In the lush forest, my replica and I stood face-to-face.
Appearance-wise, it was a lot like the clone I always summoned with Contract Summoning. However, my usual clone was another me who could think and act for himself, so he felt like a proper human being. But this thing just stood there, eerily still.
“There was a time when human nobles were fond of wax figures,” Lardon suddenly said.
“Wax figures?” I arched a brow. I wondered what brought this up, though I’d find out just a moment later.
“Yes. Life-sized wax figures made in human likeness. They were worlds more eerie than that thing you just made.”
“Ohh... I’ve never heard of those.”
“It was a trend that quickly died down due to its lack of practicality. I would say yours has far more practical use than wax figures.”
“Practical use? This thing?” Those wax figures certainly sounded as useless as Lardon said, but I couldn’t really see how this replica of mine was any better.
Lardon let out a mischievous chuckle. “Imagine it ended up in someone else’s hands. If they just added a handle on the back, it could serve as the best shield against you, could it not?”
“Oh!” I snapped my fingers.
The image popped up in my head of someone—Lardon, for some reason—carrying my replica around to block all of my magic. It definitely made for a surreal image, but I couldn’t deny that it functioned very well as a shield against me.
“Well, I’m glad it’s more useful than a wax figure.”
“It has other uses too. For example, you could use it on her.”
“‘Her’? You mean Dyphon?” She didn’t specify a name, but I could pretty much pick up on who she was talking about.
“She would want a doll that looks exactly like her beloved. But knowing her, she would not be sated for long and go after the real deal with an even greater vigor.”
“Oh... Well, I wouldn’t want that.”
While leisurely chatting with Lardon, I continued firing off magic missiles at my replica. Just as a venomous snake was immune to its own venom, that thing was immune to my magic.
Meanwhile, my mind wandered to thoughts of how to make this mana-measuring spell. I had several ideas, which I arranged into a mental list—first by how difficult they were to make, then by how cumbersome they were to use.
Hmm... Actually, I should prioritize making its usage easier. After all, I only had to make it once, but would have to use it hundreds of times thereafter. It was worth choosing the most difficult crafting method if it produced the spell that was easiest to use. Basically, suffer now and take it easy later. Of course, the hardest crafting method might not necessarily produce the simplest spell.
After a while, I collated all my ideas and—
“Ah.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Well, I’ve figured out my mana-measuring method. I want to give it a whirl...”
“Very well. Go ahead.”
“Uh... But I need to get rid of that thing first...”
After a brief pause, Lardon snorted—then burst into laughter. “Aha ha ha ha ha! What a conundrum indeed!”
“Yeah...” I chuckled awkwardly.
I had to get rid of that thing, and my only means of doing so was with magic. After all, it wasn’t like I had many other means at my disposal. But my magic...didn’t work on that thing. I was thinking of getting rid of it by blasting it to smithereens or something, but it was totally impervious to everything I could dish out. I was essentially powerless against it.
Basically, I couldn’t clean up after my own experiment.
“A surprising pitfall,” Lardon mused.
“I totally didn’t think this through. Could you lend a hand, Lardon?”
“Very well.” Lardon emerged from within me.
A cute young girl walked forth with overflowing grace until she stopped right in front of my replica. Then, she reached out, grabbed its face, and crushed it in her grip. The replica that had remained unscathed before an entire bombardment of my mana fell swiftly under Lardon’s petite hand.
“Oh? It collapses, just like that? Not even a shock wave? Turns out it’s no better than a wax figure after all,” Lardon remarked.
I chuckled dryly. I didn’t quite know how to feel, seeing her crush something that looked like me so brutally.
After that, Lardon easily blasted away what remained of my replica.
✦ ✦ ✦
Lardon stayed in her physical form, now standing just a step away from me with her hand on her hip in case I still needed help. As I would definitely need it, her consideration was much appreciated.
Chanting an aria, I closed my eyes, focused, then held my hand out and emitted my amplified mana, constructing ninety-seven mana replicas in the clearing in front of me.
“Oh? So many at once?” Lardon asked.
“For adjustments,” I supplied. “Usually, you can immediately tell when my experiments fail, but this time, even the failures look perfectly fine on the onset.”
Lardon paused. “Ah, I see. You’re adjusting the cleanup method.”
I sighed. “Exactly.”
Making the replica by itself posed no issues, so this was a rare scenario where everything looked good to go right from the development stage. But as things were, I couldn’t even clean up after myself. What kind of spell would it be if I had to ask someone else for help every time I used it? Naturally, I had to improve it first.
“What are you planning?” Lardon asked.
“Well, for starters... Oh.”
Before I could answer Lardon’s question, one of the ninety-seven replicas suddenly burst open then dissipated with a pshhh.
“Welp. That’s a fail.” I sighed. Sensing Lardon’s curious gaze, I explained, “You see, I thought of giving these a time limit. They were set up to disappear after some time regardless of whether I did anything to them.”
“Ah, I see. Yes, that’s a safe choice. Then...” She cast a sideward glance as three more replicas began to dissipate. “Those are failures too, yes? They disappeared far too soon.”
“Yeah. It’s also a failure if they linger for too long...”
Lardon and I watched the replicas for a while as they dissipated one after the other, until only half—around forty-six—were left.
“These ones are taking their time,” Lardon remarked.
“I think they’re failures. They probably won’t dissipate at all.”
“Hmm. Shall I erase them, then?”
“Yeah, please do. There’s no point in waiting any longer.”
With a nod, Lardon raised her slender arm and curled two fingers upward. Magic bombarded all the remaining forty-six replicas and swiftly blasted them to smithereens.
After thanking Lardon, I went ahead and chanted an aria once more to make another set of ninety-seven replicas—the most I could make by myself—on the land that had been scorched by Lardon’s attack. We waited once more.
Pshhh... Pshhh... Pshhh...
Again, the replicas started dissipating one after the other, until none were left.
Lardon nodded. “Just after one round of adjustments? Impressive as always when it comes to magic.”
“No, I’m not done yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going to do it again. Just watch.”
“Very well.”
I chanted an aria and summoned ninety-seven figures for the third time. Ten seconds later, they all began to dissipate. Psh! Psh! Psh! One after another they went, with no more than three seconds between the first and last.
Lardon arched a brow. “Oh?”
“Since this is specifically for measuring my mana, I figured this is just the right amount of time.”
“I see. So this is what you were working toward.”
“Yep. And...”
I repeated the process for the fourth time: Chant an aria, summon ninety-seven figures, and wait. Finally...
Pshhh!
Everything disappeared at the exact same moment with a single, harmonized sound.
“Nice!”
Lardon hummed. “Amazing... Some discrepancy is inevitable even when setting a time limit, yet you managed to make them all dissipate with such precise timing.”
More praise from Lardon. Succeeding made me happy, but hearing that from her felt just as great.
“My earlier slipup was pretty embarrassing,” I admitted. Honestly, there was no excuse for that. I would’ve been totally helpless if not for Lardon.
Lardon chuckled. “Really now? Somehow, you don’t sound very embarrassed.”
“Well, you’re the only one who saw it.”
“Hmm? And that makes it acceptable?”
“It’s not your first time seeing me being lame, after all. Probably won’t be the last either.”
“Ah, true. You’re quite hopeless outside of magic.”
“Right?”
I felt like I wasn’t quite this hopeless before I became Liam, but I had to admit, these days magic was all I was good for and not much else. Not that I had any complaints. More than anything, I was just really happy that I got to learn and practice it as I did now.
“Thanks for always supporting me,” I told Lardon.
“Think nothing of it.” She chuckled. “There’s never a dull moment with you. Consider it my entertainment fee.”
I smiled. Her praise feels great, all right.