SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

Chapter 1: Motive of Strength

Chapter 1: Motive of Strength

A woman is standing in a tall canyon while strong winds are blowing.

Her shoulder-length white hair and cape are swaying. Her left hand is holding the handle of a sheath sword, while her right hand is holding a telescope.

Below the canyon is a shallow white river with pebbles and scattered big stones. The river comes from a waterfall taller than a skyscraper. The waterfall is many kilometers away, but it can be seen with naked eyes.

Beyond the canyon, there is a very wide river and tall trees. The trees are like banyan trees. They are five hundred meters tall with long, hanging vines. Magic beasts are flying around the trees. Some are resting on long branches. The others are guarding the nests.

She is inside Tier 3 broken world, Sky Island.

Even with a telescope, she can't see the edge of the sky island. There are five floating islands, but she doesn't know them yet.

She raised her left hand. There is a silver ring with magic runes and a crystal on her index finger. The magic runes on the ring flashed, and then a magic circle appeared in her left hand. She walks toward the edge of the canyon as she puts the telescope on the magic circle.

Below the canyon, the guild members are resting. There are two young women and one middle-aged man. They are wearing armor and a cape.

The man drank water from the river. He smiles as he feels refreshed by the water, and he can't help but say,"The water tastes refreshing and sweet."

"Kyaaa! Uncle Robert! There are floating feces of beasts in the river!" said one of the women name Merryl.

Robert's face turned blue. His cheeks bulged, and then he vomited.

The mischievous Merryl laughs.

The other woman name Susan patted her forehead for the behavior of her friend. Her face suddenly changed as she saw flying beasts moving toward them.

The beasts are like pterodactyls which are three meters tall. Their color is gray with upper limbs and two feet. Their wings are made up of white feathers but they have gray skeletons.

"Get ready! Beasts are coming!" shouted Susan as she releases her aura. A red aura covered her whole body.

She stretched her arms to the side. Green magic circles flashed on her hands, then threads of wind element rotate around her hands.

Robert put a sideways stance. He releases his aura, then yellow magic circles appear on both his arms

Threads of earth element rotate and gather over the magic circles. They are forming big shields.

Merryl is covered with aura, and there are magic circles on both her hands.

The pterodactyls are already near. They opened their mouths, and then attack with wind magic.

WIND BOMB

Wind bombs are rapidly moving down.

Robert dashes while raising his left shield to protect himself.

Susan also moves. Threads of wind move around her body, helping her to swiftly move.

A blue magic circle appears beneath Merryl's feet.

Boom! The wind bombs missed Susan. Pebbles and high splashes of water are flying in the air.

Boom! Boom! Wind bombs are hitting Robert's shield, but he keeps running forward.

Merryl avoided the wind bombs as she rides a water wave she cast.

Robert jumped on a huge stone. He put more aura to his feet.

Bang! The top of the stone cracked as Robert jumped.

His left shield blocks the attack. He used more mana, then threads of earth element flow to his left shield. The shield became bigger.

His right arm, with a big shield, is stretched to his back.

"Ahhhh!" shouts Robert as he gathers more strength for his right arm, then swings it to the side.

Shoo! The big shield flew to the side like a boomerang and rapidly moves toward the flying beasts.

Bang! Bang! "HWAAAK!" Scream the flying beasts hit by the shield.

Outside of the broken world, where the weakest of the weak hunt, there is someone who strongly aspires to become like them.

On a mountain with a lush forest, Edgar is looking at a beast. The beast is a black boar nearly two meters in size with a large tusk and thick hide.

"I will shoot it with an arrow to catch its attention, then direct it to the trap when it charges at me," thought Edgar.

Edgar moved 12 meters near the boar.

"Now!" Edgar shot the boar with an arrow made with special metal. The arrow hit the boar's body, but it only caused a small wound. Even small guns can only cause skin injuries to these types of beasts. The role of guns against the beasts is small. Hot weapons that could cause significant damage to beasts are only heavy weapons, but beasts are getting stronger. The role of hot weapons is getting lower, and the role of hyperbeings is getting higher.

"Wiiiiik!" shouts the boar.Its eyes turned red from rage. It charges toward Edgar.

Edgar runs to the trap. Hidden near the trees, a large log is attached to a rope.

There is a big root blocking the pathway.

Edgar jumped to the root. While in the air, he moves his left hand to hold the sheat and his right hand to hold the handle of the sword.

He landed on the root, then he charged forward and drew his sword while in the air. The blade of the sword is moving toward a rope.

Slash! The rope is cut, and the big log started swinging down.

TNNG! Edgar sheaths the sword while in midair.

He landed on the ground and immediately holds the body of the spear stabbed on the ground. He turned and runs toward the boar.

BOOM! The big log smashed into the head of the boar. The two-meter-tall boar wobbles.

Edgar jumped and landed on the root. He is in a stabbing stance as he holds his spear. He put more strength on his feet, then he charges to the boar and stabs his spear.

"Die!" Edgar stabbed with all his power at the boar's neck. The lower part of the boar's neck is a weakness that he learned in his research. The muscle is softer, and there is a hidden blood vessel.

"Wiiiiick!!!!" wailed by the boar.

Edgar immediately moves to his back. He hit a large artery in the boar's neck. The boar started to bleed.

Edgar is panting, and the boar is getting weaker until it died.

He feels relieved that everything went according to plan. He spread a powder on the dead boar to prevent the smell of blood and avoid attracting predators.

"This third hunt should be enough to buy another strength potion," Edgar thought as he grips his fists. It is very difficult to close the gap of strength between hyperbeings and non-ability users. A strength potion is the only method for people with no magical power to quickly gain physical strength and become a little stronger than ordinary people. It is sold in the black market. It is intended for the army of governments, but some flows to the black market. Edgar saved a lot of money to buy his first strength potion.

Edgar remembers the lawlessness of many hyperbeings. They abuse their powers. One of his friends is a victim of their lawlessness. He remembers the howl of despair of the parents when they held the body of the dead girl. She did not die peacefully. Edgar bit his lip and grips his fists tightly.

"If a non-ability user is not allowed to enter the broken world, then I'll find an unregistered broken world! I will find a Palace of God and inherit God's power! I will gain power that can protect what is important to me! I will have the power that will put lawless hyperbeings beneath my feet!'' thought Edgar. He knows that the road chosen by himself is very dangerous and difficult.

Broken world. A huge land mass within a portal. It is like an independent world. The higher the tier, the higher the land mass. Tier 1 has the size of a town. Tier 2 has the size of a province. The highest tier 3 has the size of several provinces or a small country. It appeared in the year 2023.

Every broken world can be cleared when the huge blue crystal that maintains it is destroyed. The crystal is not easy to find. It could be hidden in the underground, cave, lake, center of the landmass, or Palace of God.

The broken world has precious materials like magical plants, magic stones, and minerals. There is opportunity but also danger brought by magic beasts, carnivorous plants, and the landmass itself. The landmass could be a world of lava, poison, floating islands, underwater worlds, space lands, and other dangerous worlds.

Governments tried to clear the broken world using the army, but they failed, and their army was annihilated. They found out that modern weapons cannot be used in a broken world. Hyperbeings volunteered to clear the broken worlds.

When the broken world appeared, humans around the world started getting magical abilities. Many of them called themselves hyperbeings, an indication of a higher life form. Some of them had entered the Gate of Inheritance within the Palace of God and passed the trial. They are called God's Heirs or Heirs. A heir wields great power and influence in their own country and around the world. A heir is entitled to everything that God left for him or her, but it will require qualification.

Today is the year 2033. In the Philippines, there is a powerful heir who wields great power and influence. He rules a whole big island, Palawan Island. He is known as Poison Lord. He is the law of the island. He leads the infamous number-one guild in the country known as the Poison Guild.

The Poison Guild has branches around the country. The guild members are infamous for their arrogance and frequent involvement in crimes. The government body, the Philippine Hyperbeings Association or PHA, which supervises hyperbeings, cannot destroy Poison Lord because behind him is Death God. Death God rules the strongest underground force in the world, he is one of the strongest heirs and is considered a walking nuclear weapon.

"There is no useless power. No matter how weak the power of God is in the gate of inheritance, it will definitely give great power as long as one finds the right way to use it! I will find a gate no matter what! I will destroy that damn Poison Lord!" thought Edgar. He is very determined to gain power. He will not wait for luck to become a hyperbeing. He will find the chance to become God's Heir!

Edgar starts preparing to cut the corpse of the boar, but he suddenly notices a dust cloud more than a hundred meters away, and he is shocked to see a Tier 1 gray wolf running toward him! The boar is just Tier 0, but he can't even fight it head-on.