Chapter 173: Scholar of Many Minds

It's been a month since Yrania arrived, and at first, no one noticed her presence. For the first few days, she stayed on Temple Island, but rumors started to spread, and soon people became interested in the new dragon. It didn't take long for people to put two and two together and realize that my spending so much time on Temple Island is because of Yrania, so now I am being bombarded by questions, forcing me to use an invisibility spell to get away from people.

Over the last week, I feel like I finally got a grasp on battling against mind mages, and Yrania finally helped me get my thirteenth breakthrough for [Mental Fortitude], which is about defending my memories from attacks, but yesterday Yrania crushed the notion of me being any good of mental conflicts by stepping up the difficulty and using two minds against my five.

"A dedicated mind mage will probably have more minds than you," Yrania lectures me. "You aren't the only one with items that increase the number of minds you have, so you must assume a mind mage will have at least two extra minds given to them by their items in addition to the ones given by their skill."

In other words, I am nothing special, and I should assume to be out-classed and out-numbered; hopefully, the playing field will be leveled with my second class.

"But you have improved immensely, and you will catch most mind mages off guard. Your goals for your second Class should be met now, and further training may interfere with that."

I can't wait! I've been falling behind on so many things; the faster I have a Class centered for my clones and minds, the sooner I can catch up on my ever-increasing workload.

First, however, this is an opportunity to see and study the apotheosis seed and see how it grows into a Class.

"You certainly don't waste time," Yrania comments with amusement.

"I've been waiting for this opportunity, and I have a lot to do and not enough minds to do them with."

"Curious," Yrania mutter and looks at me with academic interest. "Why force yourself to do so much work? Most, if not all, won't blame you for prioritizing your time and work; you are only one person."

"Most of what I do is for myself," I reply, mentally grabbing hold of the apotheosis seed.

I focus on applying the seed to my [Duplicate Self] Bond skill and watch with amazement as the seed begins to grow lines and curves, quickly turning into a Class magic framework. However, the transformation is not quite done, there is still something missing, but I'm not sure what.

Ting! You have unlocked a second Class; choose your Class's Path!

Doll General
(Adept)
You have controlled your duplicates in battle; you are their lord, their general. Your Duplicates are smarter and more reliable; you have better control over your duplicates and can empower them so long as you are linked to them. With your army of Duplicates, you can take down foes stronger than you, deadlier than you, and tougher than you. March forth and manifest your destiny as the hand of the Nexus.

Sounds like this is focused entirely on my clones, likely with skills that support [Duplicate Self], such as making them stronger and improving their base AI. It also sounds to be mostly focused on fighting, which hasn't been a major focus of my efforts. I'd rather have a Class that will help me in my everyday life.

Self Serving Princess
(Adept)
You need no handmaidens, for you are your own. Pamper yourself with the servitude of your duplicates, increase their utility and working speed, and be treated like royalty.

This is a little too domestic. I'd like some combat capabilities; also, what's with the 'princess' thing? It has to be metaphorical.

Ambassador of Many Places
(Major)
You have been in many places at the same time and bargained with a kingdom across an ocean despite never leaving home. You assume roles for every situation and achieve things outside your normal capabilities. You will be able to operate your duplicates from afar with ease and go to places far away.

This one is promising and seems to make use of [Acting], but I see no mention of increased minds, which is my primary goal, but this sounds like it will reduce the distance cost for my clones which means I will be able to operate them much farther. I won't say no to this, but if I can't get what I want, then I will consider it.

Army of Self
(Major)
You have done many things simultaneously, and you have been in many places simultaneously; the reach of your Mind and Duplicates are as far and wide as your ability to see. You do many different things from study, to training, to fighting and more. You utilize your duplicates for domestic tasks not worthy of your valuable minds. You will increase your minds, your duplicates, and your ability to accomplish all your goals.

This is exactly what I want; it's not too hyperfocused, improved my [Twin Minds] and clones, and generally seems to be an improvement to the capabilities of my clones, even if it's not by much. This is the jack-of-all-trades class I want, but there is one more Class available to me

Scholar of Many Minds
(Grand)
You love to learn and study the mysteries of the world, but you only have so much time. You have found kindred in others who research the world, you have consulted and have been trained by ancient and powerful beings, and you have been to places far from home yet never left the safety of it. You have trained your mind all for the sake of being to learn more; you will be able to be in all the places you wish to be and have the mental fortification to do so. Go out and explore, research, and learn.

This Class seems to be much more focused on the Mind and less about the clones plus its Grand tier. However, it's a bit more focused than the catch-all that is Army of Self; however, it focuses more on study and research, something that may help me in my future goals.

This is tough. Do I take Army of Self or Scholar of Many Minds? Army will improve my clone more while Scholar improves my minds more. Ultimately I am taking this Class for my minds and my clones with the end goal of [Unlimited Minds] being in this Class. Taking into account my end goal, the choice is easily apparent.

I watch as the apotheosis seed finalizes its formation with my choice. Four general skills hop over from my general skills to my new Class; however, two of them occupy the same skill slot, blending together into a new skill!

Ting! Pain Tolerance and Mental Fortitude have merged and became Iron Will!

That wasn't all; another skill's magic framework shifts as the magic in it intensifies. I can't help but smile as eight new minds appear alongside my current ones.

Ting! Twin Minds has upgraded to Many Minds!

Ting! New active skill is available, Duplicate Swap! Would you like to accept this skill?

Duplicate Swap: You and a duplicate swap place. Costs more mana the farther away the duplicate is.

Wait, isn't this a long-range teleportation skill?! I will have to test it and see how far I can teleport with it, but I can definitely see some uses for it.

Ting! You have gained the Duplicate Swap Class skill!

Ting! New active skill is available, Mind Boost! Would you like to accept this skill?

Mind Boost: Temporarily boosts the capabilities and strength of your minds

Not exactly sure what exactly this does, but it probably helps me in mental conflicts, it might also have some utility uses, but it will require extensive testing.

Ting! You have gained the Mind Boost Class skill!

Ting! New active skill is available, Mind Gain! Would you like to accept this skill?

Mind Gain: Temporarily gain more minds.

I don't even need to think about this one; even if it's for a short amount of time, more minds are always welcome.

Ting! You have gained the Mind Gain Class skill!

Ting! New active skill is available, Alter Duplicate! Would you like to accept this skill?

Alter Duplicate: Make small changes to the appearance of your duplicates upon creation.

Not sure if this will see a lot of use, but I'll take it anyway, just in case it does turn out to be useful.

Ting! You have gained the Alter Duplicate Class skill!

Ting! New passive skill is available, Identical Duplicates! Would you like to accept this skill?

Identical Duplicates: Makes your duplicates have your exact same Mana signature, making it hard to tell you apart from your duplicates

Not impossible, but hard; I think it scales with its level. Anyway, this has been a major weakness of my clones for a long time, and to finally cover that is very welcome. I open up my new Class and general skills in my mind to see exactly what changed.

Class- Scholar of Many Minds (Grand), Level: 0/393
Active skill 1: Duplicate Swap 0/10
Active skill 2: Mind Boost 0/10
Active skill 3: Mind Gain 0/10
Active skill 4: Alter Duplicate 0/10
Active skill 5:
Passive skill 1: Iron Will 183/210
Passive skill 2: Clear Mind 120/120
Passive skill 3: Many Minds 90/90
Passive skill 4: Identical Duplicates 0/10
Passive skill 5:

General skill 1: Tailoring. 110/110
General skill 2:
General skill 3: Persistent state 80/80
General skill 4:
General skill 5: Acting 99/100
General skill 6: Musician 130/130
General skill 7: Graceful Movements 120/120
General skill 8:
General skill 9:
General skill 10: Sense Soul 125/130

With four new skill slots open and my class skills, I have a lot of training to do now. The only problem is that for my Class, I may want to hold back; it will have an opportunity to evolve at level four hundred, but its level cap is already three hundred ninety. I had not expected [Pain Tolerance to move over as well, and I should aim to get my Bond to level two or three thousand before evolving to Heroic, especially since my Heirloom tier is making everything require greater achievements.

Iron Will: You've built up an iron will against a powerful foe; this will increase your mental fortitude against attacks.
1st Breakthrough: You've resisted the multiple minds of a mind mage; this will help you fight off groups of mental attacks.
2nd Breakthrough: You've resisted being entranced; this will help you resist such influence for longer.
3rd Breakthrough: You've resisted mental domination; this will help you remain yourself for longer.
4th Breakthrough: You've somehow shed off a second mind to take the mental attack instead of you; this will help it fight off attacks for longer.
5th Breakthrough: You've resisted allures or seduction; this will help you resist such attempts.
6th Breakthrough: You've resisted mind destruction; this will help you resist total mind destruction again.
7th Breakthrough: You've fought against overwhelming power; this will help you resist attacks from beings beyond your imagination
8th Breakthrough: You felt incredible pain; this will help you ignore your suffering.
9th Breakthrough: You've entered a state of focus; this will increase all your breakthrough's effectiveness.
10th Breakthrough: You've begun to recover from mental trauma; this will help you recover faster.
11th Breakthrough: You've resisted overwhelming fear; this will help you conquer that which terrifies you.
12th Breakthrough: You've resisted attempts to read your mind; this will help you resist interrogations.
13th Breakthrough: You've resisted attempts to read your memory; this will help you keep your past private.
14th Breakthrough: You felt true pain; this will help let you tolerate true pain
15th Breakthrough: You suffered magical pain; this will help let you tolerate pain from magical sources.
16th Breakthrough: You've suffered pain from third-degree burns; this will help you tolerate such pain again.
17th Breakthrough: You've suffered pain from breaking your bones; this will help you tolerate such pain.
18th Breakthrough: You've had your soul damaged; this will help you tolerate pain of the soul.
19th Breakthrough: You've felt overwhelming amounts of pain; this will help you tolerate such extreme amounts of suffering.
20th Breakthrough: You've managed to ignore pain; this will help you ignore your suffering.

If this skill now covers pain as well, I wonder what else its scope of potential now covers, too; I also have my first class near an evolution as well. So much to do, so little time!