Curselock

Chapter 193: Lizards

Glenny… was… dying…

Not really, of course, but he sure felt like it. Two weeks they had been in this cursed desert and for two weeks he had been coached nonstop by his dad… and other Glenny. The mirage was just the worst. It did everything he did, but better. Perfect, even. Like it just knew how Glenny would perfectly play out a fight and do it, when the real Glenny had things that limited him. Like breathing, walking on sand, flinching, anything really.

Worst of all, Carmon, his father, actually liked talking to Glenny Two. They discussed strategy and tactics like they were bunk mates at an army officer school. They then would turn on the real Glenny and order him to implement whatever they decided perfectly. And when the real Glenny couldn’t do it perfectly, Glenny Two would.

Then preen like a bird.

Gah! Glenny hated his mirage and was frankly jealous of how Leland’s mom kept killing Leland Two.

Though, Glenny couldn’t exactly say having the mirage around was detrimental to his training. On the contrary, in fact. Seeing how battle should go from someone with his exact powerset and abilities was like lighting a bonfire to see at night rather than waving a candle around blindly. Not to mention the one on one duels the Glennys competed in.

Glenny, of course, had yet to win a single bout.

But each time he was just a bit closer… which also meant his clone was just a bit stronger. Measuring progress had changed from “winning” to actually “improving.” It was a strict contrast, one that Glenny respected after week one. Winning meant very little, and meanwhile training, fixing mistakes and broadening one’s mind meant everything.

The mirage was even using his parasitic shadow cloak and the Sightless King’s powers in new and unique ways. Like forging umbrellas of crimson primordial power to use as impromptu shadow creator, then shadow stepping to angles once impossible.

In the end, Glenny could put up with his mirage knowing that it was a tool and only a tool. Glenny Two was not trying to “steal” his father away like he originally thought. Nor was the clone trying to replace him as the original.

It was after a particularly brutal reprimand from Isobel that Glenny realized this. He had failed to predict something or other, and thus she had to come in and saved his life. The yelling started immediately, but was cut off quite quickly by the mirage.

“We get it,” Glenny Two had said at the time. “He won’t make that mistake again, trust us.”

Isobel eyed the mirage but turned back to the real Glenny. “I don’t think you do. If I hadn’t interfered right then, you would have died. How would I explain that to your father? ‘Your son died because he shadow teleported under a sand elemental’s foot. I couldn’t do a thing.’”

Glenny went to respond, but the clone beat him to it. “And he won’t make that mistake again.” He clapped the original on the back, pulling him away from the crazy lady. They stepped up the dune overlooking the battlefield. Glenny Two pointed toward the monster. “It was a good idea in theory, but the issue is that elementals know everything that happens around them. Remember, they don’t actually sense through their eyes. The sand is ‘part of them.’”

Original Glenny frowned. “If you know the best way to kill that thing, just tell me.”

Glenny Two smiled. “If I know, so do you. Take it slow, we have all the time in the world right now.”

Glenny wasn’t sure.

The mirage continued. “Think about it like this. Your father is still away getting his daily healing from Leland, right? He should be back soon, why don’t you kill that thing as a little surprise present?”

Glenny could feel Isobel roll her eyes. Both he and the clone ignored it. “What about shadow stepping onto its shoulder and attacking its ‘head?’”

Glenny Two smiled wide. “Perfect!”

And that’s what he did. Sand elementals were notoriously difficult to kill. Not because they were quick or heavily armored, but because they had literal entire deserts to recoup their lost sand and regenerate. Every time Glenny attacked, the monster would refill and attack back.

The monster was the size of a house, humanoid in appearance, but big and bulky like it was born made of cubes of stone rather than smooth skin. Head completely square, enough shadows were cast from the setting sun that Glenny had a wide open area to shadow step to. His cloak eagerly allowed the moment, quickly slurping up the shadows upon his arrival.

Standing tall on its shoulder, Glenny easily transformed his weapon into a crimson two handed maul. Thick at one end, thin at the other, he pounded the elemental’s neck and head until it crumbled to dust. When it did, sand rapidly swirled around its feet, rushing to the injury.

Paying the river of sand no mind, Glenny continued his attack, each time angling his forged weapon just a bit better. By the end of this string of attacks, the hammer now had a deadly spike protruding out. It penetrated deeper, enough so that the elemental had to actually focus on knocking Glenny away rather than just endure his attacks.

When the shadows shifted, this time the sun being blotted out by the monster’s arm, Glenny shadow stepped away. He caught his breath a dune or two away, just in time to see Isobel fire a single bolt from her parasitic weapon at the sand elemental’s mirage.

It died, instantly.

“How many more times do I have to kill the thing? Because I can just ignore it and let you fight both of them,” she said.

Glenny glared at her but said nothing.

“Come on, let’s pack it up. This beasty seems a bit too strong for you—”

“Shut up.”

Isobel smirked a bit. “Prove me wrong, eh?”

“Don’t kill the mirage again,” Glenny snarled and shadow-stepped back into the fray.

This attempt was much the same, but when he appeared on the monster’s shoulder, he waited. And waited. And waited. Glenny didn’t understand how the Mirage Fields worked, but some mirages reappeared near instantly when destroyed, others took a bit of time.

While waiting, Glenny focused on the Void. He cleared his mind, dropping an anvil on the whispers assaulting his mind. Silence followed, removing the annoyance of waiting…

Wait, Glenny thought, a sinking feeling elongating in his guts. It wasn’t dread, surprise, or fear, but something new. Something that shined brightly within his understanding of reality.

The Void was everywhere and nowhere. It was between, it was connected. It waited patiently, eternally cold and devoid of life and power. That hung in his mind even as the sand elemental’s mirage reappeared.

Devoid. Waiting. Lack of everything. But most importantly, it was right there. Everywhere. It was everywhere, yet right there.

Glenny reeled back, spiked hammer in hand, and swung. Forever he felt he swung, the hammer inching closer at a frozen pace. Devoid, waiting, everywhere. Like a split in reality, a portal to another realm, a haunted existence forever bathed in the white endless… Glenny swung, the Sightless King’s whispers drowned away by nothing, yet everything.

The hammer connected but there was no damage. No cracking, no dust.

But the elemental was hurt, it was broken in ways unseen and unlearned. Standing on the shoulder of the monster, Glenny inspected the hole he created. Dented in, rock and sand was simply gone, sacrificed to the Void.

In his mind, from his teaching with Reflective King Harlen, Glenny wrapped himself in the feeling and shadow stepped away. He reappeared in Isobel’s shadow, his cloak drinking the darkness like a crazed kid with a straw.

“Give u—" she started to ask but stopped, jolting her head toward him.

Glenny, kneeling with blood trickling down from his nose, slowly creaked his head up, finding Isobel frozen with her mouth slightly ajar.

“What?” he asked, tasting iron.

Glenny Two appeared, the mirage bleeding just like the original. “I can tell you what! Look at our eyes!”

The real Glenny did, finding the mirror image of him perfect. His greasy red hair, it wildly swaying in the dry winds of the desert. His slightly freckled face, the dots looking like small islands to a stream of blood leaking from his nose. A not-often-used smile, one that showed off more teeth than not.

Most importantly was their eyes, perfectly spherical orbs of pure white endlessness.

“That’s some power we just touched upon,” Glenny Two said. “I’m glad we were able to do it together!”

Glenny wanted to respond to his clone, but his chest felt cold yet burning. He was breathing heavily, like Leland after his morning exercise. Panic arose, especially when his nose suddenly gushed with blood. He let out a faint cry, one that he hoped Isobel would recognize as a plea for help.

She cursed herself, closing the distance and pulled a shiny red healing potion from her inventory ring. Popping the cork and pouring it down his throat, Isobel spoke through clenched teeth, “You’re fine, you’re fine. Just need to wait for the potion to work—”

Glenny stopped listening. Wait, huh? he asked himself, blinking slowly.

Something in the back of his mind connected to something outside his reality, and suddenly things started to make more sense.

Glenny Two’s eyes widened, the full whiteness of them fading back to their original color. “Did you just!? I mean, did we just!?”

“What!?” Isobel snipped.

“Oh ho oh, Mr. Original here just adapted to the Void! I’ll go get dad!”