POV: Zane
Another day passed, and I took control of Frieren's body to check how things were going. After a day, everything had already calmed down, as if nothing serious had happened.
I overheard some people talking in front of the dungeon about what had happened with the Loki Familia, but that was about it.
Well, it makes sense that the commotion died down since I killed the assassins myself. But things are probably still heating up behind the scenes.
I returned to my original body and got up to prepare lunch.
After finishing my meal, I went to the mirror to make some changes to my appearance.
"I can't use that old man appearance again since Finn saw it. How about using the appearance of another old person?" I remembered a neighbor from my previous world who lived in the apartment next door.
She was always very kind and was a widow.
"She's perfect for this." Even though she is a woman, it doesn't matter.
I started altering my appearance. My hair grew longer and turned white, and deep wrinkles appeared everywhere. My once-blue eyes turned black, and my previously white teeth became yellow.
I didn't alter my genitalia since no one would see it anyway, but I did add a pair of saggy breasts, like those of an elderly woman.
Since I was dressed, I didn't have to witness an unpleasant sight.
"I also need to change my voice." Since that old lady used to smoke a lot, she had a very raspy voice. However, I didn't include that raspiness in the voice I created — I just made it sound similar.
After finalizing the transformation, I also created clothes: a long, floral dress like the one she used to wear.
I wonder how she's doing... Did she die while I was gone? I remember she was very sick.
Once I was done, I was ready to return to Clone 16's body.
Clone 16, which floor are you on?
[ Sixth floor, master. I'm close to evolving. ]
'All of you are already close to evolution, right?'
[ Yes! ]
Most of them responded positively.
Only Frieren and Akitsu weren't close to evolving.
I had told them to dive into the dungeon occasionally, but Frieren hadn't gone even once. Akitsu had returned once, but that wasn't enough. I needed to talk to them about it.
They needed to get stronger.
I took control of Clone 16 and got ready to summon a few more clones.
I currently have 17 clones. I used to have 16, but after summoning one to take on the appearance of a Loki Familia member, I now had 17. "It's time to summon all 32 clones."
The system has made it clear that it wants me to summon all the clones, especially since the experience needed to level up has increased a lot.
As I was thinking about leveling up, a message popped up.
[ You have leveled up to Level 5! ]
[ +20 Points ]
[ All Stats +10 ]
"Finally, I leveled up again."
I had gained a lot of experience when I killed those adventurers from the Sekhmet Familia, but even so, I had only just reached level 5! It's not enough.
I need to get stronger. Much stronger.
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I maintained control over Clone 16 and tried to check my status. However, what appeared was Clone 16's status. But even if I can't see my original status, it's fine. I remember the important information.
I still had 15 clones left to summon. "I have a lot of work ahead."
I walked through the corridors of the sixth floor and killed some monsters. I used magic to kill them. Afterward, I headed to a slightly wider room and summoned the 15 clones.
When they all appeared before me, I laughed.
All the clones looked the same as my original body. The appearance of a very frail and helpless old woman.
"Alright, first let's put a basic appearance on all of you." I gave them all brown hair and made them look like generic young adults, around 21 to 23 years old. They all looked like typical NPCs.
Hmm... I started thinking about what to do.
"If I edit each one individually, it's going to take forever. Even though I just have to imagine and tell the system what I want, it's still a lot of work."
Sometimes I forget some details about the characters' appearances or their clothes. Because of this, I spend a lot of time thinking.
But thinking about it, do I really need to give each of them unique appearances?
Loki already knows that I can use any appearance for my clones, and likely Freya and the other gods know too.
What's more, even though all the clones have unique appearances, they still stand out. The characters I've used so far are extremely eye-catching - Frieren and Berserker were perfect examples.
And they don't have Falnas.
It's easy to tell who's a clone and who's not. At least for me.
"Well, as long as I have a few clones among adventurers and Familias, it's no problem if a few others stand out."
I guess I am overthinking it.
"I shouldn't worry about whether I'm attracting attention or not."
As long as they don't find my main body, it is fine.
Honestly... I've already drawn too much attention, so it doesn't make sense to be overly cautious now.
The real problem with them knowing I can use any appearance is that they'd be far more cautious now. Infiltrating a Familia will be harder.
Well, since I've decided not to worry about it anymore, there's no need to give each clone a different appearance right now. "I'll do it little by little."
"Clones 18 to 27, you can go now. Kill as many monsters as possible; I want to level up fast. Clones 28 to 32, you're the lucky ones! You'll get unique appearances and names!"
I equipped Clones 18–27 with the sword I had "borrowed" from the dead Loki Familia member before they left, and Clones 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32 celebrated that I was going to give them a new name and a new look.
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Next chapters: Chapter 36 - New characters. Vergil. / Chapter 37 - Form groups. You're very persistent. / Chapter 38 - Clones destroyed. / Chapter 39 - Magic sword.