The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City

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Three hours into our forest exploration, we had already discovered another Crystal Flower.

“Unit 2, Unit 4! We did it!”

“Our magical power has already increased this much. Let’s find one or two more and head back!”

Excited by this unexpected achievement, the Violets pressed eagerly deeper into the woods.

“One! Two! One! Two!”

As we shouted the count, our arms and legs synchronized naturally. Being one connected group made it so easy for us cute girls to match our rhythm.

However, the exploration wasn’t all smooth sailing. This forest was, after all, a habitat for monsters. We had faced several monster attacks.

“Graaaw!”

“It’s a Skullcat! Attack!”

A Skullcat charged out from the bushes. We drew our weapons.

“This should be a piece of cake!”

We had hunted this thing so many times since the laboratory. While Unit 3 acted as bait, Units 6 and 5 quickly restrained it, and Unit 1 struck from behind.

-Clang!

[Critical Hit!]
[Rear attack triggered Resonance Trait: Backstab activated. Damage increased!]

“Graaaw!”

It fell in one blow.

“We took it down!”

“Hey, let’s not get too excited over just one or two kills. There are other monsters around here.”

“Don’t worry. We’re a team, right?”

I crossed my arms defiantly.

With a light-hearted step, as if going on a picnic, we pushed through the trees, when suddenly we heard rustling from the bushes. Unit 6, who was leading, came to a halt.

“Stop!”

“Assume battle positions!”

We raised our weapons, ready to defend. The source of the noise was soon revealed.

“Graaaw…”

“It’s another Skullcat.”

“It looks injured…”

There it was, limping and whimpering. We cautiously approached it, holding our hammer and dagger tightly.

Suddenly, a shape as big as a person fell from the sky.

-Thud!

“Kyarluung!”

“Graaaw!”

It was a hybrid of a cat and a human in monster form. It landed on the Skullcat and swiftly severed its throat with sharp claws.

“What… what the hell is that?”

“It’s a Pelinot!”

I had never faced one directly, but I had seen it fight other test subjects in the laboratory. Its name was Pelinot. A sleek, fierce lower-class monster as tall as an adult man.

“Kyarluung…”

It inspected the dead Skullcat’s corpse and started devouring it.

Startled by its sudden appearance, we stepped back, but Unit 5 accidentally stepped on a twig. With a loud snap, the twig broke, and it twitched its ears nervously before turning its head.

“Kyarluung…!”

The Pelinot glared at us, furious at being interrupted during its meal. However, there was something much more concerning…!

“Ugh..! It’s so ugly!”

If Guillermo del Toro had turned the musical *Cats* into a movie with malicious intent, this would be it! It looked the way one might imagine if a mix of human and cat were dropped into a grotesque valley and made to grimace.

The very nightmare of all furries, the boogeyman cat mom that leaps out from closets to punish bad children!

“Hey! First strike, victory is ours!!”

Unit 1 bravely charged in, wielding her alloy hammer. The fierce swing connected with the Pelinot’s horrifying half-cat, half-human face…

-Clang!

“Kyarluung!”

“Ugh!”

The Pelinot swatted Unit 1’s hammer aside with its forepaw. But this was all part of the plan. While Unit 1 rolled to the side, Unit 5 lunged straight for its chest.

Putting her weight into the stab!

“Kyarr… kyauk…!”

“Did it hit?”

There was a problem. The knife was lodged in its chest but didn’t penetrate fully. It felt similar to when I had stabbed the Ogre Team Leader back in the laboratory.

“What the hell! Why isn’t it going in?”

Then, enraged by the pain, the Pelinot swung its forepaw.

In the next moment, I found myself flying through the air. I spun in midair. My mask flew off. My hat tumbled away.

But why was my body over there…?

“Hey? I’m flying… what?”

“Keekyaaaah! Unit 5! Your… head!”

“Uaaargh! What is happening while I’m trying to concentrate in class?!”

Unit 5 had been decapitated by the Pelinot’s blow.

Upon seeing that, all the Violets gasped in horror.

“Uaaagh! Unit 5 is dead! Run away!”

“Stay calm!”

Unit 6, circling from behind, swung a wrench at its head.

“Hey!”
**[Clang!]**

[Critical Hit!]
[Rear attack triggered Resonance Trait: Backstab activated. Damage increased!]

“Kyaw!”

The loud sound of metal striking resonated as the Pelinot bowed its head. However, it was only a light hit. It immediately unleashed a furious counterattack.

Tremendous pain hit my chest.

“Uaaaaaah!”

“Ugh! It hurts!!”

“Uaaah!!”

“Gyaaahhh!”

As it pierced through Unit 6’s heart with its claws, we screamed and fled. Barely managing to clutch our chests, we stumbled away.

“Unit 6 is dead too! We really need to get out of here!”

“Uaaaaaah! Run!”

But the Pelinot was faster than we were. Unit 3 was caught.

“Kyarluung!”

“Gwaah…”

Unit 3 fell, blood oozing from its claws. Only Unit 1 managed to escape safely out of the forest.

“Uaaaaah…”

Unit 1, sobbing from pain and sorrow, headed toward the dormitory. Stumbling out, Unit 4 helped her up.

“Ugh…”

At the same time, Units 2 and 7, who had rushed from the classroom and library, finally stood up in the restroom, having tended to their injuries.

Our adventure had suddenly spiraled into failure.

***

The next morning, we scouted the forest again. This time, based on the magical power gained from yesterday, we created new newbies, Units 8 and 9.

“With more of us now, we should be able to win even if we meet a Pelinot this time!”

“Charge ahead!”

“Kyarluung!”

And once again, three of us were torn apart by the attacking Pelinot. The Violets ran away in a panic.

“Gahhh!”

“The dagger won’t stab! Neither will the hammer!”

After recovering our magical power, we entered again a few hours later.

“Kerung! Kerung!”

“This monster is playing with us!”

This time, it was a different Pelinot that attacked us. It seemed that the Crystal Flowers were indeed located in the Pelinot’s territory.

“Ugh!”

We retreated, trading the lives of four.

At lunchtime, we hurriedly held an emergency Violet meeting. My head was buzzing with confusion.

“What could possibly be the issue?”
“Did you see when Unit 3 stabbed? Even with the backstab, it barely penetrated!”
“Can’t we just all swarm it and stab it?”
“But Unit 5 tried that earlier, and when it swatted once, we all flew away! Our strength is just that of ordinary girls.”

I suddenly recalled the days back in the laboratory.

“This is strange! The Ogre guard we faced in the lab was nothing compared to these lower-class monsters. Yet, we could stab it in the neck with just a screwdriver and dagger.”

“Well, that’s because we killed it, but the decisive blow was dealt by Kalia. It weakened its body enhancement and Ether protection, right?”

Oh, I had overlooked that. It was a basic fact that the monsters in this world generally had Ether protection covering their skin.

The Skullcats and mutated animals I had killed in the laboratory were weaklings without Ether protection, but as soon as we faced a Pelinot level monster, it was hard to win without firearms when you were a Non-Awakened.

“So it comes down to weapons. Let’s find some blades! There must be practice swords or spears at this school.”
“Sounds good! We’ll arm ourselves and smash those cats. And then we’ll secure all the Crystal Flowers!”

Some of the Violets raised their voices in agreement. Upon hearing this, Unit 8 began to protest vigorously.

“What? You mean to fight in close quarters? No way! I don’t want to lose another leg!!”

Unit 8 had had all but one limb severed by the Pelinot during the morning expedition.

“I agree too! Who else has heard of someone losing their head besides me? Besides, we don’t know how to use Sword Energy!”

Even Unit 5, who had been quiet in the corner of our metaphorical parliament, joined in.

“In the end, we haven’t resolved the essential issue. Just remember that hitting with weapons without Ether will result in the shock being absorbed or nullified! Plus, we don’t even know how to use Body Enhancement.”

Unit 2 logically refuted.

That was right. To break through the Ether protection of monsters or Awakened Ones with pure physical power required much more strength than one might think.

“This is crazy. Didn’t we plan to check out the outside dungeon this weekend…?”
“If we struggle against just one Pelinot like this, we’d definitely die in a beginner dungeon. No way.”

Then, a new suggestion came up.

“Let’s find a crossbow! A bow! Or guns! There are students here who use firearms, right?”
“I don’t have the money. Plus, to hunt monsters, you’d need specialty rounds and those are expensive too.”
“Hey! Do you know how to imbue arrows with Sword Energy?”
“Ah…”

In the end, the meeting held over food ended up going in circles before stopping altogether.

“Unit 7, how about just having some ice cream?”
“Okay… got it…”

Unit 7, who had been in charge of attendance, went to the store and bought some vanilla ice cream.

“Uugh… it’s delicious…”
“Vanilla! Yay!”
“Wouldn’t it be great if we could all go out one day and each try a different flavor of ice cream?”

We all savored our ice cream. Vanilla ice cream is truly the best when your head is feeling foggy.

“In the end, we didn’t find any answers…”

After eating the ice cream, the only conclusion we ended up with was ‘there’s no solution.’

Thus, we decided to pause our search for Crystal Flowers until we found a clear answer. If we conducted a cold self-assessment, our level wouldn’t even let us clear beginner dungeons.

“Isn’t today’s afternoon lesson a Weapon Techniques class? We might find answers there, like how to imbue Sword Energy or something like Body Enhancement techniques.”

While rummaging through the dorm’s notices, Unit 6 sent a reply to Unit 7.

Unit 7 shook her head.

“Well, do you remember those professors or instructors we met? They were all quacks, lazy good-for-nothings who just rambled on instead of teaching us anything worthwhile.”
“You’re right. Still, it’s a chance to secure weapons that we lack.”
The name of today’s last orientation lecture was [Intro to Weapon Techniques and Close Combat Skills].

Reading the syllabus, it seemed we’d get to duel with practice weapons and learn various weapon techniques within the gym.

Most importantly, it looked like they might teach us about Sword Energy and Body Enhancement techniques which we so desperately needed.

“If it were normal, I’d be looking forward to a duel here as if I were at a different school. But…”
“Don’t expect too much from the content of the class! Our goal is secretly snatching weapons when they hand them out, right?”

“Exactly.”

If it had been any other normal academy, I would have been anxiously calming my racing heart. But judging by how Polaris Academy has been, I could clearly expect yet another bizarre individual to appear.

What kind of bizarre creature awaits this time?

I opened the gym door leading into the classroom. Was it because I was there 30 minutes before the class started? It was empty.

As I scanned around, thinking I was alone, I felt a presence.

Through the gym windows, a shadowy figure sat in the sunlight streaming from the afternoon sun.

“…Are you a student?”

The man turned around from his chair. I took a breath as I locked eyes with him.

His aura felt different. It was distinct!

He was the owner of the white hair that had been bleached from suffering.

He wore a plain short-sleeve shirt and black pants. At a quick glance, anyone might think he was just an ordinary neighborhood uncle.

However, after spending even a little time observing him, it would become clear that that man was a seasoned warrior, his skin bearing the tattoos of struggle.

His face was etched with scars of various sizes, one of which ran from above his left eye to his jaw. Perhaps because of that impression, the wrinkles on his face carried the weight of life’s hardships.

Beneath those ordinary garments, there was a robust strength hidden, not exaggerated but solid.

Above all, what stood out was the gigantic gray metal prosthetic that replaced his left arm. Multiple semi-transparent tubes embedded in the prosthetic pulsed with glistening Ether.

What kind of person is he?

As I froze a little at that aura, the man walked towards me.

‘What… what the heck!’

A cold, gray gaze swept over me.

He approaches. What’s this?

“Have you ever seen such rudeness…!”

-Smack!

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, his metallic prosthetic struck my head without warning. Ouch!

“Didn’t you see the sky-like instructor and forget to greet? Tsk tsk… What has happened to you kids lately…?”

“Ugh!”

The instructor crossed his arms and scolded me vigorously.

“What do you mean ‘Ugh’? Hey! What’s your name? Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

“I’m Violet! Violet Rugilinn!”

“What a pathetic state…”

As I fumbled for a response, the instructor finally seemed satisfied and returned to his seat.

“What the heck…?! That person?”

“Strange…”
“My head hurts…”