system-wide alert.

  Notice: Due to unacceptable levels of interference, a penalty period has been initiated to correct the issue. For the next 154,681 seconds, as counted by the world that has most recently been initiated, all kills that would result in 0 experience will instead result in negative experience. This experience will scale just as normal experience would and can only be avoided if the lower-leveled creature attacks first.