Lyle carefully observed the appearance of the Shadow Clone; it was indeed identical to the caster, though its aura was significantly weaker.
Even without using the "Ninjutsu: Detection" ability, he could sense the intensity of the Shadow Clone's aura.
"The aura is very weak; inheriting about 1/4 of the level seems about right."
"The main issue is that only one Clone can be created at a time. It's not as good as that Naruto guy's, even though the ninjutsu has the exact same name."
"No wonder Entoma from the Pleiades didn't take this skill very seriously back then."
Lyle grumbled and reached out a finger to poke the Shadow Clone's cheek.
"Oh, it feels like a real person. That part is actually quite good."
"Can you speak?"
Looking at the Shadow Clone that remained silent while its cheek was being poked, a look of realization appeared in Lyle's eyes.
"It seems you can't talk."
Lyle felt a bit disappointed, as this limited the room for tactical maneuvers. Then, his expression turned serious.
"Well then, let's begin."
The moment the words left his mouth!
The Shadow Clone instantly raised its fist, aiming an uppercut straight at Lyle's chin.
The fist broke through the air with a whistle, looking full of power.
Facing this punch,
Lyle didn't dodge at all, allowing the seemingly heavy blow to strike his chin.
Bang!
The fist made a dull thud upon contact, sending a shockwave of Qi dispersing between the two.
However,
Not only was Lyle not pushed back, his head didn't even move an inch. Only his eyes narrowed imperceptibly: "1/4 physical attack power; it can't even break through basic defense."
"But I can feel the force. That's the effect of the 'Aura of Courage' passive ability. It seems passive abilities can be used."
Whoosh!
Seeing that its strike was ineffective, the Shadow Clone quickly retreated a step, its figure nimbly shifting to the left before whipping out a side kick toward Lyle's lower back.
Within a few breaths!
The Shadow Clone rapidly and continuously changed positions, attacking various weak points on Lyle's body. However, aside from the first strike which had the passive boost and caused a critical hit effect,
the rest of the dazzling array of attacks had no impact whatsoever.
Lyle didn't mind this; instead, a satisfied look appeared on his face: "It has quite good combat awareness and can fight independently."
"This part is similar to the 'Einherjar'."
With a thought,
the Shadow Clone immediately stopped its attack and returned to stand before Lyle.
"It can attack on its own, and the caster can also control it through subjective will."
Lyle had now figured out the Shadow Clone's behavioral patterns, and overall, he was satisfied.
"Try releasing a class skill."
The Shadow Clone stood still, unmoving.
"Class-type skills cannot be used at all, and 'Physical Armament' is even more out of the question. As expected—even most of the class skills for 'Einherjar' are unusable."
"Use a Martial Skill."
"Oh? Martial Skills can be used, that's surprising... No, the attack intensity is too low."
Lyle had the Shadow Clone stop again, his brow furrowed slightly. He wasn't exactly disappointed, but there were no pleasant surprises either.
"No wonder the 'Shadow Clone Technique', despite being a class skill, only has a one-hour cooldown and can be used repeatedly."
"In the game, it must have existed purely for support, harassment, scouting, and creating confusion."
After a series of experiments,
Lyle extinguished the idea of using the Shadow Clone as a melee combatant. He didn't have a Rogue-type class build, and the Shadow Clone couldn't bring out the characteristics of a pure Assassin.
Swoosh—
The previous research had already brought the Shadow Clone to its time limit, and it dissipated back into a pool of black shadow.
Lyle didn't mind this and quietly waited for the cooldown to pass.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
"Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone Technique!"
Lyle's shadow writhed again, and a Shadow Clone emerged from it.
"Second experiment: Magic."
Besides inheriting the caster's 'Agility' stat, the Shadow Clone also inherited the 'Mana' stat, which was the point he cared about most.
The Shadow Clone moved quickly, putting ten meters of distance between them.
"The [Ninja] class in 'YGGDRASIL' is a Rogue-type High-tier Class that can only be obtained after level 60, belonging to a pure Rogue-type build."
"Whether it's game players or people like Tina in this other world, the mana of Rogue-type classes isn't high to begin with, and a Rogue's own abilities lie in melee combat."
Lyle's eyes brightened slightly as he watched the Shadow Clone in the distance. "But for me, there's a lot of room for maneuver."
"Lightning Ball!"
"Lightning Ball!"
In the next moment, Lyle and the Shadow Clone released magic simultaneously.
Spheres of electricity emitting blue light quickly condensed in front of both of them, turning into streaks of blue light that blasted toward each other.
Boom!
The two spells collided with a muffled thunderous roar. The expected scenario where the two spells would cancel each other out did not occur.
After a brief stalemate, the "Lightning Ball" released by Lyle easily overpowered the one from the Shadow Clone and continued blasting toward it.
"Dodge!"
Startled by this, Lyle quickly issued a command.
The Shadow Clone quickly dodged to the side. Fortunately, it had inherited the full 'Agility' stat, but it still looked a bit disheveled.
"It can release magic, so why is there such a big difference?"
Lyle ignored the Shadow Clone's clumsy state, feeling surprised and confused, but he soon realized the problem.
"I almost forgot, it's the difference in 'Magic Attack' stats. Although it looks like the same spell, the high-tier magic released by the Shadow Clone probably only maintains the minimum intensity of the spell itself."
Lyle's mouth twitched. He took a deep breath and pulled himself together. "At least it's not limited to offensive magic."
"I hope the next part doesn't disappoint me!"
Mana fluctuations once again emanated from the Shadow Clone's body. In the next instant, a holy white light condensed in mid-air.
4th Tier Angel Summoning: Archangel of Observation!
A tall angel about three meters high appeared, holding a circular golden shield in its left hand and a silver mace in its right.
With Lyle's current strength level, he could summon 6th Tier angels, but since this was just an experiment, there was no need to summon one that was too strong.
Lyle flicked his white sleeve. Instead of using a scroll, he used his own mana to follow up with an angel summoning.
An identical Archangel of Observation appeared on the field!
Rumble!
The two Archangels of Observation charged forward simultaneously and collided in mid-air. Both swung their silver maces and raised their golden shields, attacking and defending continuously.
Every collision produced a startling roar, yet neither could overcome the other.
The strength of the two angels was clearly identical.
"Since pure offensive magic is affected by the 'Magic Attack' stat, then summoning magic doesn't have such a restriction."
"The strength of summoned monsters is fixed unless there's a related specialized class." Lyle smiled.
If "Einherjar" was a pure combat-type Clone, then the "Shadow Clone Technique" could be used as a summoning-type Magic Caster.
Additionally,
Support-type magic wouldn't be affected when used by the Shadow Clone either.
Time was up!
The Shadow Clone dissipated into a black shadow, and immediately after, the summoned Archangel of Observation vanished along with it.
This caused Lyle, who had just been feeling satisfied, to freeze: "As expected, there are no bugs."
"Two minutes is still too short; it can't sustain a full battle. If the Shadow Clone's duration could be extended, it could truly be counted as an independent combat force."
Lyle pondered, thinking it was a bit of a pity.
As the distant sky began to brighten, the experiments on the "Shadow Clone" finally came to an end.
Although there were many drawbacks, there was still plenty of room for tactical play.
In the time that followed,
In the eyes of ordinary people, Lyle stayed in the inn and no longer appeared.
Except for one visit from team "Rock", the entire inn did not receive or meet any outside guests.
As nominal members of the "Free Will" team, the Emerald Leaf Witch and Enri were more active in the outside world. Besides buying alchemy Materials, they were selling "Regeneration Potions".
The low price and excellent healing effects easily triggered a buying frenzy among the commoners and many adventurers in the Royal Capital.
The Advanced "Regeneration Potions" worth ten gold coins were even more in high demand, especially since the quantity sold each day was very small.
According to rumors, the Adventurer's Guild held a certain amount of Advanced "Regeneration Potions".
Year 4 of the new calendar.
December 31st.
Prayer Day.
The entire Royal Capital was enveloped in a cheerful and holy atmosphere. The stone pavement of the main streets had been cleaned thoroughly over the past few days.
The streets on both sides were decorated with many floats filled with fresh flowers, adding a floral scent to the air.
Major shops, streets, and even the doors of the citizens were decorated with fabrics in six colors as ornaments.
Some doors hung a single color, while others hung several. Every piece of fabric bore the pattern of a "Holy Seal".
These six colors naturally symbolized the "Six Great Gods".
Lyle stood by the window on the second floor of the inn, looking at the lively scene on the street outside, lost in thought.
Dong! Dong!
Located in the center of the Royal Capital, the temple, which usually had a weak presence, now rang its bells, the sound transmitted by magic.
"Unknowingly, I've been in this world for over half a year."
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