The city was silent, and the sky was overcast, as if the world itself sensed a dark omen.
Hannah was at home, watering the plants, when she felt something was wrong. No one had come for treatment that day—something highly unusual. It was then that she perceived a strange scent. Acting on instinct, she pulled a potion from her bag and drank it immediately.
What she had learned recently, combined with her natural talent for plants, allowed her to understand instantly: there was poison in the air. She drew her wand and covered her nose and mouth with a cloth soaked in medicine.
When she turned around, she was no longer alone.
Her reaction had been correct. She was surrounded.
The attack came a second later. She jumped to dodge spells that shattered windows and pulverized the plants she had been watering.
She had gained some practice by then, so she didn't go down with a single blow. Perhaps my discreet intervention helped as well. She hadn't yet reached the point of sensing danger before it occurred, but she was learning.
She had become more decisive over time. Not just because of the fights against these dark wizards, but because I also made her face magical creatures head-on to strip away her fear of combat.
Rolling across the floor and responding with spells far more powerful—and lethal—than those she cast when she first arrived, she managed to survive the first wave. She used a Bombarda to try and break the wizards' formation, but, to be honest, she never had much of a chance.
There were many of them. Experts in dark magic, men and women, some well into their years. And they came prepared.
Though Hannah gave her all, she was practically doomed. Malignant spells flew incessantly: poisons, curses... Even the apprentices, outside the circle they had formed, threw what could be called "magical grenades," filled with corrosive, toxic, or sticky liquids.
In a short time, Hannah was wounded, poisoned, and incapacitated, unable to defend herself.
She was afraid. Not just of the situation, but of what she heard. Her translator allowed her to understand them: while some wanted to kill her immediately, others spoke of much darker things… interrogation, experimentation, rape, torture, and enslavement.
And then, it was time for my appearance.
Just as Hannah could no longer get up from the floor, and the wizards prepared to launch another round of "preventive" attacks before deciding whether to execute or capture her...
A figure passed over them, and in mid-air, I extended a hand over the head of one of the witches. I squeezed. I twisted.
It all happened in an instant.
The result was my spectacular entrance… and the witch's head turned one hundred and eighty degrees.
—"Avada Kedavra."
A bolt of green light shot from my wand, and another wizard fell dead.
"Red…" Hannah groaned weakly upon seeing me, tears in her eyes, relieved.
She wasn't stupid. From previous experiences, she knew I had been watching her and that I only appeared to prevent her death. There was some resentment because of that… but she couldn't help but feel relief every time I saved her.
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to enslave this girl or use her as a breeding machine to produce strong wizards," I said, looking at those who had made those comments, thinking our type of magic was based on lineage. "She belongs to me. And if anyone is going to do something like that… it will be me."
I lunged at them.
The terror on their faces was immediate. My presence here meant the other group, the one that had gone to ambush me, had already been eliminated. And that group was even stronger than this one. They knew nothing of my clones, nor that another "me" was actually still fighting over there, but they didn't need to know.
Their magics were strange, but none could stop me for more than a few seconds.
I ran toward them with a speed and agility that surpassed the wind. My hands transfigured into claws, and with my strength, I ripped chunks out of their bodies, even half of their heads, in a single strike.
I hadn't forgotten Hannah. I wasn't going to let her die there.
By her side, shielding her, was an invisible clone healing her wounds and neutralizing the poisons. She knew it; she could feel my hands. She had lived through this before.
Her gaze was trapped between horror and awe as she watched me finish off all those wizards in a manner as brutal as it was simple, as if I were merely taking a stroll through the park.
Some tried to flee. Arrows of blood pierced their backs, and a killing curse finished the job.
Others decided to run toward Hannah to take her hostage and gain a slim chance of escape. That didn't go well for them either.
My invisible clone helped Hannah retrieve her wand and forced her to defend herself. Even if she was wounded, I wanted her to fight with her last bit of strength. She understood… and she struggled to resist, if only to slow down those rushing toward her.
The truth is, there weren't that many enemies, so I finished them all quite quickly. Even the last one, who had nearly reached Hannah, ended up sliced in half by my temporal claws.
The smell of blood and viscera became intense, barely masked by the large amount of poisons and magical residues the wizards had used, though that didn't make it much better. Hannah was somewhat suffocated, both by the stench and the imagery, but the adrenaline still coursing through her body allowed her to endure it.
My invisible clone became visible and scooped Hannah up in his arms like a princess to take her inside. Meanwhile, my other self absorbed the blood and vitality from the corpses until they were reduced to dust, cleaning our courtyard. I repaired the windows and tried to restore the destroyed plants as best I could.
With a few cleaning charms, Hannah was also much more presentable, and I was able to lay her in bed without issue.
"Is it over?" she asked wearily. Not just physically; she was also exhausted from these constant struggles against wizards.
"For now," I replied while giving her the final treatments. "They are all dead, but nothing prevents new enemies from appearing. Our kindness will always be a problem for someone evil. Unless you want to isolate yourself from the world completely, you won't be able to stay away from conflict."
Hannah could only nod, sighing with a certain relief… and also with doubt. She wondered how many of these things I had lived through, and for how long, to be able to take them with such calm, to kill with such tranquility.
Fear flooded her completely. Fear of the outside world… and of me.
Though part of that was just the adrenaline fading away. Regardless, she didn't have much time to reflect: exhaustion overcame her shortly after, and she fell asleep.
...
That was just one more small fragment of our story here. But the story continues, and many more things happen day after day.
Among them were my studies on my abilities—clones that would no longer be simple clones… but distinct projects. These were called "Aspects," an idea born from the [Envy] skill.
Dividing my capabilities into specific entities: some embodying concrete abilities like [Wrath], [Gluttony], [Envy], [Lust], or [Sloth].
Speaking of the latter… I remember perfectly the day I awakened it during one of the campaigns. It was… funny. I think?
[Flashback]
I was with several of my girls. From mortals and humans like Gemma and Tonks to those who were not, like Elise, Helena… and my daughters.
We were in a secluded part of the [Fief], all gathered together at the top of a ziggurat that ended in a stone bed.
"I'm going to start," I said seriously, looking at all of them. "I don't know how bad it will be. I don't know if I'll be the primary one affected or if it will be an area effect. In any case, half of you go to another space for safety." I paused briefly before continuing. "If it isn't an area effect… I'll need you to be ready to do whatever is necessary to wake me up."
Thus, we prepared as I had arranged. Some moved away from the ziggurat; others went to different sub-worlds of the Fiefdom, with staggered schedules to return.
With everything ready, I lay down on the stone bed and activated the Sleep skill at maximum power. At the same time, four clones placed their hands on my main body, constantly applying [Sleep]. This would be an experiment to awaken another high-level essence.
Applying the maximum power of my abilities, we began. I already had experience and the process was quite persistent, so compared to my first abilities, the path was… simpler.
Silence dominated the place. Everyone was attentive. Only a few remained at the top of the ziggurat with me; the next were at the base of the structure, and the furthest observed from a distant hill.
At a certain point, even my clones began to feel drowsy due to the intensity of the power concentrated in my main body. It was then that something seemed to snap…
And then, nothing.
I fell into a deep and absolute sleep. I was not conscious of what happened next.
For those who witnessed it, the scene was different: my clones exploded, as had happened in other cases. The girls on the ziggurat, both above and below, fell unconscious. Even those far away felt a crushing somnolence that made them sleep. The entire Fief was affected, but only those closest collapsed immediately. Fortunately, no one was injured during the fall.
After ten minutes, the girls waiting in other worlds appeared. Seeing the situation, they called the rest.
It wasn't a normal sleep. In fact, those unconscious had to be moved to the [Hospital]. They couldn't be awakened, and if any did react, they entered a state of sleepwalking for a few seconds before falling back asleep. The diagnoses indicated they would remain asleep for about a month… and that they had developed permanent narcolepsy. Fortunately, the Hospital, thanks to purchased upgrades, was able to cure everything—for a price.
My case was different.
They couldn't even move me from the ziggurat. Any attempt at contact to lift me triggered the same effect: immediate sleep.
They tried to wake me in every possible way. Screams, cold water, spells… even direct attacks. According to Gemma, Tonks slapped me until her hands were red without me showing the slightest reaction. They even tried Crucio.
Nothing.
Many panicked. My body looked more like a corpse than someone sleeping: motionless, cold, frozen in a serene posture.
After tears, desperate attempts, and absurd combinations of methods, with the constant help of Elise—who spent divine power until she was nearly empty, damaging her own divinity—I finally woke up.
One week later.
And still drowsy.
I was not conscious of anything that had happened. To me, I had just had the most restorative sleep of my existence. In fact, upon waking, I still felt that pleasant aftertaste that made me want to go back to sleep.
They didn't let me.
Amidst tears, screams, and fury, they prevented me from even closing my eyes, terrified that I would fall back into that state. For a time, I was watched constantly: every time I slept, someone would wake me after a few seconds, fearing I wouldn't open my eyes again.
It was… annoying.
But well, I had mastered another superior skill. I lost the initial bonus, but perhaps it was for the best. A power-up that left me completely inert wasn't exactly practical, though it hurt to waste a sort of lifesaver.
[Essence of Sloth]
-You can enter a state of sloth that incrementally slows down any negative condition until it is frozen.
-Negative conditions can be reduced from negative values to zero, and then converted into positive values.
-Any activity that does not use maximum capacity receives a proportional reduction in consumption the less effort is applied.
[First Activation Benefit: You enter a state of absolute sleep that renders you invulnerable and invincible, fully recovering regardless of the situation.]
Yes. There it was.
Even if poisons or curses were applied to me, while I sleep, their effects will progressively weaken until they stop completely… and then they will begin to reverse. In the worst cases. For some, I would simply sleep and recover from the start.
This includes other factors, such as aging. Now I have to worry about not sleeping too much and waking up as a child.
There is also the reduction in consumption. After testing it, I found that by using barely 1% of my power, there is a possibility of not consuming any energy at all. It is practically infinite energy… and it will only improve as my strength increases.
A pity to have lost that "extra life" from the first activation, but even so, the gains were enormous.
I think I'll leave a clone sleeping eternally. Having constant recovery never hurts.