SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

In the morning, Edgar brought Sasha to her primary school, then he drove his truck and went to a big internet cafe. He parked his truck and went inside the cafe. There are many computers inside, but there are few customers because it is still early in the morning.

At the center is a man who has a fierce look in his eyes as he plays a game. He is wearing an earpiece with a mic.

"Fuck you! How dare you call me fatso?!! I will kill you!" shouted Oscar. Everyone in the game world knows Oscar. He is very fat, so many people call him fatso, but he doesn't like being called that.

Edgar sits near Oscar. He turned on the computer. He took out his phone and opened his e-wallet. He scanned the barcode on the screen and paid for one hour of use of the computer. He opens the internet and watches videos, but he is actually paying attention to Oscar. He will immediately activate his skill once he feels the fluctuation of magic from Oscar.

"Idiot! Don't imitate me. Stay where you are or you'll die! Fuck you, I am Game King! How can I be compared to a lame gamer like you?!" Shouted Oscar to his teammate.

The game is five vs. five. The other four game characters on Oscar's side suddenly stop moving.

"Fuck you all! You think I will lose without you?!! I am Game King Oscar!" Furiously shouted by Oscar, then he started mobilizing his mana and activated his unique skill.

PARALLEL THOUGHT

Edgar's eyes lit up.

"Finally," thought Edgar. He also activated his skill.

DUPLICATE ACTIVATE

A magic rune skill automatically forms in his sea of consciousness. He doesn't need to directly stare at Oscar as long as the target of duplication is in his field of vision.

"We are both in the 3rd circle, but it will actually take five minutes to duplicate it. Is it because the runes are unique and arranged in complicated patterns? The more rare the runes, the longer it will take to duplicate. I hope Fatso could hold on until I completely duplicate it," thought Edgar.

Oscar is swiftly manipulating the wireless mouse and keyboard. It looks like two people are separately operating the mouse and keyboard. His enemies are working together to kill his game character, but it is so nimble under Oscar's control. It even killed one of them. His enemies are game veterans, but Oscar is fighting them alone.

Four minutes have passed. Sweats flow on Oscar's forehead. The other users inside the cafe are behind Oscar, watching the exciting fight. There are only two enemies remaining, but the HP of Oscar is already low.

Only one is remaining. More sweat appears on Oscar's forehead.

TNNG! The parallel thought is successfully duplicated. The magic rune is completely formed.

Edgar smiles, then stares at the completed runes of the skill. There are runes that he doesn't know. There are really more rare runes, so duplicating is slow even if they have the same stage in magic.

"Yeah!" Oscar stood up and raised his arms. The others also cheered. Oscar won against five veterans alone.

"Game King! Game King!" The others are cheering for Oscar.

"Hahahaha" Oscar laughs as he enjoys the cheers of others.

"Hahaha, good job, Fatso!" shouted a woman.

The happy face of Oscar suddenly turned hideous. He turned his head and furiously shouted.

"How dare you call me fat-" Oscar stopped shouting as he saw who called him fatso.

The woman is wearing black and gray armor. Her long brown hair is ponytailed. Her metal gloves have sharp fingernails. She is famous in this neighborhood, Feline Susan. She is a 2nd-level aura master and a 4th-circle magician.

Fatso's face is pale. Snot flows from his nose, then his cheeks blush. He is scared but also infatuated.

"M-Ms. Susan, you're back," said Fatso as he approaches Susan with a humble appearance.

"Ms. Susan, I have been taking care of the shop while you are gone," said Oscar with blushing cheeks.

"Hahahaha, you did well. I will give you magic stones later as a reward," said Susan as she pats Oscar's shoulder.

"Y-you don't have to do that, Ms. Susan," said the Fatso shyly.

Everyone except Edgar has an unbelievable expression on their face. Is that Oscar who is always furiously cursing and looks fierce when someone calls him fatso?

Susan laughs, then notices a young man who is looking in their direction. She only feels the energy of an ordinary human, but he has an air of unfathomable calm and confidence. His eyes look wise, which does not fit his age.

Edgar looks at the computer screen again and shuts down the computer.

"It's time to go to the library," thought Edgar.

Edgar walked out of the cafe. Susan looks at the back of Edgar.

"That young man looks mysterious," thought Susan.

Edgar felt Susan's eyes on him, but he doesn't care. His necklace only emits the energy of an ordinary human.

He drives his truck to the public library. Along the way, he saw big buildings with different crests. They stand with other taller buildings. Those buildings with crests are guilds. The other buildings with the company's name are companies that process the magic plants,magic minerals, magic stones, and magic materials from magic beasts. They are pharmaceutical companies, potion companies, runesmith companies, and other industries.

The wealth taken from the broken world created many industries. Those industries gave a huge amount of revenue to the government, which helped them develop the country and buy more advanced weapons. There are more skyways and taller buildings.

In the directions of north, east, west, and south, there are four huge white towers with magic runes. They are defense towers for magic shields.

Near the skyways are houses and buildings neatly arranged. More parks are built. At a park, young water magicians are practicing their skill with complacent faces. The young, ordinary people around them are full of envious faces.

The truck approaches Manila Bay.

The bay has a long, white beach. The sand is no longer artificial. With the help of magic, the gray sands are turned into white sands.

There are artificial lands around the white beach. They are made with the help of earth magicians. There are high-end hotels and resorts on the artificial lands.

On the white beach, many people are sunbathing, and some people are watching a show happening on the sea.

A foreigner with long, blond hair and sunglasses is riding on a surfboard. The actual wave on the sea is not strong, but he uses water magic and creates a water wave.

The foreigner directed his surfer board to ride the wave. The foreigner suddenly directed the water wave to move in a different direction.

Bang! A small water pillar suddenly rose. A mischievous foreign lady laughed at the foreign man. The foreign man reprimanded the lady. Some hyperbeings, including Filipinos, move to the sea and show off their skills with complacent faces as they look at the people on the beach.

Many people on the beach look at them with envy.

Edgar smiles as he sees what is happening on the beach.

"It will change soon," thought Edgar.

He reached the library after driving for a few more minutes.

When he enters the library, he is surprised at its size. He is only a little surprised. The library he made in Aurora World is a lot bigger than this.

"It does not look this big on the outside," says Edgar, then he starts looking for books about computers.

He took the books and went to a table. He sits down and opens a book on the basics first. He used life detection to determine if there are aura masters or magicians in the library. There is none, so it is safe to use magic in the library.

"It's time to test how effective parallel thought is!"

Edgar activated the skill.

PARALLEL THOUGHT

"It feels like I have two separate brains. I can read two pages at the same time. My one hundred years of learning in the virtual world strengthened my analytical and memory skills. As my stage in magic increases, my memory further improves, and there is actually a hidden skill in parallel thought that Fatso did not tell anyone." Edgar thought as he analyzes the skill.

THOUGHT ACCELERATION

The speed of analysis in Edgar's mind accelerated a lot, but it consumed a lot of mana.

"This skill is very useful in battle. Why did Fatso waste a very powerful skill? Is he just lazy, or are there hidden side effects of the skill in battle? I should test it at home later.

Using parallel thought consumes an acceptable amount of mana, but it puts more stress on my mind the longer it is used."

Edgar thought, then he put his attention back on the book.

"I should deactivate the parallel thought when I feel more stress on my mind, and I should only use thought acceleration when I don't understand what I read."

Edgar started his reading. He deactivates parallel thoughts when the stress on his mind gets bigger. He activates it when his mind recovers. He activates thought acceleration sometimes. He read two books in a few hours.

He is a little dizzy because of too much mana consumption.

"It is better to read them at home. I can't replenish my mana here," thought Edgar. He lifted the remaining books and brought them to the librarian. The librarian told him that he could only borrow a limited number of books. Edgar sighs. Reading all the books might take longer than he expected.

"Should I buy them online? I might not be able to buy them online. They are the best books and always out of stock. By the time they are available online, I could have finished reading them all." thought Edgar.

He went home, then replenished his mana in his room when he arrived.

He went to the living room, closed the door and windows, and then moved the seats and table with magic. He created a huge space at the center. He cast a sound blockade and a magic shield, then he tried using parallel thought while using two earthen swords. The parallel thought quickly put pressure on his mind. He also tried using the skill while casting magic. It only took a little longer before his mind was affected by parallel thought.

"So there is a reason why Oscar did not use it for battle. The more the skill is used to control action or magic, the more severe the pressure in the mind. I was wondering why Oscar was struggling while using his skill earlier. I thought he was using thought acceleration until the end, but it seemed that wasn't the case. He was just using his fingers to manipulate the mouse and keyboard, but it was already difficult for him.

Using a sword is not just a simple swing of an arm. It requires coordination of different parts of the body to reach the maximum speed, so parallel skill immediately puts pressure on my mind. Using the skill on magic has the same effect on my mind. If I use parallel skill to control a sword or magic, it will affect my thinking and responses, so I cannot use it to control magic or a sword, but I can use it to analyze information."

Edgar looks at the two earthen swords in his hands.

"I should go to the underground market tonight and smith what I need, like a sword, before going to the restricted area tomorrow."

He dispersed the earthen swords. The earthen swords crumble. After that, he dispersed the magic shield and sound blockade. He lifts the tables and seats with magic to put them back in their original positions.

"I forgot to give them potions yesterday. I was too engrossed in talking with them yesterday. It will help them remove the impurities in their body. It is very important for Uncle Tony; he might be at risk of heart disease." Edgar thought as he placed the tables and seats. After placing the tables and seats, he feels the need to buy a bigger and more quiet house where he can create an underground training hall.

He went to Sasha's school and took her home in the afternoon.

At dinner, Edgar mentions the potions to his family. After dinner, he took out small glasses filled with shining emerald liquid. The three stare at the shining emerald with fascinated eyes.

"A magician that I saved during my last hunt gave me potions as a reward. I already took one. It will remove the impurities in the body. Black liquid will ooze out from the skin a few minutes after drinking, so it should be taken before taking a bath. Uncle, you take it first," said Edgar.

"Hahaha, I always worried about my health as I cannot take time to exercise. Magic is really magical," said Tony, then he drank the potion. After a few minutes, impurities oozed out of his body, which astonished them. Although Edgar already said it, they still feel amazing as they witness it. Tony went to the bathroom and took a bath.

"Hahahaha, it's been a long time since I felt this better," said Tony. The fat in his stomach became smaller.

"This potion must remain a secret. It is still not available to the public. Someone greedy might target us if they knew. This should only be taken every five days to give time for the body to adjust. Stop taking the potions once no more impurities come out. Uncle, you must exercise and pretend to be in a diet to not cause too much commotion," said Edgar as a warning. The three nod their heads. Edgar made sure that Sasha understood. The potion that she will take is smaller, and the interval is longer. The little girl swore that she would not tell anyone as she crossed her heart, which made Edgar laugh.

At 11 p.m., Edgar quietly went out of their house. He looks at the sky, full of stars.

"The last time I went to the underground market, I was just an ordinary human. This time, I will enter as a hyperbeing. Let me see what the underground market is hiding."