Chapter Thirteen: Mad Science; Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!
My sudden interest in Soul Magic was rather off-putting to many of the members of Fairy Tail. Of course, casually sitting down at a table to read The Seven Deathly Magicks probably didn't help much. As a rule, anything that was a direct descendant of the Black Arts (which Soul Magic was) could be considered high taboo in just about any part of the country.
If I had been in a village somewhere off in the countryside, I would surely have been driven out by a pitchfork-wielding mob for reading such things. But, as this was Fairy Tail, people only became shifty around me. I wondered how they would have reacted to know that their first master had been a Black Mage?
But regardless, I needed to have that knowledge. Protecting my soul was top priority, but reading up on the Black Arts really could only help me with what I was planning to get myself into. And I had exactly four months to learn everything I could about it, so you can be damn sure I didn't waste them.
While searching through the Black Arts and other related things, I finally stumbled across something in the Compendium that could be what I was looking for. At the very least, I felt it was the most promising solution I'd yet found.
Clone Magic
This particular form of magic is used as a sort of bodily Duplication Magic (see pg. 1,748), though it is infinitely more complex. Unlike Duplication Magic, which only creates a similar structure to any given entity, Clone Magic creates a true copy.
Beyond that, clones are created as true entities, and are not artificial in the same way that constructs of Duplication Magic are. Even if the clone does not receive a constant supply of magic energy, it will not dissipate into base particles.
Clone Magic can only be used to create clones of living organisms.
However, in the end result, the clone will only be a body, uninhabited by any form of consciousness. The second half of Clone Magic is the transference of the caster's soul from their own body into that of the clone.
For ethical quandaries regarding the casting out of one's own soul into a different body, see page 286.
Clone Creation
The process of creating a single clone occurs through ritual magic, and will usually take 20-30 days from start to completion. The following will explain a step-by-step procedure for the creation of single clones.
Materials: Stasis Containment Lacrima (large enough to fit the size of the clone body), blood of the caster (45 mL), blood of the body you wish to clone (2 L), stone altar (10x10 ft. or larger), sand (2 lbs.), water (20 L), iron (4 g), magic energy conduit (as potent as possible)
NOTE: While it is possible to create clones to inhabit from other bodies, it is recommended that the caster begin only with creating a clone from their own body, so as to minimize discrepancies they must adapt to in the clone.
Step 1: Place the lacrima upon the altar, centered.
Step 2: Using the blood of the caster, inscribe an appropriate runic array for the purpose of blocking out foreign magics around the edge of the altar (the rune type is irrelevant, so long as it is potent enough to form a complete barrier).
Step 3: Draw a circle around the base of the lacrima using the blood of the body you wish to clone.
Step 4: Gather the sand into a pile and place it north of the lacrima.
Step 5: Gather the water into a container and place it south of the lacrima.
Step 6: Place the iron west of the lacrima.
Step 7: Place the magic energy conduit east of the lacrima.
Step 8: Using the blood of the body you wish to clone, draw a circle around each of the four cardinally oriented items.
Step 9: Using the blood of the body you wish to clone, inscribe a Seal of Identity (see pg. 638) around each of the five circles.
Step 10: Feed a source of the caster's magic energy into the conduit. Continue to give energy to the magic energy conduit at daily increments.
The ritual will be completed when all of the cardinally oriented materials and blood are gone completely, and the finalized clone is within the lacrima.
Inhabiting your Clone
The process for the caster to inhabit a clone is very simple, though a basic self-awareness of their own soul is necessary. By using the basic act, Soul Projection (see pg. 257), the caster can push their own soul into the body of a clone. Once the caster has pushed their soul into the clone, they become what is known as a Director.
It is possible for a Director to inhabit both their primary body and a clone body simultaneously, though the duality is often very disorienting and can cause functionality difficulties. The more bodies the Director inhabits simultaneously, the greater the strain.
If a clone is destroyed or otherwise dies while a Director is inhabiting it, his soul will be ejected from the clone and pulled into his body through a process called snap-back. If any damage is made directly to the soul of the Director, the safety protocol will initiate a forced snap-back.
WARNING: Repeated exposure to snap-back can lead to permanent damage in the soul.
Casting Through Clones
A clone does not naturally possess any form of ability to cast magic, but that does not mean it is impossible to do so. Any spell that the Director is capable of casting can be transferred over to any given clone. Through this process, the primary body loses the ability to cast those spells. It is also possible for the caster to transfer over an entire branch of magic, though the same limit will apply.
WARNING: If a clone is destroyed, regardless of whether or not the Director is inhabiting it, any magics that it carries will not return via snap-back. Those magics will be permanently lost.
For magic transference process, see page 983.
Alright, so the entire thing was a bit sketchy. The ritual sounded creepy as all hell with its talk about altars and blood, not to mention the weirdness of actually cloning myself in the first place! But despite all of that, it seemed to be the safest soul defense I could find. Any threat, and I'd be whisked away into my original body, however far away it was.
I'd just have to make sure that no one found out about what I was doing, or at least, not how I was doing it. That conversation would go over well.
'Guess what? I enacted an ancient blood ritual to give myself an extra body!'
'Was you morality eaten by a stray dog?'
So, in order to maintain secrecy, I'd have to perform the month-long ritual somewhere nobody would stumble into. A hidden, underground chamber would be ideal, but my Earth Magic wasn't nearly strong enough to make something like that. At least, not without spending a few weeks on it. And with only four months until my deadline, that simply wouldn't do.
So instead, I selected a random location in the forest outside Magnolia Town (far enough into the monster-stocked woods that nobody would casually wander in), and then I built a large shelter using Wood Make Magic. And just to be safe, I erected the strongest permanent barrier I could manage with my meager expertise in Barrier Magic. It was mostly for my own peace of mind, though.
Inside the warehouse-like room, I raised up a decently sized altar of stone. After a long day's hard work, I returned to the town and had a good sleep-in the next day (a day which I spent relaxing). But the following day, I set to work again, this time to gather all of the materials.
"Stasis Containment Lacrima (large enough to fit the size of the clone body), blood of the caster (45 mL), blood of the body you wish to clone (2 L), stone altar (10x10 ft. or larger), sand (2 lbs.), water (20 L), iron (4 g), magic energy conduit (as potent as possible)"
I already had the altar, so that one could be marked off the list. I'd need two liters and forty five milliliters of my own blood, which I also already had (though it was going to be an uncomfortable experience to actually draw it).
Sand and water would be no difficulty to gather in the quantities stated, just a matter of taking a trip to the beach. The iron, I would have to buy, but that would be no problem with the reward money from my last job request.
The two difficult materials were the conduit and the lacrima. Finding a conduit for magical energy wasn't terribly difficult— anything magically conductive was decent for it. It was why I carved Alkashi runes into wood, instead of steel. But the Compendium specifically said 'as potent as possible.' And that could be a problem.
A quick question to Levy and a trip to the guild library informed me that the most conductive magic conductor known was something called aeolian shallite. Apparently, it sold at around six hundred million jewel per ounce.
So, balancing price against potency, I eventually settled for a material called Dieffenbach quartz, which was only fifty thousand jewel per ounce. In other words, it was certainly high quality, but I would still be able to purchase enough to use.
Then there was the Stasis Containment Lacrima. According to Mirajane, they weren't too difficult to get at about as large as a coin, but asking for a custom size would make it much, much more expensive.
So, that sixteen and a half million jewel I'd gotten from the SS-class mission? Yeah, that wasn't going to last very long. And just to add on to the difficulty, there was no such things as 'package delivery services.' If you wanted to send someone an object, you's have to pay someone directly to deliver it, or send out a job request for a guild.
So, I would have to travel four hundred miles by train to the town of Era, where the Magic Council was situated, apparently. This, I suppose, explained why it was the only town in the entire country where I could make both purchases in one round trip.
Now the only difficulty was in finding a way to get there without suspicion. As a child, I could hardly tell the guild that I would be leaving for a day or two. No matter where I said I was going, they'd want to send an adult along with me. This meant that I'd not be able to go to Era without providing a reason. 'I want to buy some rare items for an ancient blood ritual' probably wouldn't work.
So as I thought about it, I went through the process of gathering all of the other materials and storing them at the ritual sight. By the end of the day, I had all of my resources except for the two difficult ones (though I still hadn't drawn my own blood yet, either). And I still hadn't a clue as to what kind of excuse would possibly allow for me to be absent for an extended period of time.
Slinking tiredly into the guild hall for some much needed rest, I realized exactly how to go about this. In retrospect, it was so obvious that I should have felt worried about my intelligence for having not thought of it immediately. Such was the consequence of making all of my plans so elaborate.
A job request!
If I was taking an innocuous one, something where other adults would be there, then surely no one would object to my leaving for a day or two? I could probably say something like, 'I will prove my independence!' and they'd eat it all up. Or at least Erza would, and that would prevent anyone else from interfering.
/
Guard Mission!
We are carting a load of valuable supplies from Onibus to Era. We are requesting for a mage to guard the supplies while we transport it and prevent bandits and the like from attacking.
Reward: 10,000J
The request was simple enough, and I'd have an excuse to go to Era. Since there were adults transporting the supplies, I'd have enough 'supervision,' and no complications would arise in the guild.
The plan went off without a hitch. I traveled to Onibus Town, and met my clients. After explaining that, yes, I was qualified for the mission (that particular explanation had involved the judicious use of Pressure Magic), I simply sat in a cart full of boxes for its four-day-long journey to Era.
Food and water were provided for me, and I slept in the cart, so nothing was really a problem. I spent most of the time reading my Compendium and fantasizing about all of the Lost Magics it described.
No bandits ever made any move to attack the traveling cart, so the entire affair was rather dull. After four days of travel, we arrived at Era, and I was presented my meager payment. Ah, but I also had all of my jewel from the S-class mission stored away in my requip space.
In the end, I purchased three pounds of Dieffenbach quartz and a Stasis Containment Lacrima large enough to store a body. I was left with only two million jewel at the end of it all. What obscene prices, honestly!
But I had them, which was what mattered. And, with those two dropped off at my impromptu 'secret chamber,' I had only my blood left.
Now, I couldn't just go ahead and draw two and a half liters at once. That would be... very unhealthy. Instead, I let myself lose a pint every two days for a week. The process was indescribably uncomfortable, and I really never wanted any needles to come anywhere near me ever again by the end of it. Stabbing yourself repeatedly for practical purposes is a rather harrowing process, let me assure you.
Nonetheless, having collected all of the necessary resources in just a week and a half, I began the ritual process, which took another day on its own. Drawing spell diagrams and strange runes in blood was... an experience, shall we say.
On September the twelfth, my creation of questionable ethical orientation was finally completed.
Standing before the great crystal, my own body laid prone within, a great triumph arose in me. And then, after this great elation, a quandary struck me. You know what would have been helpful? A way to get the clone out of the lacrima.
/
Transferring one's own consciousness into the equivalent of a mystical stunt double was rather less disorientating than I had imagined. It was as though I was waking up from a dream without ever having fallen asleep, and then it was over. The body was the same, after all.
No, what really made me queasy about staying inside the clone was my inability to cast any form of magic. As a precaution, I hadn't let any magic follow my mind into the new body. After all, I couldn't be certain that I hadn't made a massive mistake in the creation process. If the clone died, I didn't want to permanently lose any magics.
To look at my own unconscious body while knowing that I'd just been walking around inside of it was also a tad nauseating, though I couldn't be sure exactly why. Perhaps, even though I'd long since come to accept the act of chucking fireballs as commonplace for myself, there were some things that still felt surreal to me.
I spent a good hour in my personal 'chamber of secrets,' switching from body to body. The novelty never really wore off. Smiling rather idiotically, I made something of a game out of it, switching from one body to the other and then catching the first as it fell to the ground in a state of unconsciousness.
Eventually, I realized how I would feel if someone came across me, and my cheeks reddened in a way that was almost tangible. I could practically hear Erza's voice.
Ancient blood magics are not toys!
Shaking my head rapidly to disperse the mental image, I settled into a sitting position and returned my thoughts towards pragmatism. The next step would be trying to inhabit both bodies at once. The Compendium had warned that it would be a very disconcerting experience, so I was more than a bit hesitant to test it.
Closing my eyes, I sent my soul out towards the other me, imagining it like a thin strand of... soul-stuff. Gradually, as the the soul-tendril began to root itself into the other brain, I felt a familiar pull, trying to reel in the rest of my soul.
Instead of allowing it to pull me across, I held my ground. Like hell some mystical spirit-force was gonna tell me what to do! The experience was not exactly painful, but like an uncomfortable pressure was weighing down on my head.
And then...
Disorientation didn't even begin to describe it. Why was everything smelling like purple? Did an ant just crawl across my left hand?! No, there was nothing on my left hand at all. How could the ceiling look so much like earth if it was wooden?
Twenty minutes of sensation-hell was more than enough. That was... definitely going to take some getting used to. I thought I might have started to realize whether a sense was coming from one body or the other, but those were probably the most uncomfortable twenty minutes of my life.
I settled into something of a routine afterwards. Everyday, I would vanish off to my hidden location under the guise of 'training' (a guise which I had also been using to cover up my previous extended visits) for an hour.
Afterwards, I would return to Magnolia, having exhausted my brain trying to cope with inhabiting two bodies at once. After a power nap, I would spend time actually training and reading up on the Black Arts. Every Saturday was my day off, and I could just spend it doing things for fun instead of working.
After five weeks of this, I made enough progress with my clone project that I could actually move around in both of them at the same time, independent of each other. Actually, it was just as easy to move them independently as it was to move them synchronously.
"The human brain is not built for multitasking. The act of doing so in spite of that causes a massive decrease in efficiency for all of the tasks that doesn't outweigh the efficiency of tackling each task independently." That was what my research into the subject had said.
My theory was this: With two clones, there came two brains, even though there was only one mind. So, with two brains, not only was multitasking healthy for me, but it was actually healthier than not doing it (though only for two tasks at the same time).
The problem then became switching back into a one-task mindset afterwards and then back to two-task the next session. Would I have to choose to remain permanently on or off of multitask mode?
Um, no, actually, not at all.
See, although the brain was wired to behave in a certain way, the mind was not nearly so picky. By the time October was coming to an end, my mind had adjusted to using both mono-cognitive and bi-cognitive states interchangeably. Which was awesome.
For my final foray into clone-dom, I transferred over my Illusion Magic to the clone body. Utilizing this, I ended up planning a prank on Erza in retribution for the dress incident. Indeed, it was also a test for my abilities to interact socially in a bi-cognitive state, though this was a secondary goal compared to the amusement I hoped to gain out of it.
Needless to say, it was a moment that all present would likely remember for the rest of their natural lifespans. I acted as though I remembered none of it, though, which was almost as amusing the prank itself.
"Don't act like it never happened! Some official guy from another kingdom came and you turned into a talking cake-demon! And then you guys both disappeared into thin air!"
"I may be eight years old, but I'm not that gullible. Nice try, though."
And then, at the end of all of that, November also came to an end. My remaining two million jewel still hadn't run dry yet, so I hadn't gone on any jobs recently. Unfortunately, with December already upon me, there wasn't time enough left for that.
After all, the plan was about to begin, and I had to be around in order to set it into motion.
/
(A/N): whew, the chapter is finally over. This thing has been hanging over me like some kind of evil specter for two weeks! I cannot even tell you how much I had to rewrite it over and over again! Damn writer's block!
Well, ranting aside, now we can finally move onto the interesting bit, and the final conclusion of part I. Hope you enjoy!