God of Tricksters
Chapter 31: Growth

Chapter 31 - Growth

"Kh!" Theo gulped down. The attack was so close that it almost hit him. He didn't dare to think about the possibility of it hitting him, so he shook his head while leaping backward.

Bang.

The tongue hit the ground, precisely where he was at previously.

He ran to the left while summoning his clone again.

"Magic Bullet." Theo raised his hand and tried to confirm whether the toad could do it again.

Surprisingly, the toad spat another purple ball and melted his Magic Bullet. Unlike the last time, he avoided it effortlessly and continued running.

Meanwhile, his clone faced the other toad's tongue but managed to avoid it before bending his knee to grab the spear on the ground and ran back to regroup with the real him.

"To finish this, it's better to use Magic Bullet but split it at least two… But I've never succeeded." Theo thought hard. "Screw it. It's do or die!"

Clone Theo raised the spear and planned to take on the toads alone, while Theo stepped back a few times and stretched his hand.

Between his two palms, the magic bullet appeared.

"Now!" Theo shouted inwardly as he channeled his power to control the magic bullet.

Unfortunately, the magic bullet turned unstable as it started wobbling around like rippling waves in the water.

The round-shaped magic bullet was slowly deformed as it began to split like a cell divided itself. However, the reaction increased as Theo started losing his control over the magic bullet before it exploded like a balloon popped out.

The small shock wave made his hands a bit numb as he forfeited his clone for that split second.

Seeing that difference, the toads stretched out their tongues, hitting the clone.

"Kh." Theo felt the toll earlier and ran to the side, so the toads couldn't hit him. "What should I do? Should I just run away? But if it's only one, I can beat it. Why is it so different when there are two?"

When he was about to escape, an idea flashed in his mind as he couldn't help but clench his teeth.

Theo summoned his clone again and ran into the woods as though he was running away from them.

Of course, he didn't lose contact with his clone, allowing him to maintain its movement.

Clone Theo charged at the injured toad, planning to finish it.

The toads turned around and focused on the clone instead, thinking that the other one truly escaped.

'People said that luck is also a part of weapons. Even the God of Mischief told you how lucky you were. To think you let such a thing get into your head and become more arrogant. When will you stop relying on luck?' Theo clenched his teeth as he went around the toad where he could barely see his clone fighting.

It was harsh to control the clone that way, but he thought it was worth it because no way the toad would notice this.

"No. I'm not going to rely on it anymore. Even if I have the luck to see a miracle, I will need to have enough strength to perform the miracle itself!" Theo raised his hand, summoned the first magic bullet, and shot it toward the healthier toad because this would surely kill it. "Magic Bullet."

The Magic Bullet flew straight between the trees and hit right on its head.

Croak.

The other toad was surprised to see that light coming out of its friend's head and saw a hole on his head.

Clone Theo took this distraction to pierce his spear on its head as the toad fell to the ground.

"I might not be able to form two Magic Bullets right now, but there are always multiple answers. The reason why I thought only the two Magic Bullets was the answer was due to my naivety and experience. If I couldn't hit the toad because of the poison ball, I just needed to shoot it from their blind spot."

Theo let out a relieved breath as he regrouped with his clone. "It's really hard to fight one. No, this might also be the point of view of all single monsters I have killed with my clone. No wonder it's so easy to fight two versus one. I am glad to experience it this early."

He placed his hand on the two toads, and surprisingly, one of them dropped a skill card.

Skill: Spitting Poison (F)

Effect: Allow the user to spit out poison mucus from their mouth. Effective only for Level 40 or below.

"Huh…Are you serious?" Theo twitched his eyebrows, wanting to throw this card immediately. "The poison that the toad used earlier was far stronger… It even melted the ground. Why would it become this useless? I mean, level 40 is good, but I don't think it will be useful in the long run. If I can level up four times every day until I reach Elite Rank, I will surpass this card limit in just three to four days."

After considering for a while, he grabbed the skills he put inside his bag. Staring at the five skills, he hesitated for a second due to the last skill he got. "Screw it. I should upgrade my clone first. After all, it's the skill the God of Mischief's granted me. Besides, an E Rank Skill like Magic Bullet helps me tremendously."

Suddenly, the God of Mischief talked to him again, confirming his decision.

[God of Mischief wants your confirmation to upgrade your Clone Skill.]

"Yes."

Skill: Clone (E) - Upgradable

Upgrade: Fuse 20 Rank F Skills and 1 Rank E Skill

Effect: A skill that allows the user to create a clone of himself. Due to the current skill rank, the user can create the same body, control its movement, share vision, and talk. Other parts are still locked.

"What?" Theo widened his eyes. Although there wasn't much of an improvement, this would help him masking his ability. After all, he could control his clone remotely, maybe to scout or impersonate someone.

Theo summoned his clone and wondered how he used the skill. When he closed his eyes, he felt fuzzy as though something was pulled out of his body. He quickly opened his eyes to check his body but saw his "Clone" held a sword before his eyes. It was supposed to be his real body.

"That means…" Theo looked down and saw the spear on his hand. "I can't feel the weight of the spear. No, I don't even have a sense of touch. It feels weird."

Theo shuddered while touching his hand or even gently slapped it but still had no feel. It crept him a little bit, but the most important question was how to return to his body.

Since there was only one clue, he decided to close his eyes again, having the same feeling before his consciousness returned to his real body.

He touched his hand again and sensed it. "Ah, yes. I'm back. I will explore this skill a bit more later after reaching home. It's going to become dark soon."