The Alpha Orb sat in the Rock Island's central chamber, pulsing with sickly light. It was identical to the one Essim had destroyed before—cracked, black, hovering—but its energy reading was vastly different.
[Alpha Orb]
Remaining Energy: 92,890
Ninety-two thousand. The first orb had held barely a hundred. This one was a reservoir.
Essim stared at it, and an idea formed—reckless, brilliant, and potentially game-changing.
He reached out and touched the orb. The duplication prompt appeared.
[Alpha Orb — Duplicate x10,000?]
"Yes."
Light erupted. The storage filled instantly—three thousand six hundred copies materialised in his spatial bag, with another six thousand four hundred pouring into existence around the chamber. Each one was a perfect replica, each one draining one energy point per second.
"Aisha," Essim said, his voice tight with urgency. "Destroy every orb you can see. Now."
Aisha didn't question it. She drew her bow and fired.
[Destroyed Alpha Orb: EXP +91,460]
[Destroyed Alpha Orb: EXP +91,438]
[Congratulations. Ruler Level has reached 11.]
[Congratulations. Ruler Level has reached 12.]
The experience was staggering. Each orb's destruction granted experience equal to its remaining energy—and at over ninety thousand per orb, they were levelling at a rate that defied comprehension. The notifications came so fast that Essim's vision blurred with golden text.
[Congratulations. Ruler Level has reached 17. +100 Empty Attribute Points.]
[Congratulations. Ruler Level has reached 18. +100 Empty Attribute Points.]
Each level beyond 10 granted a hundred free attribute points. The numbers climbed like a rocket.
[Congratulations. Ruler Level has reached 20. +100 Empty Attribute Points.]
[Tier-1 level cap reached. Promotion required for further advancement.]
Level 20. Maximum for Tier 1. Essim and Aisha had gone from Level 10 to 20 in minutes.
They stopped. Thousands of duplicated orbs remained, but the experience had nowhere to go.
"Brother," Aisha said carefully, "what if we gave some of these to Takulani and Efan?"
Essim shook his head. "No. We can't let anyone know we can duplicate these. Not yet. Maybe not ever." He met her eyes. "If people learn what this talent really does—how far it reaches—we become the most valuable targets in the entire Ascendant Realm."
Aisha understood. She didn't like it, but she understood.
They left the remaining orbs to decay and exited the crumbling Rock Island. Behind them, the stone mass groaned and began its slow disintegration.
• • •
Back on the main island, Essim checked his updated status.
[STATUS]
Name: Essim
Level: 20 (1%)
Attributes: Str 632 | Agi 520 | Int 479 | Res 408
Class: Swordsman (Sacred Human)
Skills: Divine Slash Shadow, Sky Shattering Slash, Area of Light
Equipment: Divine Sword, Windlau Shoes, Heart Cloak, Adhesive Gloves, Green Flame Helmet
Talent: Infinity Duplicate (EX) V.2
Total attributes: 2,039. Rising from 10 to 20 had granted a thousand free points, and his upgraded equipment added the rest. He was, by any reasonable measure, one of the most powerful individuals in the region.
The Tier-2 promotion requirements appeared on his panel.
[Tier-2 Promotion Mission]
Requirements:
• Silver Badge — Sacred Human Race (Cultivator)
• 100,000 Energy Crystals
• Level 20 Monster Heart — Commander Rank
"Cultivator?" Essim murmured. The word carried implications. The old man on the altar, the crowned man—had they been cultivators? Was there an entire power system beyond the one humans had been given?
He decided not to rush the promotion. The last one had been risky enough. This time, he would prepare.
But first—the event. He checked the leaderboard.
[Event Rankings]
William Anderson — 211,400
Bai Qi — 208,129
Vladimir Nova — 200,488
...
Essim — 89,087
Cute Cat — 86,361
Twenty-sixth. The top players had more than double his score. The three hours he'd spent harvesting Alpha Orbs had been wildly profitable for levelling but had cost him precious Kill Points.
Time to catch up.
The weight of the secret settled between them like a third presence. Essim had always shared everything with his sister — every plan, every discovery, every fear. But this was different. The duplication of Alpha Orbs wasn't just a clever exploit; it was a fundamental break in the system's economy. If anyone discovered that Essim could duplicate experience-granting objects and then destroy them for massive gains, the response would be immediate and violent.
Every alliance, every sovereign, every power-hungry ruler in the realm would either want him as an asset or want him eliminated. And Essim wasn't naive enough to assume the first option would last.
"We tell no one," he repeated, more to himself than to Aisha. "Not Takulani. Not Efan. Not Laras. No one."
Aisha nodded once, firmly. She understood the stakes — perhaps better than he did. She'd always been the more strategic of the two.
They left the crumbling Rock Island in silence, the sound of collapsing stone fading behind them, and returned to the City of Life where construction circles still glowed and the first sounds of a waking city drifted up from the streets below.