The chieftain had left Gregory’s tent after finding out what his animal was. Gregory used the time after the chief left to view his status window, but found that nothing had changed in regard to his stats. ’None of my physical abilities have gotten stronger; from the way things had looked, strength seemed to be gained immediately. Perhaps there is no gain in strength because of this, or perhaps it only facilitates an easier strengthening of the body. That could explain it, since these people all are very active. They would be much stronger than me, especially if their bodies make for faster and easier strengthening through physical training.’

Digging deep into his spirit, he reached down to speak with the dragon again. ’Sophos, I understand that you are an ice dragon. Does that mean you don’t have a connection to the other elements? I am not sure how closely bound we are, but my place is not in this time. I am from the future, and if I needn’t stay, I will prepare my departure now.’ Sophos responded back in a very ancient and wise tone, although only in the deepest places of Gregory’s mind. ’You certainly are talkative, young one. They were not wrong, most of the time a spirit animal will bring with it the ability to access all elements. They are wrong on some things though, not all beings that merge allow it. I am not an animal as they call it, but a being of near infinite age and wisdom. Of course, giving you that wisdom would be a bit naïve of me. I have seen people with the wisdom I impart to them, use it to lay waste to entire continents and empires. However, from the feel of it, you will also have the opportunity to live forever. Perhaps we can become friends you and I, I have heard some dragons I’ve known speak well of such a connection with a human.’ Gregory looked shocked at Sophos’ suggestion, but gave a quick response. ’I would really enjoy that, it would be good to have a friend always around.’ Sophos simply laughed at this before vanishing his trace for the moment.

Gregory opened his eyes, the almost whitish blue color they were glimmering in the darkness. It seemed that Sophos could not grant access to all elements like so many of the other beasts these people have. However, he was sentient and so much more powerful than any normal animal. ’Probably best for me to leave then, but how do I do it without getting found out? I would need to find a way to make it look like I’ve died, which will be very difficult. I could also do with learning the transformation skill now, especially since I am part dragon and it would be the best way to fit in with society in my time.’

Two skills were now placed on Gregory’s list of need to learn, the transformation spell he had been working on and a cloning spell. He felt that he had a good step done on the transformation skill, since he was already able to bend the mana in his body, he just had very little to change with it. With the cloning spell, he didn’t even need consciousness, just some clone that would have his appearance. He instantly created a protected space, which he entered to begin training on gaining these two new spells. The room he entered was one of the empty rooms, but had the look of a forest clearing.

Gregory only needed his cloning skill right now, since he still needed to finish the boat he was building before he could get to Europe. He knew that it could change the future if anything changed, so Gregory had to make a way out of the area without causing suspicion. As he was thinking about how he could make a cloning ability, the answer came to him as if in a revelation. The key to cloning was creating an exact replica of the body; perhaps if Gregory were to use his mana as a kind of 3D printer, it would allow him to copy his body before moving it outside to actually create it. Other possibilities could include spreading his mana across his entire body, before moving it out as a copy of his body. While he could go with scientific approaches, Gregory wanted something non-sentient. He couldn’t imagine killing anything, let alone himself, if it were actually knowing of what was happening.

As the time moved by, though only for him right now, Gregory was nearing completion of the spell. He had tried to use the 3D printing method, but he could feel that there were never any real traces of magic or life. If even he could feel it, then these people who were more in tuned with nature would too. The second method though, came up with startling success. It had no consciousness, but was an exact genetic replica. To top it off, the replica actually came out “alive.” At least alive in the sense that it had basic life functions, but was nothing more than a shell. ’I need to kill it, somebody possessing this body would be very dangerous.’ He also got a system message, letting him know that for being the first to create an advanced level cloning magic, he had been granted 20 INT.

Pulling out the Xi Blade, Gregory halted before putting it back in his inventory. This had to be done by an animal or other tribe. Grabbing a stone weapon he had made for himself, Gregory began stabbing and slicing the body that looked just like his own. It was a strange thing to do this, but he knew it had to be done to preserve his timeline. There were a few things he could see now though, such as the frosty white scales covering his back, forearms, tail, and the face just around his eyes. Gregory also saw how his eyes were just a little bit bluer in color, a frosty bluish white instead. Finishing the mutilation of his body, Gregory lifted it into his inventory. It had the inventory title of “Deceased Diversion Clone.” It almost seemed to indicate that it knew of it non-sentience, and how it would be used. It wouldn’t be quite as a diversion, but it would divert them from the truth. Checking his skill window, Gregory saw that there was indeed a skill called diversion clone at the bottom.

SKILLDIVERSION CLONEACTIVEAn advanced cloning skill, it can be used to create a clone with no consciousness. It is best used as an escape or diversion, as it holds all physical and genetic the traits of the person creating it.LEVEL = 1COST = 1500

Leaving his protected space, Gregory ran for the exit to the village before taking it and heading out. He placed the clone a couple miles from the village, close enough to be found but far enough to put out doubt. Following this, Gregory went to the shoreline, uncovering the boat he was building before getting back to work. He Touched the boat, and brought it with him into his protected space. He continued his work on it, using a tar substance to weather-seal the entire outside of the boat. It would be considered a dangerous journey, but Gregory also knew that he was strong enough to keep away whatever ocean terrors may come to him. He had Ice magic, and could use it to freeze whatever attacked him. Already planning out the entire journey, he only knew that he had to travel west and almost straight west. He had also placed some food in his inventory; though Gregory didn’t really need it anymore, it helped keep the dragon quiet to have something. That too made Gregory wonder, the dragon was inside him, how could it feel hunger. Regardless, it probably just wanted to have some fun with Gregory.

After three days of time, Gregory had finished the boat, getting shipbuilding to a level of 31. Now leaving North America, Gregory would begin his time in Europe as soon as he got there. The journey would also give him some time to practice a transformation skill, one that could give him more or fewer physical characteristics of his spirit animal. He had used sails and a rudder as the form of movement for the boat, wanting to preserve his time and energy for practice instead of paddling a boat. Not that he couldn’t paddle the boat, he had made two oars, but he wanted to work on some spells first.

I know the chapter is short, but the power had gone out at home for too long and the computer didn't save most of it. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy the next part of the story. Below is a current status window, including the newest box on it. I realized I had made a mistake on something in the status window previously, it is fixed now.

NAMEGREGORY NEAL FROSTCLASS/CLASSESTHE LEGENDARY GAMER, LEGENDARY GREAT SAGE, LEGENDARY LUCK MASTERRACE/RACESANCIENT ICE DRAGON, HUMANTITLENOVICELEVEL10HEALTH240/240MANA3740/3740STAMINA310/310STR23END25VIT24AGI31DEX37INT187WIS230LUK517UNSPENT STATUS POINTS45