“Master?”

“Yes, Vega?”

“Now we’re even more alike!” my minion says, with a smile. Her left eye has been replaced with my duplicate's, and he now sits nearby, his eyes, making use of his passive to regenerate it and heal the wound.

Meanwhile, both of Vega's eyes are still red. Even after the duplicate gave her his gray eye, it briefly retained its color, before being overtaken by Vega’s beautiful red. There is only a hint of a golden circle around the pupil.

I wonder if it's because of her demon heritage or because it came from my duplicate. Either way, after examining it, it seems to be working. Vega now possesses a weakened version of Mana Wavelength Iris.

Even if it's not as strong as mine, it should be of use to her in the future, and if their plan works, it should carry the duplicate out of the tutorial.

For now, my duplicate is maintaining a connection to the eye with [Tether], the eye itself is heavily inscribed. Even though the personality imprint is imperfect, it should serve as a base in the case that the sliver of intent decides to complete it.

His best hope is to go to Vega’s world and then, one day when she becomes stronger, find someone who could restore his body from the eye. He’s also carrying a high-quality mana stone with my best attempt at creating a personality imprint. A slightly improved version of the one I left with Myrra on the 4th Floor.

We don’t know if it will work and, if so, how this floor will react to having multiple instances, one for each attendee. But it doesn’t hurt to try.

Creating a big barrier around our group, I turn to Irvin, the man who was used as livestock, “I wanted to ask before, but what exactly happened with the Veil?”

“Why do you think I would know or be willing to tell someone as crazy as you or your duplicate? Do you even realize how big a risk you took with that little girl?”

Vega doesn’t seem to like his question, so I answer before she can, “I had hoped the Armorer would know more, but it seems like he was little more than a small fry, so he doesn't know much. You, on the other hand, are quite high-level for a healer, and I have learned that healers are very, very sought after.”

Even though he seems to be doing better than he was when I freed him, he still seems to have a bit of a wild streak. He even twitches every time he sees a sharp blade or anything that reminds him of a collar.

“Does it all even matter? Just curse the people responsible; they do not deserve more.”

Rather than responding, I look at him and wait.

At some point, his daughter, who still looks older than him, starts cursing at me and telling me to leave him alone, at which point he gives her a soft, loving look. The expression of a father watching his young daughter do something cute.

“It's fine, thanks for worrying, my dear,” he says shortly and caresses her gray hair.

When he turns to me, his expression grows serious, “All of us thought the Enchanter’s Guild had created the Veil on their own. They had done similar things before, some were even capable of defending an entire city, but an entire planet? It was something else.”

Even his posture is the same, his feet up on the chair with his knees pulled to his chest, just like when I found him.

In contrast, his voice is calm, as he remembers, “I used to work in the main headquarters of the Enchanter’s Guild. You might think I was in a position of authority, but even at my level, I was little more than low level personnel. They were just that powerful. It didn’t matter what it was, but they always had to have the best, so obviously, they often collaborated with the leader of the Healers Guild.” He laughs shortly.

“I saw her perform a healing for one of the high ranking members once. She just entered the room, and their entire family immediately grew ten to twenty years younger. That one second paid for her new Skyhold Bastion. Can you imagine that?”

Taking a short pause, he continues, “She died, one of the first. The Veil went after healers, leaders, and anyone with access to our defensive systems. At first, we thought the enemy had infiltrated the Veil and used it against us. Then we thought it was a traitor, a rogue Champion seizing an opportunity. Some blamed our Absolute, but if he wished to, he could have taken over the planet even without the Veil.”

“Are Absolutes that powerful in comparison to others?” I ask.

“They are called Absolutes; how could they not be powerful?

“Okay, so what caused the Veil to go rogue”, my duplicate interrupts, “and how the hell did the Absolute die if he was so powerful?”

Irvin glances at him and then at his own hands, “The Veil was never the creation of the Enchanter’s Guild. I still remember Champion Niall screaming at the remaining leaders of the Enchanter’s Guild before she evaporated them into nothingness. The Enchanter’s Guild either bought or found an egg of a powerful divine beast. It was passed through the guild for decades, and then when it hatched, they took care of it and experimented on it. The beast possessed a domain type skill they had never seen before and an extraordinarily powerful mind.”

From this point, it's not hard to guess what happened, but I still listen to him and everyone else does as well. His daughter, Vega, my duplicate, and even Nina, who somehow ended up here with us.

In a solemn voice, Irvin recounts what happened, “They experimented on the beast. They made it stronger and used its skills. I don't know the details, but you can imagine that it wasn't so simple. In the end, only the brain and heart of the beast remained, kept in the biggest Skyhold Bastion that ever existed. Surrounded by enchantments powerful enough to slow down an Absolute. Surrounded by the most powerful members of the Enchanter’s Guild. They even hired a Champion to work for them alone along with multiple Champion candidates. There they combined enchantments, metals, and mana stones, with the beast's flesh to create an abomination that shouldn't have existed. And they used it as the core of the Veil.”

“Did your Absolute not notice this?” the duplicate asks.

“I don't know. He either did not notice, did not care, or he was working with them before it got out of control. Any of these options can be seen as a failure on his part.”

Irvin continues, “Champion Niall said that the beast had contacted the planet that was pairing with us. Desperate to be freed even in such a state, and the other planet losing the fight, incapable of dealing with our Absolute, cooperated. Both sides struck at once, and on that day, our Absolute fell. Before he died he took down the Skyhold Bastion where they held the beast. He died, but he also mortally wounded their Absolute, damaged the Veil, and destroyed an entire continent up north, which became a wasteland. There, his body lies.”A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Congratulations, you have completed a side quest.

Reward: 5000 shards

After listening to Irvin’s words, I can only feel awe, thinking of the man who stood as this planet's Absolute. He might have failed to contain the Veil for some reason, but even then, he didn't take it lying down. Destroying a continent? Damaging the Veil? Mortally wounding the enemy Absolute? All of it after being surprised and betrayed?

What a terrifying being.

I wonder how he compares to Lissandra in her full power. Or to the Saint who had been dead for thousands of years on the 3rd Floor, yet even her body was enough to spread a form of Decay that wiped out most of the life on the planet.

“What was your Absolute’s name?” I ask.

“Tassian. He didn't belong to any noble family nor was he the disciple of any Champion. He took the rank of Champion by his own power and then went even further,” Irvin says, the admiration evident in his voice.

“Our previous Absolute gave up his title and passed it to Tassian without even trying to defend it. That's how powerful Tassian was even as a Champion.”

“Can't there be two Absolutes at once?” I wonder about that. A long time ago, on the second floor, I had heard that there were two Absolutes before Lissandra killed one.

“Each planet can only have only one Absolute; that's a fact,” Irvin says confidently.

Was I wrong? Did Lissandra kill an invading Absolute, or is Irvin missing something? Perhaps what I heard was referring to an Absolute candidate trying to take her seat.

Deciding to try system censorship, I ask, “How does one become an Absolute, what does it mean, and are there any advantages or changes?”

As expected, then I watch as blank expressions appear on the faces of every native, and Vega looks at them, confused. I gesture for her to ignore it for now.

Then I change the frequency of the resonating field that I keep around me to counter the Armorer's attempts at spying and something more sinister. It's getting more and more annoying, and at this point, he must have realized that I know.

But I still hold myself back; I'd rather spend my remaining days on this floor training Vega and practicing rather than flying the Bastion. And even now, this place is safer than the outside world.

A few days remain, and my duplicate, Vega, and I have convened in a simple room.

Keeping a black orb floating near me, I observe as Vega once again tells the duplicate how powerful her heart will become. After inheriting his eye, bound; to awaken slowly with time, she has been much more friendly towards him. Him sharing my appearance probably helps as well.

I can't not notice that the duplicate seems happy about it. My little minion is just that lovable. She is smug, she is bratty at times, and she is getting more rebellious as she spends more time with us. But in the end, she’s still my minion.

Minion is cold to other people, she always keeps an eye on the exits of the room and keeps up her senses looking for any attack, and her barrier is always poised for activation. She won’t let anyone, other than my duplicate or I touch her either.

And her curious and cheery personality only shines through every once in a while, only others to catch a glimpse.

I purposely avoid listening to their conversation. I use my skills to filter that out and focus on maintaining the barrier around us.

It's already been a few days since we last saw the Armorer and the Butler.

The shield around the Bastion is under constant barrage, and Veil Guardians appear multiple times a day and have to be dealt with by either me or my duplicate. The core also starts losing more and more mana. At this rate, it won't last much longer.

Leaving for a few hours at a time, me and the duplicate made all the preparations needed. I’ve gained all I can from this floor, and I don’t want to be too greedy anyway. Keeping Vega alive is my priority.

I watch as Vega hugs my duplicate with tears in her eyes. She says something while crying and my duplicate smiles at her.

It's extremely weird to see myself smiling that way, and unlike other people, it's hard for me to read. Is it a happy smile? A sad smile? Is it fake?

My duplicate says something in return, and Vega squeezes him harder, right after giving him a little peck on the cheek, and his next expression is easy to read. Sheer surprise, though pleasant.

He ruffles her hair and pinches her tiny nose, then he looks at me.

When I nod, he extremely carefully teleports Vega outside of the Bastion, and I resonate with his mana, allowing him to pass through the Bastion´s barrier. He disappears to hide Vega in the safe place we have prepared.

Then I activate my trait, and keeping the black orb near me, I teleport to the room where the Armorer is hiding.

Immediately, dozens of powerful attacks assault me, the pressure from the Bastion, shockwaves, mana attacks, physical attacks, all of it enough to kill a Veil Guardian.

The black orb absorbs all the mana attacks thrown at me, and I block the physical ones with the multi-layered spherical barriers I prepared. Then, before the attacks can continue, I send out a wave of mana, much stronger with my eyes reading the frequencies, disrupting the mana in the room.

The extremely thin Armorer sits near the core, with multiple tubes connecting his body to the core and inscriptions covering his skin.

“I just needed a few more minutes and I would get you,” he hisses at me in his quiet voice.

“I know.”

After that, I use a voidsteel slicer and cut off his head, the blade strengthened by my skill cutting through his attempts at defense.

The notification about the kill rings, and satisfied with that, I teleport outside of the room where the Housekeeper stands leaning against the wall.

We just exchange a glance, there are no words said, but the understanding comes through.

For the last time, I observe Irvin, who is there with his daughter, the two of them finding joy in each other's company. I observe Nina, who probably hates me more than anyone else in the world, training even as the Bastion faces more and more attacks while trying to escape to the north where it will be safer.

The Butler in his room detects my probing and shields against it. Yet, I still notice that he was standing in front of the mirror observing his growing mustache. Even then, his clothes are in a rough state as the man barely has any time to rest, helping anyone he can. He is a kind man.

And the Gardener, deep in his garden, taking over the Bastion's defenses now open to me, no threat at all.

Such a weird bunch of people I have met on this floor.

I teleport outside and fly for a while at my top speed. It takes a bit, but in the end, I stop and land on top of the first skyscraper I visited in the ruined city, with a poisoned Vega in tow, looking for a healer. There we found the old granny, who is now with her father.

There my duplicate is waiting for me, his mana surrounding his body in waves and crashing against me.

No words are needed between us. He has his own plan, but I will give him the opportunity to defeat me and rewrite my mind.

I owe him that much.

So let's fight and give it our best.

He activates orbs he’s placed all over the city, and dozens of buildings immediately start crashing down in deafening explosions, at the same time, he reaches to absorb the kinetic energy of all that falling material.

I reach towards the Veil and touch it. The Veil is more visible than ever, even without mana. Upon detecting my touch, ten presences appear almost immediately. Ten Veil Guardians reacting to my touch and rushing towards us.

The duplicate attacks me, our mana clashes in the air and reverberates.