There is Something Wrong with This Game

[Ascension]

[Solstreus Plain: Area 12]

After eating lunch, fulfilling her daily needs, and giving Kuu another candy, Hecate logged back into the game.

As soon as she appeared, she left Solstreus City and headed for a certain area. The place was about 10 km southwest of the city, which she reached in one hour by continuously using her Dash skill.

There weren't many monsters she met on the way, except for a few low-level monsters.

[ ⁎ ][Petit Furrabbit - Lv1~3](×??)

[ ⁎ ][Furrabbit - Lv5~10](×??)

[ ⁎ ][Adult Furrabbit - Lv16~30](×??)

Furrabbits were non-aggressive furball-like creatures, suitable for beginners to hunt. The fur can be collected to make clothing items and the meat was quite tasty when cooked.

Their name indicates their growth stage which can be said to be quite fast. It takes about 3 days for them to grow from the "Petit" stage to the normal stage, and a week from the normal stage to the "Adult" stage. People usually hunt the adult ones and leave the younger ones to grow, as they produce more fur and meat than their younger stages.

But hunting them wasn't the reason why Hecate went to this place.

Area 12 was a place rarely visited by anyone, whether it was Players or Natives. The place was by no means a secret or remote place or unknown to anyone. But according to the region forum, there was almost no benefit to visiting this place.

The terrain was somewhat complicated and difficult to traverse, where there are many steep cliffs and ravines, unsuitable for horses and carriages. Hunting monsters here requires caution, as the terrain is tricky and one wrong move can lead to slipping off a cliff. Therefore, no one but people with climbing and parkour skills actually visit this place.

But because those reasons, this place was the perfect for Hecate to practice, since no one would bother her here.

Hecate chose a nice spot under a tree on one of the cliffs to sit. And just in case she was seen, she changed her attire first before creating her clone, and then changed back to her normal clothes.

"Okay... Mana Clone, come forth!"

The clone, still as white as a ghost, appeared not long after the skill's activation.

This time, its appearance was changed, following the equipment Hecate used during its creation. Right now, the clone looked like the ghost of an ordinary girl who had died due to unfortunate circumstances.

Spoiler ; ;

Item Name:	Cotton Clothes
Requirement:	All Classes
Type:	Armor - Body
Rarity:	★
Durability:	62/70
Crafter:	Unknown
Effect:	None
Description:	A cloth made of an ordinary cotton fibers.
	You can find this kind of clothing anywhere because of the low cost of production.

; ;

Item Name:	Cotton Skirt
Requirement:	All Classes
Type:	Armor - Lower
Rarity:	★
Durability:	45/50
Crafter:	Unknown
Effect:	None
Description:	A skirt made of an ordinary cotton fibers.
	You can find this kind of clothing anywhere because of the low cost of production.

; ;

Item Name:	Crude Headband
Requirement:	All Classes
Type:	Head - Upper
Rarity:	★
Durability:	15/15
Crafter:	Unknown
Effect:	None
Description:	A poorly-made headband made of cheap materials.
	But at least, it can still fulfill its function as a headband.

Those clothes were bought from one of the refugees cheaply on the way when she passed the City Square.

They were sold by a very sad looking man who may have lost everything. So, she paid a few more coins, hoping to get an easy Karma +1. Unfortunately, it was a vain effort as the man looked numb from his sorrow.

But now, those clothes would be of use to her.

"Not bad! I think I still look good in it."

The atmosphere between before and after Hecate changed clothes was completely different. Now even if someone saw the clone, they might not be able to link this ghost to her.

Hecate controlled the clone, allowing it to run across the ground while simultaneously adjusting the commands to her liking.

There were several times when her control went wrong, causing the clone to become stuck in something or fall off a cliff. If that happened, she simply disperse the clone and create it again.

♠♠♠

After nearly two hours of experimentation, Hecate's understanding of the clone deepened.

The clone has something like a HP bar, which decided by how much MP Hecate used during its creation. Every minute, this HP would decrease by 500, and any damage such as scratches on the clone would also reduce this bar. Thus, she activated Heart of Mana to increase her MP to above 100k, and used all of it from the start to make the clone last long.

And fortunately, she was able to recharge the clone's HP with her MP, provided she had to touch the clone.

Then, for the activity range, the clone seems could only go about 10 meters away from her position. More than that, control will be lost and the body of the clone will start to disperse and eventually disappear.

As for how Hecate controlled the clone's movements, she eventually settled with a few presets for static movements. Meanwhile, smooth and subtle movements, such as grabbing a foothold of the cliff, must be controlled by herself.

"Wait..."

Suddenly, Hecate came up with an idea, which seemed absurd even by her standards.

The clone was literally a lump of mana from herself in human form. Then, the fact that she could control the clone meant that there had to be an invisible link between her and the clone.

Then, if she could control the clone's movement with thought commands, why not spells?

"This idea is worth trying, let's see if my idea is right! Waterbolt!"

Hecate activated the Waterbolt spell that was in her Ring of Aqua.

She used her own thought to control where the spell would manifest. Instead of at the tip of her wand, the spell manifested as a blob of water in front of the clone, who was currently around 5 meters away from her.

But of course, because it was cast in this way, the spell control was poor. The spell was immediately launched without being able to be held back, and five bolts of water shot through the air and bombarded the cliff in front of the clone.

Still, it was a successful experiment.

Spoiler ; ;

You have invoked the spell Waterbolt via your Mana Clone's body.

Your discovery of the utilization of magic has been molded into a skill.

You have created a new skill! Please name the skill you have created. You have set the skill name as Spell Remote Activation.

Skill Learned: Spell Remote Activation (Active) You can remotely activate your spells through any object with your mana signature. The object must be within 10 meters from your position.

Hecate couldn't help but let out an evil smile as she looked at the clone.

Looking from afar, the clone was like a Sage who had learned the passive skill, Wandless, which allowed them to cast spells without any magical tools, such as wand. Next time, she should make the clone raise its arm first, so that the pose became more perfect.

"This is really a treasure, indeed... I can use this!"

The results of this experiment had undoubtedly greatly improved her battle tactics.

She can create the clone and controlling it remotely to fight while hiding her real body in a safe place. Or maybe use it to distract strong enemies and give her the time to kill them, or run away if it gets too difficult to handle.

But Hecate also had one more interesting idea. Considering that the clone didn't display any name above its head, Hecate can create the clone while disguising herself as the Black Phantom, then revert to her normal clothes.

"In this way, both Hecate and Black Phantom can simultaneously exist in the same place!"

If that could happen, her alibi would be even more solid, and committing crimes would be much easier!

Of course, this would have to wait until the clone became more corporeal first, but perhaps it won't be long. Just a little more time and her Mana Clone skill would reach lv2.

"Okay then, I'll train a little more."

Thinking about this, Hecate let out a hearty laugh as she continued her control exercises.

This time, she no longer limited her activity with just controlling the clone's movement on Area 12. She controlled the clone and used it to hunt down several monsters in the surrounding area, while she followed closely behind in secret.

♠♠♠

[Solstreus Plain: Area 10]

The peaceful habitat of Furrabbit suddenly disturbed by a transparent white figure, somewhat resembling a girl.

Every time this figure waved its hand, numerous blobs of water appeared in the air and shot anything that got in its way. Furrabbits that were shot could only whimper and die shortly after from the injury.

PYU-PYU-PYU!!!

-54000  -53580  -55800

"Kyaaing..." "Kyuuu..." "Kiiyyng..."

Other Furrabbits who saw the death of their brothers and sisters tried to fled in terror.

But unfortunately, none of them could escape the figure.

Several of the adult Furrabbits tried to protect the young, only to be shot dead in vain. The young Furrabbits couldn't help but grieve when they see their protector die, but not for long, as they are also reunited with them in death.

"What is that!?"

This tragedy was fully witnessed by Wendy, a female Biologist who played as a Beastmaster.

She came in after a long day at work and wanted to relax by adoring the cute Furrabbit, just like how people heal their tired hearts by looking at kittens. And it was those Furrabbits who healed her heart by their cuteness. Even though they are monsters, they are docile and will not attack unless provoked.

Such cute creatures, how could people hunted them for their meat and fur?

So, she and a few like-minded Players founded the Furrabbit Protection and Welfare Association, to protect them from being hunted and ensure their welfare. By now their association had recruited around 10,000 people, some of whom were Players, but there were also quite a few Native members.

But unexpectedly, she witnessed such a tragedy today.

When Wendy saw the Furrabbit corpses on the ground, her heart was like being slashed with a sharp knife. She recognized the one with the black spots on its fur, it was just this morning she fed it a snack and rubbed its head.

'Is that girl a ghost? Judging by her clothes, it's most likely something to do with the refugees in the city!'

There wasn't any name appearing above the ghost, so she was definitely not(?) a Player. Most likely, this ghost was a girl from the refugee camp who died and her hatred made her return as an evil ghost.

Wendy couldn't imagine what tragedy had befallen this girl to make her turn out like this. Maybe, she had received a humiliating death in the refugee's camp. Because of this, she destroys everything in her path, and won't stop until she is satisfied.

But, aren't those damage numbers too outrageous?

Anyway, this ghost had to be stopped at all costs.

"Stop! Stop! I beg you, please! Please stop hurting them further."

Wendy desperately shouted at the ghost, hoping that she would stop at her destruction. As for stopping by force, she had never considered it, not after witnessing that insane amount of damage.

Perhaps this ghost girl was a high level BOSS monster that would require several Lv100+ Players to defeat!

Thankfully, the ghost girl listened to her plead and stopped pursuing the escaped Furrabbits. But now, the ghost's attention went into Wendy, as it stared on her silently.

This must be where Wendy has to say something to extinguish the ghost's hatred.

"If you need to vent your emotions, pour it out on me instead of them. So, please..."

"Please... leave them alone, don't hurt these children anymore..."

Perhaps her words reached the ghost, as the ghost nodded.

Wendy breathed a sigh of relief with this development. Looks like the ghost can be talked to.

Perhaps with this, they could reach a compromise, so that the ghost stopped hurting the Furrabbits. In exchange, she will investigate the cause of the girl's death... or so it should have been.

PYU!  -145800! (Overspell ON, Mystical Amplification)

"W, why?"

That was the last word she spoke before her body disintegrated, turned into a life-spark.

; ;

You are dead!     Your level has decreased by 1! You have dropped Emerald Brooch!     You will be disconnected in 10 minutes! You will be able to re-login at your Save Point after 24 hours!

That day, a certain rumor was spread.

There was a girl from the refugee camp who died and came back as a ghost-type BOSS monster in Area 10. That ghost was extremely strong and comparable to the World BOSS that appeared recently. The origin of this rumor was a credible figure, who personally witnessed this ghost's brutality.

Because of this rumor, the entire Solstreus City was in an uproar.

Area 10 was near to the city and there was a BOSS monster roaming there?

Unfortunately, there was no physical evidence as the witness forgot to record their encounter. But as people investigate the site, they did found countless Furrabbit corpses and the aftermath of a great battle.

As for the ghost girl herself, she seemed to vanish and nobody seen her anymore.

♠♠♠

Hecate's training to control the clone went well.

Over time, her clone control has become smoother and her killing speed has become faster. It didn't matter even if she didn't receive any experience, as she only intended to train. She didn't even bother collecting the loot, as it wasn't worth much.

Even though the control of spells cast through the clone was poor, it was fine to just shoot something in front of the clone. But then, it became clear at this point, that the MP cost of the spell had to be borne by the clone. Every time Hecate casts a spell through the clone, it will reduce the clone's HP according to the spell used.

But that was only a minor inconvenience, as she could simply touch and recharge her clone's HP.

Controlling the clones while moving simultaneously proved to be a pain, so Hecate just stayed in her hiding place while the clone was hunting, and moved only when the clone was done killing monsters in the area, before moving on to another area.

It didn't take too long for her to receive two notification windows.

Spoiler ; ;

Skill proficiency has reached the threshold. Mana Clone has leveled up to Lv2!

Your clone's body has become denser and its activity range has increased by 5m.

; ;

Skill proficiency has reached the threshold. Precision Mana Control has leveled up to Lv4!

Your control of the spells has been slightly improved. Spell Power increased by 5%

Looking at the two notification windows, Hecate let out a smile.

Her beloved Mana Clone skill had reached Lv2, which might improve the clone's body somewhat. She didn't know the extent of this improvement yet, as the clone likely had to be remade to find out, and she felt there was no rush.

And the level up of Precision Mana Control skill was a complete surprise to her. Now, her spells being cast through the clones became somewhat controllable, though still a bit awkward. But it was still a great improvement.

Still, there was some unexpected things happening.

For example, the strange woman who appeared and suddenly shouted confusing things at the clone.

"She seems to be protecting those monsters... But why?"

This woman seemed to treat those monsters like her own children.

It was behavior that Hecate could not understand. Those monsters didn't have any Tamed mark, so they must be wild monsters. And wild monsters were supposedly free for all to hunt. So the woman should have no right to stop her.

Still, Hecate complied with the woman's request.

- 'If you need to vent your emotions, pour it out on me instead of them.'

As requested, Hecate killed the woman instead of the monsters.

Then, after killing the woman, she did not continue her training and left the place. Still, she did it at a loss, as not only did she have to give up the training, she also lost 1 Karma because of this.

The only consolation prize she received was just the unidentified brooch the woman had dropped.

"I did what she asked, so she shouldn't have any complain, right?"

Hecate checked the current time trough her game interface.

She still had to practice the Aura Breathing method at sunrise and sunset as well in the real world. Because she stopped her clone controlling practice earlier than scheduled, there was still nearly one hour left before sunset.

"Alright, I should return to Brynhild Fort tonight."

There was no reason to hang out in this foreign place any longer.

Hecate took out a certain item, Nerkia Town Scroll from her inventory. Even though cross-country teleportation was not possible, but teleportation to Nerkia Trade City was not blocked. Of course, she would have to report to the officers stationed near the Teleportation Gate there, but that was a trivial matter.

Without further ado, Hecate activated the scroll and disappeared from the place.

Just think of them as Tippy.

Clone's Activity Range.

Clone's activity range:

• Base = 10m
• Mana Clone (Lv2) = +5m

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