Chapter 144: Illusionary Clone? Please, Another Me!
“Um, okay!”
I nodded heavily. Since Sister Bai had already made a choice for me, there was no need for me to be shy.
What’s there to be polite about with Sister Bai!
So, at this moment, I closed my eyes and sank my mind deep inside. The Illusionary Clone spell is somewhat different from my other spells, as it contains an introduction and user manual for the spell itself.
This greatly reduces the time I need to explore on my own.
Unfortunately, this manual does not include internal information, just like a phone’s instruction manual does not contain the chip’s design drawings.
This Illusionary Clone spell is an illusion-type spell, as the name suggests.
However, it does not create an actual existing clone or illusion through the power of illusion; rather, it relies on the spell being cast to ‘implant’ a result into the target.
This spell mainly relies on an illusionary medium to implant into the target, putting the opponent into a “subject to illusion” state.
Such a spell has significant limitations; the Illusionary Clone can only be seen by the person affected by the illusion, and it cannot perform any substantive actions, cast spells, attack, or do anything at all.
But it has considerable advantages, such as low consumption and an unlimited number of clones, although too many might cause the target to see through the illusion effect too early.
However, this Illusionary Clone has another advantage: it is sufficiently realistic! The hostile target cannot actively distinguish who is fake and who is real from the control’s stiffness, rigidity, and dullness.
After all, this whole thing can be boiled down to the subject creating it in their own mind; many unreasonable aspects will be filled in by themselves, and only by hitting the Illusionary Clone can one confirm that it is a clone.
One could say this spell is quite annoying!
Of course, it is not without countermeasures; for example, some special mental-type spells, dispel, purify, and mind spells can all remove such illusions.
But how can a new student have so many countermeasures?
Without the appropriate means, one will incur losses.
Moreover, this Illusionary Clone spell has no main attack capabilities; all its effects are focused on illusion, so the ‘implantation’ of the illusion is very easy!
It is so easy that… just a glance might cause one to fall under the illusion!
I looked at the line in my palm that resembled a “rune.”
I haven’t studied rune literature, and at this stage, I can’t get in touch with it, but there are a lot of these runes in the ceremony, possibly used for embellishment or as the core of the ceremony.
Now, I have completed the casting of this Illusionary Clone spell. When I saw this pattern, I had a strange feeling as if something had occurred.
But thinking again, it seems nothing had happened… except… for the other me in front of me.
“Eh?”
I was startled by this sight but quickly reacted. This is the Illusionary Clone I saw after being subjected to the spell!
The first feeling she gave me was… real, too real!
From the detailed movements of her body, the rise and fall of her breathing, to her attire, demeanor, and expression… is this really me in my eyes?
“Of course, I am your real body. Don’t look at me with such surprise,” at that moment, this clone suddenly spoke, allowing me to hear her words.
“You can actually speak?” I stared intently at the clone in front of me. It seemed I didn’t have much control over her; could it be that this spell can’t be autonomously controlled?
If that’s the case, the applicability of this spell isn’t very good—it can only be used as a hindrance to create trouble for others.
As for modifying this spell… sorry, this is a whole new field; I don’t have a basic understanding of illusion. At this moment, I found myself missing Teacher Ji.
If I ask her, she should use her authority to provide me with various analytical papers related to illusions, giving me a certain foundational understanding of this spell.
But now, I don’t have that. If I go to the library to look for it, it could take half a day, and what I find may not even be useful to me.
Not only does it waste time, but it also wastes that knowledge.
“No, no, no~ it’s you who is speaking. You’ve already fallen under the illusion; can’t you tell? But… our Sister Bai is waiting for you right now,” at this moment, the Illusionary Clone was leaning next to me without any sense of distance, one hand resting on my shoulder, pointing to Sister Bai not far away.
“Xiao Han, what’s wrong? Are you talking to yourself? You haven’t fallen under the illusion, have you?” Sister Bai approached and asked with a smile.
“Um…” I turned my head to look at the identical face in front of me, awkwardly smiling at Sister Bai, “If nothing unexpected, then yes…”
“Really? Then let me have one too, is it this?” Sister Bai curiously pointed at the pattern in my hand.
“Um… hasn’t Sister Bai seen it yet?” I raised my hand. Since I have already been subjected to the spell, then let Sister Bai experience it too!
Otherwise, it would be awkward for me alone!
“No, it seems I have a high resistance to illusions since I have undergone corresponding resistance training,” Sister Bai explained.
“I see… that makes sense,” I nodded. After all, just seeing this medium only has a probability of falling under the illusion, and if I actively make contact with the medium and the individual, the probability of being trapped increases exponentially!
“Sister Bai, don’t move! I’ll try it on you right now!” As I spoke, I pressed the illusionary medium toward Sister Bai.
I wasn’t sure whether every person sees different clones or if they share the same clone.
After all, this does seem like a spell targeting individuals, so there should be differences, right?
I looked again at the long user manual; there were many things explained clearly; I just hadn’t had time to read them.
When I reached the later part, I finally found the information I wanted to know.
The clone seen by those under the illusion is the same clone because this clone is an actual existing illusion created by the spell.
The medium of the illusion is what allows the target to see the existence of the Illusionary Clone!
So it’s such a simple principle?
After I understood all of this, I looked towards my clone, who was currently chatting happily with Sister Bai!
Moreover, that clone is even more uninhibited than I am; perhaps that is me, but without my reservations!
“Sister Bai!” I shouted.
“Um? Oh, Xiao Han, sorry, haha, this clone is quite interesting, and I didn’t expect the other side to be so skilled at chatting… perhaps this clone also reflects my understanding, but Xiao Han, you aren’t that good at chatting,” Bai Yu immediately reacted, quickly dispelling the Illusionary Clone and coming over to explain, as if afraid I might misunderstand.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that you wouldn’t chat, what I meant was…”
“Don’t explain like that, I’m not very good at chatting anyway.” I interrupted Sister Bai; I didn’t need to hear that kind of explanation; I am quite self-aware.
Being good at chatting means you are, and if you aren’t, then you aren’t.
“Sister Bai, what do you think about this spell?” I proactively guided the topic, forcefully ending this potentially awkward development.
“Um… I have to say this spell is indeed very powerful. I also tried hard to distinguish between you two just now, but… it’s quite difficult, and even if I know I’m under the illusion, it is still challenging to see through it,” Bai Yu, having personally experienced it, said.
Bai Yu also has this Illusionary Clone spell, but she hasn’t developed it too much, as her choices are many, and besides, she does not know much about illusions, but she understands that the effectiveness of such spells is greatest at the very beginning.
New students do not have special preparations and basically cannot cope with such means, so after much thought, Bai Yu decided to distribute this spell.
When the time comes to organize and refine her abilities once again, she’ll see whether Xiao Han needs it.
Of course, Bai Yu’s lack of urgency in preparing spells is also for a reason; the time from the start of school to the new student combat is so short that in her view, it’s better to have an alchemical item that can be used right away than to master a spell.
In the new student combat, using alchemical items is allowed, as long as you can utilize them; external items are also part of one’s strength.
Let’s not forget, the magical witch set given free to new students is also an alchemical item.
If we want to argue about what external forces do not belong to one’s power, then wouldn’t the Magic Source and Spellbook also be categorized as external items?
Strength is strength; what you don’t have, you ultimately won’t possess. No one is going to talk about fairness with you in the extraordinary world.
In the new student phase, the magical witch set is sufficient for use, so Bai Yu specially prepared other items.
A pair of protective wrist guards. This pair of alchemical items consists of two actual items, so it has two effects or two types of solidified spells.
One is a body enhancement spell, used to enhance physical qualities across the board, enhancing attributes such as strength, reaction, etc.
The other is a transformation spell, a cat transformation spell. After the spell is cast, it grants the traits of the cat race to the person, significantly enhancing agility and making one’s body as flexible and agile as a cat, and these two spells can stack for better effectiveness in actual use.
From Bai Yu’s perspective, these two spells are undoubtedly the best configuration, especially for new students.
The new student’s weak body stands in stark contrast to the powerful spell power, so when fighting, one cannot blindly pursue the power of spells; personal strength is equally important. At least when facing incoming spells, one shouldn’t only have hard resistance as their option.
And at this moment, while I was meticulously summarizing the information about this spell that Sister Bai provided, I saw Sister Bai coming over with something in hand.
“Sister Bai, what’s wrong?” I looked up and asked.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just that in two days, you’re going to compete, and I’m still a bit worried about you, so I’ve prepared this for you. I hope you can be safe on the arena.”
“Eh? Seriously, don’t worry so much. You’ve prepared so many things for me; I feel embarrassed to take them all!”
