Chapter 1445 - Reunion With A Kindred Shadow (Patreon)

Jake watched his Eternal Shadow standing there, completely unmoving. Several seconds passed before it finally clenched its fists, and a very familiar voice in an equally familiar tone echoed throughout his Soulspace.

“This is a fucking mess...” he muttered, moving slightly as the entire shadow seemed to flicker for a moment. “Shit...”

His Eternal Shadow lost its form briefly before all the energy regathered, the only thing throughout all this remaining constant being the physical-looking finger. Jake didn’t need to ask what was going on either, as he vividly felt it and chose to let his other self handle everything. Trying to interfere would likely do more harm than good, as Jake knew how stubborn he was, and having two of him trying to control the situation at once wouldn’t end well.

All he could do was wait while keeping the rest of the Soulspace stable to ensure his other self had optimal conditions. At the same time, he very carefully kept his senses honed, trying to confirm what he already firmly believed.

It’s Sim-Jake, right?

He thought it was, but didn’t have actual confirmation yet. It felt like Sim-Jake, and his vibe with the few words he spoke reminded him of his other simulated self, but that wasn’t enough to confirm it in Jake’s mind.

He didn’t exactly have many insights into simulated versions of himself, seeing as he’d only ever met Sim-Jake. What he did know was that the finger he’d gotten from the Exalted Prima hadn’t belonged to Sim-Jake. At least not the one Jake had known. It was another simulated version of himself, so there was a chance this wouldn’t be the same person who had trained Jake in melee combat. It felt the same, but wouldn’t it only make sense that other versions of Jake would feel similar?

“It is me,” the shadowy version of himself suddenly said, his voice sounding as if he’d spoken through gritted teeth. “And do me a favor and stop flooding me with inane fucking thoughts all the time.”

“Hey, it worked; I got my confirmation,” Jake shrugged as he did what his other self asked and emptied his mind, something he was very good at. He didn’t have a good sense of time passing as he only focused on stabilizing his soul and ensuring that Sim-Jake had what he needed to do whatever he was doing.

After an indeterminate amount of time, everything finally calmed down, and the Eternal Shadow stabilized. Sim-Jake let out a loud sigh as his form began to look more like Jake, with actual facial features.

“That Exalted Prima is a royal asshole,” Sim-Jake muttered, shaking his head as he slowly moved his body. “Could have made things easier for me.”

“Yeah, I did get the feeling that this wouldn’t be simple,” Jake said, now also understanding why Sim-Jake was miffed and why things had been difficult for him.

The finger hadn’t come from a version of Jake, but was instead a cobbled-together version of a finger, containing Records and energy from an unknown number of simulated Jakes.

“Worse than that,” Sim-Jake followed up Jake’s thoughts. “Incomplete versions of us. Failed simulacra, likely from discarded simulated worlds. He just refurbished and threw some shit together, made it into a finger, and handed it off to you. Meanwhile, he gave that damn monk a Transcendent Artifact...”

“Got all my memories?” Jake asked to confirm.

“For the most part, but not entirely,” Sim-Jake answered. “Things are still messy, but I get the gist of things. I know about all major events, what happened to you, well, us, but it’s all jumbled with memories of failed simulated versions, and of course my own memories.”

“Those extra memories are probably from other simulated versions from the Myriad Paths event,” Jake pointed out, finding that the most probable explanation.

“That would make sense,” Sim-Jake nodded as he appeared to scan himself for a few moments before nodding yet again. “Yeah, that feels to be it, huh?”

Jake was about to ask another question as Sim-Jake raised a hand.

“Look, I don’t care for experiencing an existential crisis or spiraling down some Ship of Theseus philosophical bullshit,” he said, not at all sounding unsure of himself. “I know exactly who and what I am, and I know who you are. I’m just a collection of Records and part of a skill.”

“See, knowing that would give me existential dread,” Jake pointed out.

“Yeah, I’ve gotten over that after spending way too many years being part of you,” Sim-Jake waved him off casually. “But I can agree it’s odd. I feel as if I’ve always been aware; I remember every time you used Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter, what I did, how my body moved, the sensation of my weapon digging into a foe... yet I know I wasn’t in control as that happened.”

“And now you are?” Jake asked to clarify, already having a good feeling about what kind of transformation had occurred to his Eternal Shadow skill, even though no actual system notification of a skill upgrade had appeared.

“We’ll find out, I guess,” Sim-Jake shrugged. “My guess would be yes.”

Jake slowly nodded as another thing kind of bothered him. “How come you seem capable of reading my thoughts while I don’t know what you’re thinking?”

“I can’t. You’re just super predictable, and I have a bunch of your memories. Plus, we are in large part the same person,” Sim-Jake shrugged. “And don’t act like you can’t also instinctively infer what I’m thinking. It’s part of the skill. I need to know what you want me to do in order to be useful as your Eternal Shadow, don’t I?”

“When you phrase things like that, your existence is starting to feel awfully close to-“

“If you make a fucking slavery comparison right now, I’ll find a way to fuck up your soul worse than when you broke Palate,” Sim-Jake cut him off, obviously incredibly offended at the mere notion.

“Sorry,” Jake corrected himself, indeed understanding instinctively what his other self was thinking. Sim-Jake existed here out of choice, not because he had been forced to. He’d chosen his own fate after learning that he was a simulated being, and Jake also knew that it wasn’t like he could force Sim-Jake to do anything. Jake was the stubborn sort with way too much pride, after all. No matter which version of him one was talking about.

“I need to ask, though,” Jake said, looking inquisitively at Sim-Jake. “Did you know back then, when we first fully merged, that a day like this would come? That a way for you to return and at least become a semi-independent version of yourself would be possible down the line?”

Sim-Jake stared at him before shaking his head. “How the hell would I have known that? We knew fuck-all about Records, skills, and all that stuff back then, at least compared to now. It’s more that, when you absorbed the finger, I sort of came to be, and rather than allow myself to be consumed and let some other new personality form, I decided to reappear instead. Better me than some weird amalgamation of different simulated versions of us.”

“True,” Jake nodded, believing he had a solid grasp of what had happened. When he’d absorbed the finger and entered the World of the Exalted Prima, it had started to resonate and take form, with the Records within finally merging with him. When that happened, these Records naturally resonated with the Records of Eternal Shadow due to their similarity, and through that resonance, Sim-Jake awakened and took control of the situation, using the Primeval Origin Energy within the finger to fully reconstruct his ego.

However, assuming he’d fully merged with the Records of the finger...

“Any idea why there’s no skill upgrade?” Jake asked. He had a feeling the skill had changed substantially, yet the system remained entirely silent.

“I find it equally odd,” Sim-Jake nodded as he cracked his neck and moved around. “Just my appearance means there’s a significant change from when the skill relied purely on instinct. When you use the skill from here on out, I will be the one to appear, fully capable of thought, even if I will only remain a shadow. Within the real world, anyway. When it comes to what happens within this simulated world... well, that’s where things get interesting.”

“I would ask for details, but I’ll find out when the time is right, I guess,” Jake smiled. Already knowing he wouldn’t get any answers.

“You will,” Sim-Jake nodded as he looked around the Soulspace. “Honestly, it feels kind of surreal being here. The Soulspace is so much larger and holds so much more power than it did the last time I fully remember being here. Plus, the weirdest thing is that over there.”

Sim-Jake pointed to where the tome left by the First Sage sat, still there, of course, even if they were in a simulated world.

“I know that book belongs to the First Sage, and I know who the First Sage is... but that’s where it ends. I don’t know the contents of the book despite knowing I’ve read it, I don’t remember the results, despite being aware of the Gate of Enlightenment existing, and I remember I fought the First Sage within this Soulspace, which is a major reason for its growth, yet I don’t recall a single detail of the encounter.”

Jake slowly nodded, not actually finding that surprising, as he had a good idea what the explanation was.

“Likely because you’re just a limited collection of Records. It doesn’t sound the same as Forbidden Knowledge, but probably not too far off. I wouldn’t be surprised if you came to know all those things in the future, though,” Jake answered. “Though I do wonder...”

He proceeded to explain to Sim-Jake what had happened during his first direct interaction with the First Sage, wondering what the result of that would be. Jake was unsure whether the result was surprising.

“Seems like you can tell me, but that’s clearly different from having memories of actually being there,” Sim-Jake shook his head. “I don’t recall the feeling of standing before the First Sage or his presence. Without those things, all I’m hearing is a story of you interacting with a weird but obviously overpowered guy.”

“But it does prove to me this definitely isn’t related to Forbidden Knowledge, but more likely my theory of you existing as part of a skill, limiting the quality of Records you can contain. Of course, that’s a super simplified way of putting it.”

“As usual,” Sim-Jake nodded.

“Best to keep things simple.”

“And take the complications as they come,” Sim-Jake finished with a smile before turning serious again. “I have a bunch of questions, but there’s probably no rush. Better to figure out how the hell I work now.”

Jake nodded in agreement. “Hopefully, I’ll see you in a bit then.”

Closing his eyes, Jake opened them again a second later, now back in the real world. He had no idea how long had passed since he’d stormed out of the meeting room, though he could see that the meeting was clearly over with Miranda back in what seemed like a ritual chamber of sorts, likely working on her magic.

No one had come to disturb him during this time, and Jake hoped it would stay that way until he was done experimenting.

Out of his own Soulspace, Jake quickly checked his Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter skill, once again seeing that it had the exact same description as before, which still didn’t make any sense to him. So, as a natural next step, Jake used the skill.

A shadowy version of himself stepped out of his body, appearing more or less exactly the same as before. Jake frowned for a second before he felt something was definitely different.

“Can’t talk?” Jake asked.

The shadow just looked at him, but Jake knew exactly what it communicated.

“Yeah, I sure am a genius for figuring that out,” he chuckled, as his shadow went over to a nearby wall and tried punching it. The wall was heavily dented by the blow, with the shadow only slightly quivering after the impact.

“More durable,” Jake commented before taking out a katar. His shadow walked over as Jake stabbed it in the chest, finding himself meeting quite the resistance, making the blade not penetrate that deeply, in part because he didn’t put in that much forse.

“A lot more durable,” Jake nodded with a smile, especially after seeing the shadow didn’t disperse, but just ripped the katar out of its chest. The wound didn’t heal, and the shadow showed a few hand signs, making Jake instantly understand.

“So, a pseudo-health pool of sorts? Interesting,” Jake said, as they stood there for a few moments. “Hang on a second.”

Jake closed his eyes and returned to his Soulspace, quickly confirming that Sim-Jake wasn’t there. He clearly still felt the Records of the skill, but Sim-Jake's consciousness and ego had seemingly fully manifested in the outside world.

Exiting his Soulspace again, he found his shadow version with a hand raised, slowly expending arcane energy tinged with darkness as it burned from his palm. He was rapidly expending energy, testing how long he would last, with Jake joining him in keeping track.

After nearly five minutes of his shadow burning through energy, Jake was more confused than anything. He had spent some resources summoning Sim-Jake, yes, but his other self had already used far more, and he didn’t seem to be running out.

“You’re not using my energy either,” Jake muttered aloud before he had an idea. “Eternal Hunger?”

His Eternal Shadow was still for a moment before nodding in confirmation.

“Huh,” Jake said, raising an eyebrow as he took out the mythical weapon and looked at it, his shadow doing the same using his other hand.

Eternal Hunger was still a weapon Jake was frankly still too weak to wield. Back when he’d initially gained it, the weapon had contained enough energy to wipe out the entire solar system, likely putting it at the A-grade level, and since then, it had only grown. Not just by passively absorbing soul energy when he killed stuff, but also by being his Soulbound weapon and, more or less, merging with Sim-Jake.

He couldn’t be clear on how much these things had affected the weapon, but he doubted anything could be so closely connected to his Bloodline and thus Primeval Origin Energy without being affected somewhat.

The weapon had never changed, but only continued to grow alongside him. He had found some ways of using the weapon outside of merely stabbing people, as it was his supply of curse energy, effectively serving as an endless reservoir, and now, it appeared that his Eternal Shadow could also make use of this energy when manifested. Well, more accurately, Sim-Jake could make use of it due to his deep connection with Jake.

Alas, his Eternal Shadow remained a shadow, and after a bit more time, it dispersed by itself, turning back into black smoke. Seeing this, Jake was in some ways a little disappointed as part of him had hoped to get a true clone skill, but he also knew that such a skill was likely still beyond him, and if he could use it, it would come with significant limitations... so in some ways, this was kind of a clone skill?

Anyhow, wanting to continue experimenting, Jake re-summoned his Eternal Shadow, feeling a slight toll from using the skill twice in such a brief time span. They did a bit more experimentation, both of them wondering why the skill still hadn’t changed its description.

Before this summon expired, Jake tried changing reality with his simulated self, and, yep, that also worked the same as before.

“The skill had clearly changed, but not that much...” Jake muttered after summoning his Eternal Shadow for the third time, also feeling that was definitely his limit for now. Maybe he could do it a fourth time, but that would not be pleasant in the slightest.

Sim-Jake looked at Jake, communicating a thought that made Jake raise an eyebrow. “Oh, true, I definitely should.”

Jake, totally caught up in experimenting and not really thinking about much else, did as his other self had proposed and went to check what would happen with the skill where it truly mattered:

In the real world.

With his Eternal Shadow still summoned, Jake moved to exit the World of the Exalted Prima, doing so without issue... and right as he logged out, a system message flashed before him, with Jake only briefly spotting a single line that caught his eye.

[Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter (?)] - ???

--

The meeting with the other factions in the alliance and their Vassals had gone rather well, and an acceptable plan had been agreed upon. They would meet again in a few days to finalize all the details, as Miranda had concluded that dragging out the meeting would be detrimental to their goals.

There was much unclaimed land to take after the third phase had ended and new places to explore, after all. Plus, the vibe of the meeting had drastically changed after Jake rushed out, and many had asked what was going on, forcing Miranda to make up some bullshit excuse that he was working on an ongoing alchemy experiment.

She wasn’t sure anyone bought it, but no one dared question her, so that was nice.

Post-meeting, she’d gone to check on a ritual of hers before finally deciding to see how Jake was doing. He’d gone to a private chamber, and she’d felt energy being expelled from in there, making her a little worried about what he could be up to or if he was experiencing any issues.

Perhaps it was a little rude, but Miranda needed to speak with him about his plans, so she steeled herself and headed over. The building with the private rooms was mostly empty, so no one else was around when she knocked on the door and opened it.

Inside stood Jake, a hand raised towards the ceiling as he looked at it, and Miranda was about to speak as he turned and looked at her, the look in his eyes making her freeze as she instantly realized...

That’s not Jake.