Chapter 51 – Comfortable with Yourself

Summoning the new clone required no more effort than summoning Eron did, though Cam made a point to remind himself of what had happened when he had done so repeatedly during the Kawe Boss fight; With now having two clones, he knew there was a greater chance of causing rapid strain to his soul, especially since the new clone would be even weaker and more at risk of dying.

Though, somehow, summoning the new clone had gone a bit... differently...

Mainly because the clone in question appeared as a female version of him, though with a slimmer build than the exaggerated form Eron had used when first trying out the Mimicry Ability.

"Ok, what the fuck?" Eron asked as soon as the new clone appeared. "Doesn't the Ability say that your clone is identical to you? You know, like I am?"

"Maybe there's some sort of interaction between Clone and Mimicry?" Cam answered with a shrug, not having a better explanation; While Ability interactions were rare, and usually mentioned in their descriptions- and typically only happened when facilitated by a Perk-, both Clone and Mimicry were such unknowns that basically no one knew anything about them.

Cam was, as far as he knew, the leading expert on both Abilities... and even he had no clue this was possible.

"I don't know why you two are looking at me so weird." The new clone huffed, glaring at them. "We're still the same person, so this is probably a result of some subconscious thought or feeling we have..."

"I notice that you aren't changing it..."

"No shit." She snorted at the observation. "Maybe because I kind of like it? Which means you kind of like it? Which makes all of us a little uncomfortable..."

"That..." Cam hesitated to actually think about it. Was he really bothered by one of his clones- a part of him- being a woman? He knew he wasn't normal anyway... but something like this was so far outside the norm for Foundation City that he didn't really know what to think...

But that thought is what made the situation crystallize in his mind: It was the worry over how others would react to it that bothered him... which, considering how a lot of people had treated him before, wasn't really a surprise. He was so used to being hated, and abused, that the thought of giving them something else to come after him for worried him...

"Don't try to blame me for this!" Eron cut in, his usual grin returning. "I was just playing around when I changed into a woman- who knew that we would like it so much?"

Ignoring his first clone's chuckles,Cam focused on the new one, his thoughts swirling around how different she was from Eron. Where Eron seemed to have gotten more of Cam's humor, becoming the personification of their more mischievous side... this new clone seemed more serious. Focused... and a little blunt...

Hopefully it wouldn't result in a personality clash with the jokester Eron... because having a personality clash with himself sounded like just a step away from a full crazy meltdown.

"We're the same person." The new clone replied, rolling her eyes. "So of course it's your fault. It's all of our fault!"

"It doesn't matter." Cam cut back in before his clones could start arguing- which, hopefully, they wouldn't... but things had already gotten strange enough that he wasn't going to take any chances. "We're all the same person, so it doesn't really matter what any of us look like."

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"Does that mean I can make my ears longer like an elf? Or maybe grow horns? Oh, how about-"

"Eron... I mean, yeah, I guess you can..." Cam groaned at having to finally face how truly strange his mind was... in the form of two clones. "You can experiment if you want, but only during our breaks, ok? No playing around when things are serious."

"I am hurt that you would even think that I don't take things seriously!"

"No you're not." The new clone chimed in, though she was smiling- apparently, even the serious clone still enjoyed their banter a little. "You think this is funny!"

"Guilty as charged!"

Ignoring Eron's laughter, Cam tried to bring the conversation back on topic. "Ok, so now that we have a new clone- and that clone apparently prefers to be a woman-, the questions is... what do we call her?"

"Well, if we're trying to stick close to our original name, then how about Carmen? That's pretty close to Cameron, right?"

"Why not continue with using part of our name? Cameron split is already Cam and Eron, but maybe we can use the middle and call her Amer?"

"I don't know... that sounds a little too masculine, don't you think? What about Mero?"

"I like that one! It sounds pretty..." She cut in, smiling at the new name- before shooting a taunting look at the other clone. "Much better than Eron, if you ask me."

"Hey, Eron is a great name! And nobody asked you, anyway!"

"Technically we did, since we were discussing her name." Cam countered, rolling his eyes at his clones bickering... which was basically him arguing with himself. Again. "Now, if you two are done arguing, how about we grab those boots that we discarded earlier so she has at least some armor- man, we really need to get her geared up-"

"We still need to finish gearing ourselves up!" Eron added with a wry smile. "You still need gloves, and I need... belt, chest, helm, arms... Technically I have gloves, but they don't provide armor, just an effect..."

"And I have... boots..." Mero sighed as she slipped on the Worn Boots. "You know, if everyone's loot drops are like ours, then it's really no wonder that most groups move slow; We've barely found armor for one and a half people..."

"And everything we've found is pretty spread." Cam agreed. "Eron's pants are for stealth, but his gloves are for a Fire Mage, and the Haunted Cudgel doesn't really fit that well for either..."

"And Cam has a tank Kilt that gives extra Vitality, boots and helmet for high mobility- and the Ability to literally kick ass!" Eron giggled at his own joke. "And that big sword... Honestly, that's pretty close to being a Brawler setup, but still..."

"We've gotten drops for caster, tank, brawler, and stealth..." Mero easily slid into their usual back and forth. "Any other group would have everyone with just one or two items, so we aren't doing too bad, I guess."

"Yeah, we've actually gotten more weapon drops than armor- and a crazy number of Relics..." Cam added slowly; Even if it was only three Relics, that was still ridiculous, as far as he knew, as most groups rarely saw one. "Hopefully that will flip around soon so we can all at least have full coverage..."

"But, until then, you get to stick close to me while Eron does his usual, crazy antics-"

"Scout ahead, Eron! Tank the Boss, Eron! Sacrifice yourself for me, Eron!" The clone in question mock grumbled, though laughter danced in his eyes. "It's like you're one of those Hunter classes that can summon a pet to fight for it! And I'm the pet!"

"Yeah, except you don't somehow manage to run off in the wrong direction and pull every monster on the Floor!" This time all three of them laughed, all too familiar with the horror stories of Pet Classes not properly controlling their pets.

"So... the spear for me? At least until we get some ammo for a ranged weapon?" Mero continued, already knowing the general plan but saying it out loud to get them moving again.

"Pretty much." Cam shrugged, passing over the Moldy Spear- and wishing they had found something better...

Having an extra clone meant better numbers on their side going forward... but, until they got more drops to gear her up, she was seriously limited in what she could do.

He could only hope for better drops on the next Floor.