While passing by the Galilee beach, Simon was seen throwing a net into the sea, as they were fishermen. Luke said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed him.
The New Testament, Gospel of Hannah 3:16-18
After a short midnight adventure, I returned to my dorm room and lay down on my bed. I checked outside to see that Io had fallen asleep, so there was no need to worry about her.
I gazed at the small pill in my hand.
No, my hidden piece!!!
Where did my artifact go? It has turned into a pill!!
A pill… Did Ivan Perisic have a deep knowledge of alchemy or medicine? Although he left behind an incredible legacy of artifacts and magic due to being a superb wizard, a pill is a first for me.
The ‘Avatar’ is an artifact imbued with magic to clone my body, creating a doppelgänger. The clone made through this artifact isn’t just an ordinary copy; it shares my exact appearance and abilities, and even my pocket space!
And the best part is, if this doppelgänger gains new abilities or stats, the original gains those abilities as well. Conversely, if the clone gets heavily injured, the original doesn’t suffer the same damage.
Even in a world as developed with magic as [Deus Ex Machina], only the artifact created by Ivan Perisic could enable such a doppelgänger!
Additionally, it has a function that assists in processing thoughts, allowing me to control both the original and the clone simultaneously!
Well, that’s just the setup; creatively using it is impossible because of the game mechanics. In the game, events can only progress simultaneously in different locations at the same time.
However, since this has become reality, I can fully utilize the capabilities of this artifact.
That said, since the doppelgänger has distance limitations from the artifact, it can’t stray beyond the Academy, which is a minor drawback, but even without that, its performance is ridiculously overpowered.
Through this artifact, the speed of my total mana increase will double whenever my clone trains or takes potions.
That was why I sought this artifact, and I thought Ignis also prompted me to acquire this artifact for mana increase.
At least, that was the case until I saw this pill.
Ivan Perisic’s hologram mentioned ‘magic arts.’ Isn’t that somewhat like a skill? Does eating this mean I acquire ‘Avatar’ like a skill or magic?
If so, it might actually be more convenient than carrying around the artifact… but I still don’t understand why the hologram’s content and the hidden piece’s material have changed. Even though I changed this world, that’s only been in the past ten years.
Ivan was a figure from 200 years ago.
…Let’s just try eating it.
It’s Ivan’s pill. It shouldn’t harm me.
*
The next day.
“Greetings, newbies! I am Marcus, and I will be teaching you ‘Combat Self-Defense’ for the semester! Nice to meet you!”
I was participating in the one class all Academy students must take, ‘Combat Self-Defense,’ alongside Sunny and Andre.
“You all possess a certain level of skill, but no matter how skilled you are, life is about suddenly meeting a tragic end. This ‘Combat Self-Defense’ class aims to prepare you to overcome such circumstances!”
At this moment, I was seeing Marcus, the professor for the first-year ‘Combat Self-Defense’ course.
And…
Simultaneously, the sea came into view.
The city of Calandra, where the Academy is located, is a complete inland city. It takes at least a day on horseback to reach the nearest sea.
Yet, I was seeing the ‘Combat Self-Defense’ class and the sea simultaneously.
It felt like I was sharing another person’s view, just like in a game.
Yesterday, after I devoured the ‘Avatar’ pill, I was able to gain the abilities of ‘Avatar.’
It was similar to the ‘Avatar’ I knew from [Deus Ex Machina], but slightly different.
The traits of sharing vision, abilities, and belongings were completely the same as that ‘Avatar,’ but there was a different characteristic…
There was no distance limit.
From the moment I acquired the ‘Avatar’ ability, the clone I created wasn’t in the Academy but in the room of Ivan Perisic, where I teleported earlier.
It was too late yesterday, so I went to sleep, but today, as I woke up for class, my avatar was breaking free from that room.
And as I searched for the place, I came to this sea.
By the way, even though I’m controlling two bodies simultaneously, I feel no discomfort.
How amazing! I’ve had my share of fascinating experiences since coming to this world, but this is more incredible than any of them.
Even while focusing on moving my avatar, my attention doesn’t get distracted from my original body. It’s like my brain has become dual-core.
My original body is participating in the Academy’s ‘Combat Self-Defense’ class, while my avatar continues exploring an unknown space.
The sea…
Where could this be?
No matter how much Ivan Perisic I am, he wouldn’t create a hideout outside of the Calandra Empire.
If this place is within the Calandra Empire…
The regions with a sea are Galilee, Haifa, Beersheba, and Hebron.
It’s hard to tell just from geography. I need to meet someone else.
While wandering aimlessly, I came across some fishermen cleaning their nets by the beach.
The fishermen were likely returning from fishing, as they were docking their boat. Although their net was empty… I guess they didn’t catch many fish.
“Excuse me.”
This was my first time throwing myself into such a situation alone, so something awkward slipped out.
After all, I had been with Hans or moving around familiar places before.
“Wh-Who are you?”
The fishermen, startled by my sudden appearance, looked at me in surprise. It seemed they realized I was a noble due to my sophisticated robe from the pocket dimension.
“I’m Luke.”
I blurted out my name without thinking. I don’t know why I revealed my name—what do I care about random passersby?
“Oh, I see. This is Galilee.”
Galilee. Is this the Galilee bordering the beastmen’s realm?
That’s quite a distance away. I heard it was affected by recent floods, but I can’t believe I ended up here. I mean, it is my doppelgänger here.
“Is that so? Thank you.”
Now, the question is, how should I act?
Originally, my plan was to use ‘Avatar’ within the Academy to search for hidden pieces or power up my main body through training, but…
Now that the distance limitation has vanished, there’s no need for that.
I can also gather hidden pieces outside the Academy that I haven’t collected.
For now…
“Simon, big brother~! You did great! I brought you food… Huh? Wh-Who are you?”
At that moment, a woman appeared from the opposite side of the pier with a basket on her head.
“Looks like a lost noble person. Just look at that elegance.”
The fisherman I spoke to walked up to her and whispered. I heard everything since my hearing was enhanced through magic.
“Wow, it sure is. Oh, hello?”
“Hello there.”
But this woman… feels oddly familiar. Something…
In a flash,
A memory strummed my mind.
How could I have forgotten that?
The Galilee episode!
In [Deus Ex Machina], students had to go to Galilee for practical training.
It was an episode where academy students were tasked with resolving missions entrusted by other nobles, and during that time, I encountered a brother and sister.
Their names were Simon and Iako.
They were strong and had a unique gift, which was unusual for fishermen living in a rural village.
However, during the process of defeating the episode’s boss, Simon tragically died, while Iako entered the Academy as a special scholarship student.
I can’t believe I’m meeting those two here!
Simon’s abilities were incredibly strong and special, but he exited the story too early, which was a pity. If I can just save Simon, can’t I take him with me!?
Wait a minute.
Why was I only thinking about collecting hidden pieces?
Based on memories from [Deus Ex Machina], I can also recruit such powerful individuals as allies.
Why didn’t I think of that until now? It felt as if I had unconsciously restricted those thoughts.
…Alright.
I’ve decided.
With this doppelgänger, I’ll gather talented individuals and encounters outside the Academy.
The plan has completely changed.
Although it’s not what I originally intended, that might actually be better.
“Did you catch many fish, big brother?”
“No. We didn’t catch one at all today.”
If I’ve made up my mind, there’s no need to hesitate.
“Simon.”
“…Yes? Are you calling me?”
If I say “follow me” now, he wouldn’t just follow along. After all, even if I look like a noble, there’s no way he would follow a complete stranger.
However, if I demonstrate this…
“Go into deeper water and cast your net again. That way, you might catch some fish.”
“Your highness, we’ve worked all night and didn’t catch a single one… But since you say so, we will cast our nets.”
…Huh? I had prepared some convincing words, but it suddenly slipped out?
Ah, now that I think about it, the commoners in this world probably feel this way about nobles.
If they don’t listen to my words, they might face some consequence, and that’s why they’re following along?
Even without my guards, this world has magic and swordsmanship. Being a noble means I must possess something extraordinary, so Simon didn’t even think of challenging me and set out to sea to fish.
Well, no matter the reason.
The important thing is they’ve set sail.
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