Clones

Karl and others had come to a stop as they entered 3rd sector, they saw a big bald man with a tan skin but not one or two, instead in dozens, and they saw the same man everywhere, dozens of him. A few meters away from 3rd sector, everything seemed normal but as soon as they entered the area, they passed through a thin layer of something which had created an illusion that whoever outside the layer would see and after entering they will be able to what was really inside.

One of the man neared to them walked towards them. "Congratulations, you have reached the final trial" the big, muscular man said with a thick voice. "You must be wondering how I have this many identical brothers but they are just clones, hell I am a clone also" the man said with a chuckle. "Or are you wondering about the illusionary barrier surrounding the 3rd sector."

"Well anyway I am not gonna tell you, well until you three pass the exam and about how to pass, I can tell you." The man said looking at Karl, Austin and max.

"Now you three have completed a part of the exam which is forming a team with all three phases of candidates, the way it was intended, because of this your team has two options unlike those who had an incomplete team, my clones outright defeated them." The man said.

Karl, Austin and max gulped, they had been lucky that they met each other or they would not be having this conversation with the man in front of them, well one-sided conversation.

"option one" the man said as he held up a finger " your team fights the number of clones corresponding to your team members which is three OR option two, in which you three fight against my clones one by one until you reach the end location of the exam. You have 5 minutes to decide" the man said.

'If he really is a clone then maybe…" Karl thought.

[Dragon's eye activated]

Karl had recovered the mana loss and activated the skill to examine the clone, if the body had been real it will at least have outline of the insides of body, like lungs and such but Karl detected nothing, under the skill gaze Karl saw a small ball of mana inside the clone but nothing else, no organ, no brain, the clone was like a empty vessel, he examined other clones but the result was same but one thing was different.

'why is the location of mana balls different in every clone, is it it's weakness' Karl thought, then Karl decided to have a discussion with his teammates but a voice said "last one minute."

"Ok, I have an idea…."Karl said, he hurriedly explained his idea to both Austin and max.

_ _ _

"Ok, times up. Now tell me your choice" the clone said.

"It's the second option" Karl said to the clone. "Good choice, by the if you had picked option one and miraculously defeated my three clone at the same time, your team would still not have the enough points to pass, thus resulting in challenging one more of my clone but they would have fought in squad of three." The clone said, he had intentionally hidden this information. The clone started to close in on the Karl, Austin and max but they didn't take any action.

"Have you given up already?" the clone said closing on them, the clone walked close to them but saw no reaction, "well, it is easier than I thought" the clone said as it was only a meter away from them.

"AUSTIN NOW, THE MIDDLE OF THE UPPER CHEST" Karl shouted, Austin took out his sword and stabbed it where Karl had told him to which had the clone man crack up and soon the body dissolved into earth particles and fell to the ground.

"RUN" Karl said and they run toward the end location.

_ _ _

A minute earlier,

"I know how to defeat the clone in one hit, don't ask how I know but I do and the plan is that we led a clone come closer to us and defeat it in one move" Karl said.

"But another clone will come after us" max said.

"I know but the objective is to surprise them, I noticed the confidence the clones had that they would beat us and if we finish a clone in move it will shatter that confidence and we would have certain amount of time in which no other clone will chase us, in that time we have move pass all the clones and run as fast as possible towards the end location."

"But we would still have to defeat 10 more clones to gain enough points, if run away it is not possible." Austin said.

"I know, but if we are running forward then we are not surrounded by the clones, and if we were than after defeating one clone another would attack us and we will be forced to fight them all one by one but if we are ahead of them then the one who is attacking can be defeated while we close the distance of the finish line. Now, I don't have a weapon but I could tell the weak point of the clone which would defeat it in one move. Max, do you have a weapon?"Karl said.

"Yes, a dagger." max replied.

_ _ _

Karl, Austin and max, moved their legs ass fast they could and soon left behind the no. of clones, after moments of them passing the clones, the clones seem to regain their composer, and turned around started chasing them.

All the clones were now chasing the three examinee and one clone run towards them to attack, Karl still had dragon's eyes and also used the breathing technique to recover mana.

As the clone came closer Karl shouted "belly button" as soon as Austin heard Karl, he raised his sword, stopped to stab at the clone's belly button and resumed running, another clone came closer and Karl shouted "left leg knee" now it was max's turn to attack and let Austin catch up. Max took out his dagger and lowered himself and then stabbed at the left leg knee which made the clone crake up and demolish.

"Right eye"

"Middle of the fore head"

"Left hand"

"Right hand"

"Right elbow"

"Left eye"

"Right thigh"

Karl shouted the weak point of the clone; they had defeated 10 clones and continuously running, at last they saw an opened gate.

"It must be the end location" max said, he had been distracted to the sight of the gate which led a clone to snick up on him.

"Finally" the clone said as he hit max which made max fall to the ground and sound of cracked bone was heard as he fell.

"You two can pass the gate but you have leave your friend behind" the clone said as he picked up max and made a fist to punch him again.

"You son of a ---, let him go" Austin said as he held his sword to fight the clone.

"Wait, he is just provoking us."Karl said. "Should we do nothing" Austin said with anger.

"No, you shouldn't "Karl said "but I will"

[Body Strengthening activated]

[The skill option being used: 100% increase in all stat for 1 second]

[Dragon's Rage Lv.1]

[Dragon's rage can only be activated when the user experiences strong emotions of rage or near death experience. The skill adds 15+ stats to all the stats for 30 seconds. No mana cost]

Karl felt the power rise up in his body, all his stat doubled and then Karl made a jump. Karl tightened his hand and cut through the clone's neck, defeating it with a single strike. It happened in a second; whatever the clone had prepared couldn't be executed. Karl tried to stand up but felt dizzy. 'It must be mana lose' Karl thought and tried to use breathing technique but it didn't work, no matter how much he tried and then…

*thud*

Karl fell to the ground, unconscious.

<Status>

<User: Karl locklan>

<Race-Human (Dragon blooded)>

< Level-1 >

< 40/50 exp>

<HP 10/10>

<MP 0/11>

<Strength 5(+20)>

<Agility 5(+20)>

<Stamina 5(+20)>

<Defense 5(+20)>