Sharlot didn’t answer, but her eyes never left either of the two Shanes as she jumped back towards the support beam of the dwelling. Shane saw movement around her waist and realized too late that this new human-like Sharlot had four arms in total. Not only that, but her two other hands were holding something. A book or tome, maybe?

“Master Prime has taught me a lot of things. Allow me to show you.”

Shane’s heart sank at her utterance of the man’s name who had and was currently ruining his life in Endless Veil.

“No, wait! Don’t!” was all he could say before intense gusts of cold, sharp wind blasted both Shanes against the back wall.

-47 HP (Sharlot’s Blizzard Spell)

[Slow] Status Effect applied

Shane, again, realized too late that whatever book she was holding was either giving her the ability to cast such magic or augmenting whatever Prime taught her. That conniving bastard! If Prime were here right now, Shane would risk dying again and again if it meant ruining that son of a bitch’s day.

As the icy wind pelted both Shanes, the original Shane briefly monitored his vitals as his mildly protective overshield winked out of existence.

HP: 146/200 (0/18 Overshield)

Mana: 190/195

Fatigue: 2/143

Damn! He thought. My clone is probably going to die soon. He didn’t start with a lot of HP, to begin with!

His movements were dulled by the status effect and painfully cold from the strength of her elemental spell. Regardless, he tried focusing on a way to get her to stop. As he did, the clone of him to his left pushed forward against the cold, brutal winds. His clone looked at him briefly and put on a half smile that told him I’ll do what I can; don’t worry about me.

At that moment, the clone activated [Minor Self Empowerment]. It was the one keepsake that Alabaster passed down to him. A powerful spell in its own right, even at its current [common] quality, one that Shane thought he should use more. Well, his clone must have been thinking the same thing because tendrils of orange light rose up his clone’s arms and legs.

In exchange for eating up ten mana per second, this spell increased Shane’s physical strength and speed by twenty percent! As the clone powered up, Shane confirmed he had roughly seventy minutes of useable time from [time subjugation], giving him a wildly desperate idea. As it turned out, clone Shane had a similar plan: both dropped their spears simultaneously and rushed their obviously forlorn spider companion.

Sharlot’s eyes hardened as they bounced between both Shanes. He was still frigidly slow and fighting against the spell, while his clone didn’t seem to have suffered that same treacherous status effect. Clone Shane was quickly the first to reach her as Sharlot’s eyes flicked to her previous, original master. They were cold and deadly. Any tears she spilled had already turned to floating snow.

Because Shane created his clone when he did, they both had useable time, and that knowledge granted his clone the ability to use it on Sharlot.

The Shane clone touched one of Sharlot’s hands, and that was all it took. Suddenly, but unsurprisingly, a translucent purple haze covered every part of Sharlot’s small body outside her mouth and ears. Shane figured his clone wanted her to be able to hear and talk at normal speeds while the rest of her was slowed significantly. Sharlot broke her eye contact with Shane as she closed her spellbook and placed it in a large pouch over the small of her lower back.

Since the Shane clone used all of his accumulated time magic to slow her down, the effects were substantial. Even the simple act of putting away her tome made her look like she was moving through a thick jelly. They both had the idea in mind to disable her to de-escalate the situation. Doing that would allow him to at least talk to her.

Her spell has ended. The [Slow] cast on me will likely end soon, and my clone can hold her so we can ta—

Shane’s thought ended in its tracks when she touched the two knives at her hips because she immediately became a blur to his vision. It was somehow still impossible for him to track the two attacks that instantly destroyed his clone. Nor did he see her approach him after the display of extravagant ability.

She then moved to stand in front of him in less than a second. The sharp tip of her knife jammed against the soft underside of his chin.