Jake langsung tahu. Ia terasa kesadaran sim-Jake perlahan-lahan sirna saat katar tulang mulai menunjukkan retak-retak yang semakin banyak. Pada sa yang sama, Eternal Hunger berdrumbasng mana membesar, seolah-olah tumbuh setiap detiknya, secara aktif mengkonsumsi sesuatu yang sangat berharga — sim-Jake itu sendiri.
MeskipunJake tahu ini sudah selalu menjadi rencana, ia tetap merasakan sebuah kesedihan. Rasa sedih yang aneh, tapi bagaikan ia telah akrab dengan versi lain dari dirinya. Melihatnya menghilang seperti ini bukan sesuatu yang Jake inginkan, namun takdir dari awal sudah ditentukan.
Yang bisa Jake lakukan hanyalah memastikan Legacy yang ditinggalkannya layak untuk diingat untuk selama-lamanya.
Hidra tetap menyerang sambil Jake mempercepat langkah. Ia memberikan lebih banyak damage, membuat makhluk itu semakin cepat dan kuat akibat efek berserk, dan benar-benar memaksa dirinya untuk bersusaha. Jake berada dalam zona saat sim-Jake melakukan apa pun yang perlu dilakukan. Beberapa detik kemudian, Jake merasakan perubahan penuh. Seekin sekutup suara dalam tubuhnya, lalu senjata tulang itu memunculkan suara retak yang mendengar. Di detik berikutnya, senjata itu mulai hancur, memaksa Jake untuk mundur sejenak.
Potongan senjata yang hancur jatuh ke dekat air rawa di bawah, namun tidak pernah sampai. Ia berubah menjadi debu yang sempat bergerak cepat menuju Eternal Hunger. Debu tulang hitam itu berputar dan masuk ke dalam senjata terkutuk itu saat Jake melihatnya semakin kuat dengan setiap suara energi yang tersedot. Auranya mengalami perubahan halus, dan Jake merasakan koneksi yang belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya. Seolah-olah senjata itu telah menjadi lebih dari sekadar senjata dan benar-benar menjadi sebagian darinya.
Lalu, betapa pun sungguhnya. Seekin dari nadi yang muncul dari inti Bloodline-nya... bukan... dua detak nadi yang muncul tepat pada waktu yang sama.
*THUMP!* *THUMP!*
Pengetahuan, Rekam, Emosi. Semuanya menyerangnya seperti truk. Untuk semoment, Jake tidak bisa berpikir dengan jelas dan hanya membiarkan insting mengambil alih tubuhnya. Tubuhnya menghindar dengan insting semata, hidra tak bisa mengenainya sementara Jake menyelesaikan semua informasi yang mengalir ke dalam pikirannya. Matanya tertutup saat ia berusaha fokus, hanya mengandalkan sphere-nya.
Hanya sekarang Jake benar-benar memahami. Benar-benar memahami. Sim-Jake dan Jake sendiri dulu ingin memisahkan ini karena alasan tertentu. Mereka adalah orang yang sama namun tidak memiliki kepribadian yang sama. Mereka berbagi satu tubuh namun bisa membuat pilihan yang berbeda — keduanya bisa melihat kemungkinan dalam pertempuran dan membaca lawan melalui insting. Namun, pada sa yang sama, mereka dengan sempurna memahami apa yang akan dilakukan lawan dalam situasi mana saja.
Hidra mendekat ke Jake saat itu. Matanya terbuka saat ia melihat kepalanya turun… dan Jake membuat pilihan. Sebuah reaksi. Pada sa yang sama, pilihan kedua juga dibuat. Dua kemungkinan yang valid, dua reaksi yang efektif. Dengan demikian, keduanya terpilih.
Dan keduanya manifes. Jake mundur dengan kecepatan luar biasa sambil tubuhnya memerang kuning, mempercepatnya lebih jauh. Ia menarikan busurnya dan melepaskan Splitting Arrow ke arah musuh. Pada sa yang sama, Jake bayangan yang lain mundur ke sisi dan menancapkan katarnya ke leher binatang itu.
Dua wujud muncul dari satu. Dua realitas kemungkinan yang muncul sekaligus. Salah satu simulasi, satu nyata, namun keduanya nyata. Setidaknya untuk sekedar momen.
Hidra merespons dengan cepat dan mengabaukan panah itu, tidak mungkin mengharapkan serangan itu. Justru, ia fokus pada yang menyerang leggunya dan langsung menyerang. Kedua kepalanya menyerangnya, namun versi Jake ini bahkan tidak berusaha untuk menghindar. Salah satu kepalanya menggigit Jake, namun tubuhnya hanya berubah menjadi energi kutukan hitam dan menghilang — masih menyisakan luka dalam dan menyakitkan.
Jake — yang sejati — jatuh di tanah tidak lama kemudian sambil masih berusaha memahami skill ini dengan benar. Ia merasa seperti telah menjadi keduanya, namun hanya satu. Keduanya nyata, namun tidak nyata. Ia mengerutkan kening, lalu melanjutkan. Masih ada lebih banyak hal. Ia ingin mencobanya lagi segera; namun, ia juga menyadari ada cooldown internal. Tidak masalah; ia punya waktu.
Musuh itu masih bingung dengan apa yang terjadi saat Jake mundar kembali sejenak, menunggu skill siap untuk selanjutnya.
—
"Itu… seperti sih caranya?" tanya Duskleaf sambil mengerutkan keningnya. "Auranya terasa persis sama; butuh hampir satu detik untuk membedakan dengan benar. Dan juga—"
"Sayangku," senyum Vilastromoz sambil mengangguk. "Nikmati saja pertunjukannya untuk sekali." —
Beberapa waktu kemudian, sudah saatnya untuk mencoba lagi. Jake mempersiapkan diri sebelum mendebar lurus ke arah makhluk itu. Tepat saat ia berada di depannya, hidra mencoba menggigitnya. Sekali lagi, ada dua respon. Menghindar ke kedua sisi adalah benar. Dengan demikian, kedua pilihan terlaksana saat Jake asli menghindar ke kanan dan versi lainnya ke kiri. Keduanya menancapkan Eternal Hunger ke leher binatang pada waktu yang sama, keduanya menggunakan Fangs of the Malefic Viper untuk menyuntikkan racun, keduanya menyerap energi melalui senjata mistis itu.
Dengan hanya satu kepala lagi, hidra harus memilih. Ia memilih yang di kanan — Jake asli. Ia melihat serangan itu turun… dan menyadari bahwa tidak masalah apa keputusan hidra itu. Karena ia bisa menjadi salah salah satu.
Sekali lagi, hidra hanya menggigit bayangan sementara Jake asli berdiri di sebelah kiri dengan senjatanya di leher binatang. Inilah saatnya ia memahami aspek kedua.
Kedua versi itu nyata bagi dunia luar… namun aku hanya perlu menjadi hasil dari salah satunya.
Setelah penggunaan kedua, Jake juga menyadari cooldownnya sedikit lebih lama, dan beban mental yang terasa. Mengangguk, ia melanjutkan pertarungan. Beberapa lalu, ia mencoba menggunakan skill itu lagi. Versi satu melompat mundur dan menembak panah sementara versi lain tetap di poin jarak dekat dengan hidra, namun kali ini Jake memilih untuk tetap sebagai pejuang jarak dekat. Panah yang ditembakkan oleh versi keduanya masih mengenai hidra dan menyebabkan damage. Namun, panah-panah itu pun hilang bersama versi bayangannya. Jake berasumsi bahwa jika ada panah yang sedang terbang saat ia beralih ke versi lain, mereka akan menghilang.
Kini, Jake juga mulai merasakan biaya dari skill ini. Yaitu... hampir tidak ada kecuali energi mental. Ia sedikit menguras mana setiap kali, tapi sepertinya hanya aspek Shadow Vault dari skill yang memiliki biaya. Meskipun Jake tidak buta — ia tahu apa yang dikonsumsi oleh versi lain dari dirinya: ia berjalan di atas energi kutukan murni. Menggunakan kolam energi kutukan besar dalam Eternal Hunger untuk menumbuhkan versi bayangannya setiap kali, sehingga sangat efisien.
Biaya lainnya, tentu saja, adalah energi mental, dan dalam segi ini, ia agak menyiksa. Terutama ketika beralih posisi dengan versi bayangannya, hal itu agak melelahkan. Namun, Jake tidak mengeluh… karena ia merasa bahwa ia baru saja mulai memahami sesuatinnya.
Jake mulai mengeksplorasi skills yang bisa digunakan oleh versi bayangannya. Splitting Arrow? Bekerja. Gaze? Tidak bekerja. Powershot? Kurang tepat; tidak cukup waktu untuk mengisi dayanya, meskipun tampak mungkin. Skills pasif? Semua tampaknya bekerja karena bayangan itu meniru Jake. Bisa ia menggunakan scale pada bayangan? Ya, bayangan itu menirukannya, namun tidak berguna karena bayangan selalu bisa dimusnahkan dalam satu pukulan. Sentuhan Malefic Viper? Sayangnya tidak cukup waktu untuk mengarahkan, ah.
Hal-hal seperti Mark of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter juga bekerja, meskipun dengan aplikasi yang terbatas. Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter juga bekerja dengan baik... sayangnya tidak pernah ada waktu untuk menyiapkannya. Ah, dan tentu saja, Arrows of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter juga bekerja.
Namun, lebih dari sebarang skill aktif lainnya, satu skill bekerja jauh lebih baik dibanding yang lain:
Descending Dark Arcane Fang.
Instan, menyebabkan damage yang baik, dan bekerja sangat baik dengan bayangannya. Bayangan itu juga menggunakan Eternal Hunger, membuatnya lebih ba lagi karena senjata itu juga mendapatkan manfaat dari Fangs of the Malefic Viper. Aha, tentang itu — bisa mencurigakan. Bayangan bisa langsung mengubah Eternal Hunger menjadi busur ketika menjadi serangan jarak jauh, yangJake tidak bisa dilakukan, karena butuh waktu lama untuk mengubah bentuk senjata. Meskipun... bayangan itu terhubung dengan Eternal Hunger, jadi masuk akal. Ia berserikad bahwa "versi" itu selalu memiliki busur dan tidak pernah mengubahnya, karena hanya bisa memiliki salah satu atau yang lain.
Pertempuran Jake melawan hidra berubah dari sekadar sebuah pertarungan menjadi menguji subjek tertinggi. Pertempuran berlanjut, dan tidak lama setelahnya, sudah lima jam sejak mereka mulai. Jake beberapa kali mundar dan bahkan terbang ke udara untuk mereset, mematikan semua skill penguatan dan minum ramuan pemulihan. Hidra juga secara alami pulih sebelum pertempuran mereka berlanjut. Ketika ia tidak punya lagi tes... Jake memutuskan untuk serius dan menyelesaikan pertarungan ini.
Untuk pertama kalinya, Arcane Awakening sepenuhnya terpicu pada 60% ke semua stat sebagai tubuh Jake banjir dengan kekuatan. Ia mengeluarkan vial racun hemotoksin terbaiknya dan mengoleskannya pada katar yang masih tersisa. Racun hemotoksin dipilih secara alami untuk menghambat regenerasi hidra setidaknya sedikit dan meningkatkan damage dari banyak pukulan yang ia kenakan. Apakah itu akan bekerja dengan bayangan
Jake instantly knew. He felt the awareness of sim-Jake slowly slip away as the bone katar began to show even more cracks. At the same time, Eternal Hunger hummed with power as if it was growing by the second, actively consuming something incredibly valuable – sim-Jake himself.
Despite knowing this had always been the plan, Jake still felt a sense of sadness. It was a weird sentiment, but he felt like he had become good friends with his other self. To have him disappear like this wasn’t something Jake wanted to see, but it was inevitable from the beginning.
All Jake could do was help make sure the Legacy he left behind would be worth remembering for eternity.
The hydra kept attacking Jake as he picked up the pace. He dealt more damage, made the beast faster and stronger due to the berserk effect, and truly pushed himself. He was in the zone as sim- Jake did what he had to do. After a few seconds, Jake felt the full change. A humming of sorts went through his body, and the bone weapon let out an audible crack. The very next second, it began falling apart, forcing Jake to temporarily retreat.
Pieces of the broken weapon fell towards the marsh water below but never reached it. It turned to dust that rapidly began moving towards Eternal Hunger. The black bone dust swirled and entered the cursed weapon as Jake felt it grow more powerful with every whisp of energy absorbed. Its aura underwent subtle changes, and Jake felt a connection to it unlike anything he had before. Like it had become more than a simple weapon and truly a part of him.
Then, it truly hit as an audible heartbeat sounded out from the core of his Bloodline… No… two heartbeats at the exact same time.
*THUMP!* *THUMP!*
Knowledge, Records, Emotions. It all slammed into him like a truck. For a moment, Jake became unable to properly think and simply let his instincts take over. His body dodged through pure instincts, the hydra unable to hit him while Jake digested all that was streaming into his mind. His eyes were closed as he tried to focus, relying only on his sphere.
It was only now that Jake understood. Truly understood. Sim-Jake and Jake himself had wanted to keep parts separate for a reason. They were the same person but didn’t have the same personalities. They shared one body but could make different choices - both see possibilities in combat and read an opponent through their instinct. Yet, at the same time, they perfectly understood what the other would do in any given situation.
The hydra was upon Jake again at that moment. His eyes opened as he saw the head descend… and he made a choice. A reaction. At the same time, a second choice was made. Two possibilities were valid, and two reactions were effective. Hence both were chosen.
And both manifested.
Jake dodged backward at an incredible speed as his body took on a shadowy hue, accelerating him further. He drew his bow and released Splitting Arrow towards his foe. Simultaneously, a second shadowy Jake dodged to the side in melee range of the hydra and stabbed his katar into the leg of the beast.
Two figures spawned from one. Two possible realities manifested at once. One simulated, one true, yet both made real. At least for a moment.
The hydra responded quickly and ignored the arrows, clearly not having expected that attack. It instead focused on the one attacking its leg and promptly attacked. Both heads came for it, but this version of Jake didn’t even try to dodge. One of the heads chomped down on Jake, but his body simply turned to black curse energy and disappeared – still leaving behind a deep and nasty wound.
Jake – the real one – landed on the ground shortly after as he still tried to digest the skill properly. He had felt like he had been both, yet only one. Both had been real, yet not. Frowning, he kept going. There is more. He wanted to test it again immediately; however, he also noticed what felt like an internal cooldown. No matter; he had time.
His opponent was still confused by what had happened as Jake retreated a bit, waiting for the skill to be ready once more.
--
“That’s… how does it work?” Duskleaf asked with a frown. “Their auras felt exactly the same; it took me nearly a second to properly distinguish them. And-”
“My dear disciple,” Vilastromoz smirked. “Just enjoy the show for once.”
A bit of time later, it was time for another go. Jake got in position before charging straight at the beast. Right as he got in front of the hydra, it tried to bite down. Once more, there were two responses. Dodging to both sides was correct. Hence both choices were made as the “real” Jake dodged to the right and his other version to the left. Both stabbed the side of the neck at the exact same time, both wielding Eternal Hunger, both using Fangs of the Malefic Viper to deliver poison, both absorbing energy through the mythical weapon.
With only one other head, the hydra had to choose. It went for the one on the right – the real Jake. He saw the attack descend… and realized that neither choice of the beast mattered. Because he could be either.
Once more, the beast only bit down on shadows as the real Jake stood on the left with his weapon in the neck of the beast. That is when he understood the second aspect.
Both are real to the rest of the world… but I only need to be the outcome of one of them.
After the second use, Jake also noticed that the cooldown had gotten slightly longer, and the mental strain was detectable. Nodding to himself, he kept up the fight. A bit later, he tried to use the skill again. One version jumped back and shot an arrow while the other stayed in melee once more, but this time Jake chose to stay as the melee combatant. The arrows fired from his second version had still hit the hydra and dealt damage too. The arrows themselves were gone with the shadow version, though, and Jake reckoned that should any arrows be in mid-air when he manifested as the other version, they would disappear.
By now, Jake was also beginning to feel the cost of the skill. Which was…
Pretty much nothing besides mental energy.
It drained a bit of mana each time, but it seemed to only really be the Shadow Vault aspect of the skill that had a cost. Not that Jake didn’t know what the other version of himself consumed: it ran on pure curse energy. It used the massive pool of curse energy within Eternal Hunger to spawn his second shadowy version every time, making it highly efficient.
The only other cost was, of course, the mental energy, and in this aspect, it was a bit taxing. Especially when switching places with his other version, it took a bit out of Jake. Not that Jake complained… because he had a feeling he had only begun to figure things out.
Jake began to explore what skills his other version could use. Splitting Arrow? Worked. Gaze? Didn’t work. Powershot? Not really; it didn’t have enough time to charge, though it did look possible. Passive skills? All seemed to work as the shadow copied Jake himself. Could he summon scales on it? Yeah, it copied those, but it didn’t do anything, as the shadow could always be destroyed in one blow. Touch of the Malefic Viper? Not enough time to channel, sadly. Things like Mark of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter also worked, though with few practical applications. Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter also worked just fine… too bad it had no time to ever summon the arrow. Ah, and of course, Arrows of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter worked.
However, more than any other active skill, one worked far better than any other:
Descending Dark Arcane Fang.
It was instant, dealt good damage, and worked tremendously well with his shadow. The shadow also used Eternal Hunger, making it even better as the weapon also benefitted from Fangs of the Malefic Viper. Oh, on that note, the shadow could cheat. It could instantly transform Eternal Hunger into a bow when it became ranged, something Jake sure as hell couldn’t, as it took a long time for the weapon to change shape. Then again… the shadow was tied to Eternal Hunger, so it made sense. He estimated that “version” simply always had the bow and never transformed it, as it could only have either-or.
Jake’s battle against the hydra had quickly gone from a mere fight to transforming the peak D-grade into a test subject. The fight kept dragging on, and soon it had been nearly five hours since they began. Jake repeatedly retreated and even flew into the air a few times to reset, deactivating all his boosting skills and consuming a potion to recover. The hydra naturally also recovered before their bout continued. When he had no more to tests… Jake decided to get serious and finish the fight.
For the first time, Arcane Awakening fully activated at 60% to all stats as Jake’s body was flooded with power. He took out a vial of his best hemotoxin and put it on his one remaining katar. Hemotoxin was naturally chosen to impede the hydra’s regeneration at least a little and increase the damage done with the many blows he inflicted. Would it work with the shadow? He sure hoped so.
--
“It won’t work with a crafted poison. That would delve into the concept of creation as it isn’t tied to his soul. If it does somehow apply, the effect would simply stop working the moment the second version disperses, resulting in-“ Duskleaf began commenting before shutting up and staring.
“I told you already, didn’t I? Just enjoy the damn show,” the Viper grinned.
--
The poison worked quite nicely. Jake’s clone appeared with a katar also coated in poison, and Jake had feared the effect would simply stop once the copy disappeared, but no, it remained. That hammered it home… everything the clone did to affect the world became a reality.
This made him try to summon Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter and use a shadow with it already in hand, only to feel sad afterward. That didn’t work, maybe because it counted as another weapon, and Eternal Hunger was the only possible one? He also tried some other consumables, like using the shadow while holding a bottle of poison to throw, but that didn’t work either. The only-Eternal-Hunger-theory had gotten stronger, though he hoped it would at least work with two melee weapons once he got his second katar.
Anyway, all stuff for later. The plan had been for testing to be over, and even if he kept doing a few, that didn’t mean he hadn’t also upped the pressure to a new level. He had even hit with Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter, dealing some serious damage.
By now, the result of the fight was already clear. The hydra was struggling, and after fighting so long, Jake had a thorough read on everything it did. It was truly predictable and did not have the intelligence to switch up its tactics.
The massive hydra was covered in wounds, and after activating the second fully-charged Arcane Charge from Mark, coupled with all the poison, it was also in serious pain and struggling to keep up. Without its berserker skill, it would already have fallen a long time ago.
Jake did encounter one issue here at the finishing line: Crossing the actual finish line. He knew the hydra was close to death; he knew it was hurt all over… but it was also more dangerous than ever. Moreover, it regenerated at an insane speed, making its wounds heal in seconds. The only way to victory was to do a large burst of damage to finish the beast… and Jake had just the thing.
Throughout these hours and all this testing, something accumulated and built up. For hours it pooled and, with his massive Perception, pooled a lot.
It was naturally his Hunting Momentum. Would it work with his shadow? Jake really had no idea… but fuck did he hope it did.
Jake got ready as he set up the perfect opportunity. Half a minute passed as Jake kept up the status quo until, finally, a weakness displayed itself. The hydra had overextended, using both heads to try and catch him out. As it retracted both, Jake struck.
Momentum welled up from within as he charged. Right as he got close, both heads attacked again, and Jake reacted with a counter. Two heads, two targets to respond to… two reactions. Every shred of Hunting Momentum was consumed as Jake split into two, each stabbing Eternal Hunger toward one of the two necks of the hydra.
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