Laura managed to pull a win with decisiveness, bringing the score to a tie. The last tiebreaker match will be up to me, and the only other left to fight is the kid wrapped like a mummy. My head is telling me to be careful around this unknown factor, and my instincts are telling me more so. But something else is nagging at me.

The tiebreaker is soon to start so I step forward and do a quick one-over on my gear and skills. The bandage kid walks slowly in my direction until Dunfer gives him a rude kick sending him tottering. Dunfer’s patience is running low I think.

Becca 「 I think your master is growing impatient. How about you? 」

Kid 「 ... 」

The kid stares with dead eyes between the bandages. He feels more like a tool than a person. If he’s last, then he must be Dunfer’s secret weapon I suspect. What can he do? I try to coax some words from him while I use Analysis to peek at his status.

Name: [BLANK]

Race: Golem

Class: Mimic

Level: 01

…

Skills:

(None)

Class Skills:

Mimicry

Omitting the stats common for a level 1, I can see nothing under skills. But there is quite a bit of information to digest in there. Let’s see, name is, blank? The kid doesn’t have a name, huh.

More importantly, race doesn’t list human. Golem, means that right? An automaton, or a robot made of a magic system made out of rocks. Maybe the bandages are to hide the fact that he is a walking statue. And below that is it’s class. The first time I’ve noticed someone had a class since coming to this world.

Classes are that, a specialization or path of growth that only certain accomplished people receive. Like how titles are earned through achievements, classes and jobs are usually earned through qualifications and tests. Someone with a class can easily outdo his peers.

The kid’s class is mimic, which brings to mind those enemies that disguise themselves as harmless treasure. That class results in his class specific skill mimicry, which states that he can mimic the status of one target. If that does what it says exactly, then this fight is going to be a long one.

Dunfer 「 There’s no choice for it. Go get him you stupid puppet! I don’t care what it takes, win this fight! 」

Kid 「 Affirmative. 」

The kid utters a pre-programmed response and uses mimicry. The kid morphs shape to resemble a girl my height and characteristics. It has mimicked my appearance and Analysis shows that he has the same levels, stats, and skills as I do. A fight against myself begins.

I try to secretly use psychic powers to bring the mimic down but he pushes back with a psychic barrier. I send some ice sphere spells at him and use illusion magic to hide a thin hardened ice spear homing in like a missile from the side. The mimic shoots down each one with similar spells and accuracy. Even the invisible ice spear is blocked with a timely ice shield.

A fight against myself means I don’t have the advantage of skills. I need to change my approach. I try charm magic but it fails, presumably because it’s not a human. It counters with its own charm magic. Have I always been so gorgeous? Wait a second, that was dangerous. My abnormal state negation skill blocks the charm. Since the mimic has that skill too I can’t do things like put it to sleep or weaken it.

Suddenly it hits me, maybe it can copy my skills, but that doesn’t mean it can copy my equipment. I swing my sword at it and take advantage of its +50 attack to deal more damage than it can block. My gear is boosting my battle powers by at least 30%. With that boost I could win eventually.

But contrary to my expectations, a sword materializes in its hand and blocks my attacks splendidly. I forgot, but it also has the crafting skill that I do, so it made a weapon right there in the moment. I guess it can copy my gear after all.

What can I do if we have the same skills, gear, and stats? If I try to use the boost skill, it can do that too. Is the fight going to be one of attrition? One of us will fall by the end.

Let’s try skill transfer and take it’s mimicry skill. A message appears that states, “cannot transfer class-related skills” so that’s a bust. Now that I look at the skills it mimicked from me, Realization isn’t there. Perhaps Realization is a special skill like a class related skill?

If it can’t create skills like I can, maybe I can make more skills that it can’t copy. I need a class of my own with skills that can’t be copied. I don’t have time to consider my class so I just end up with a generic sounding one.

Status

Name: Becca Thorn

Race: Human

Class: Hero

Using Realization and the Game Menu, I modify my status and add a class that anyone could expect. With the class that I’ve made I need a class skill that can’t be copied. I make one that would fit the motif and help turn this situation around.

Class Skills:

Reversal

Reversal is a skill that I think any hero deserves. When in a pinch or after taking damage, return three-fold that amount and reverse a grim situation. The classic hero’s miracle.

The mimic stares at me quizzically, as detects the changes I made to myself. Almost as if sensing danger, it starts attacking me with everything it, or I should say, I have to dish out.

Magic rains down on me and so do a bunch of swords moving through the air via telekinesis. The mimic is trying to finish me off while it can. I take the hail of attacks, using Restoration to heal any critical damage. It uses space magic to move to me instantly and aims at my back. I twist just enough that its sword doesn’t pierce any vital organs. It goes through me and stings as blood pours out. Maybe I should have a skill that removes the sensation of pain.

After all of this, the Reversal skill is ready. In a flash the mimic moves away but I keep up with ease. Our speed and skills are the same so whichever manner it moves in so do I. My sword glows brilliantly with a savage red as I unleash an attack with all the aggregate damage I suffered contained and magnified.

The attack rips through the mimic’s vitality and shields and barriers. From the shoulder to the waist, all of it is obliterated and crumbles to dust. Just behind it a shock-wave of energy ripples and leaves marks on the ground like a train broke through. The aftermath stretches on for a few meters. If I hadn’t setup a barrier beforehand the damage could have been worse.

The mimic can barely move as what I notice to be bits of its inner chest are chipped away. Judging from the placement inside the chest, this organ could have functioned like a heart. Without it the mimic is struggling and cannot keep up its mimicry or my appearance. The kid in bandages appears and stumbles like its limbs can’t work right.

Dunfer 「 Get back up! You need to win the fight, I order you! Piece of trash, garbage puppet! Why do you think I spent so much to create you! I am your master and you will obey me! 」

Dunfer is losing his cool and yells at the mimic who can barely function. My eyes must have turned sympathetic, because my heart definitely is.

Becca 「 Kid, can you move? Dodge this one. 」

I assume a fighting stance and the mimic struggles with one hand to jump back from my path.

Becca 「 Oh no, I can’t stop my attack or change its direction. Whatever shall I do? 」 My voice has no inflection or emotion as I state like a matter of fact. The point is, I wouldn’t stop or change even if I could.

I punch out with a ball full of mana at where the mimic previously was. It shoots past and continues in that direction to the person that was directly across. The ball of explosive mana hits Dunfer straight on and blows him away. The lethality of the mana lump is small, but any organism sensitive to mana will feel sick and uneasy being assaulted by that much raw mana. Dunfer collapses dead, no wait just unconscious.

Like that, the score is 3 – 2 in our victory. Now that the matter is settled, there’s the matter of cleanup.

END OF CHAPTER 7