The second clone disintegrated into smoke inside the house and dispersed in the air. Although what the normal eye couldn't see was that the smoke had turned invisible and was slithering its way into a sitting Alex.

He had trained his inner limb excessively to turn the black smoke transparent. And he was damn proud of it.

[Physical Conditioning is now Level 7]

[Swordsmanship is now Level 9]

Alex smiled at the invisible book on his lap, delighting in the small pieces of energy coursing through his veins from [Physical Conditioning].

The overall bonus was amazing for the body and for the mind, a touch up to his physique that always made him feel like a hero. It also helped in reducing the stress from creating a third clone, yet it still was a bit too uncomfortable for him to keep it up all day long. Perhaps when the skill reaches level ten then he could have a third clone active at all times.

[Swordsmanship] had the exact opposite reaction, as it felt like it forced hours and hours of sword swinging into his mind.

It was mind rendering headaches from the hundreds of ways he could stab, slice and slash with a sword. It didn't help that he was more talented with swords than with physical exercise.

A week had passed and he got a good amount of progress on his two skills, if he hazarded a guess then he was sure that only really dedicated folks could match up with his current training speed.

One of the many benefits of training from Genesis to Eve with two bodies.

The failures of such an ability came apparent however, while he still got the knowledge on how to wield a sword from [Swordsmanship], he still didn't acquire any combat experience even though his clones have been sparing with each other.

He was very hesitant in doing spars though, an unlucky hit here and there could bruise him and that would take a lot of time to heal. Making it harder to do every task and more concerningly affect the training of the clones created in that time since the wound would transfer over to them.

So yes, {Cloner} wasn't perfect. He would consider it to be amazing if it could transfer memories of a neutralised clone and copy any gear he had.

They were just dreams, but perhaps Father Orkon knows a way to upgrade his Gift.

Alex was sitting on a stoll in front of his house, he had nothing to do. He figured out on the third day of his awakening that he could put thatch on the windows and have his clones do all the house chores.

The neighborhood was bustling as its numerous residents came back from work, Old Gretta was once again being terrorised by the kids and Father Orkon was trying to comfort a widow from the recent loss of her husband from a monster attack.

And all that didn't stop him from trying to sneak a peek at a rather inconspicuous man that was present through the whole day. The man wore the standard garb for these parts - Linen clothing and plant fiber sandals -, he had the same filth as expected and he even changed his position all along the day.

That wasn't unusual though, lots of men and women had nothing better to do than stay outside, joblessness was common in these parts. No, what got him so suspicious was the constant glances the man threw towards his home.

No matter where he was, he constantly glanced towards the house. Alex had gone to the back street and once found the man strolling by, constantly looking at the house.

First he thought that it was some robber looking for an easy hit, however everyone here was worth dirt. it's just more logical to rob a merchant's house.

Even more so since he was literally right in front of his house, making it clear that it wasn't undefended. No robber worth his name would go into an occupied house expecting no fight.

The second guess was this guy had somehow discovered something about his {Cloner} ability, Except it was clearly impossible for him to have acquired any information about it.

There wasn't a single time he let the clones out of the house and he made sure that every window was covered up. So unless the guy had some bullshit eye piercing ability, then he didn't know anything about his Gift.

The third guess was still in the works. He will have to visit Jacob to see if he knew anything about who this guy was. Problem was, if the man intended to gain entry into the building, he would do it while he was away.

And he was sure that the clones would use everything they had to defend their secret and more importantly to defend mom from any harm.

Yet he wasn't sure if his clones could stop the man from running away. His secret would leak and he would probably get enslaved by some noble. Ok maybe that was an exaggeration, but there is definitely someone out there who would use and abuse him.

Not to mention using his mother as a hostage.

Alex sighed into his palm, and figured that he should probably get the equipment ready. Opening the door, he walked towards his fathers room and crawled beside his bed.

What he saw were two beautiful rapiers engraved with enchantments that would cost several gold each. These were the last pieces of gear his father left, all the others having been sold.

These rapiers had been in the possession of his dad even before he was born, and his father was so enamored with them he gave them names.

The twin sisters Valiya and Venma. Two sister rapiers with red pommels and no sword guards. These two beauties were pure killing machines with double edges and a deadly tip made out of an alloy of steel and orichalchum.

The enchantments were even more ridiculous, the problem was that...they required mana to activate.

...Godsdammit now he was sad.

Nevertheless the sharpness was enough to deal with any unawakened. He summoned two clones and gave them each a sister. They each knew their duty, to protect the house against any intruders that would come out at night.

There were only two entrances to the building, the front door and the back door, and both were connected to the same corridor, so he gave the two clones two wooden stools to sit on with their backs to each other.

He wasn't worried about the windows, with the amount of thatch put on there, any intrusion would be heard no matter how sneaky the fucker is.

Alex threw himself into his blankets and tried to sleep, yet it didn't come to him as easily. The worry of home invasion plaguing his mind late into the night.

And the night responded to his fears.

Violently.