‘’I think we should make another of us.’’ Orin said to the other two. ‘’Oh, why do you think so? I mean there's already three of us going, and that is already a lot. And i don't think having another of us at the academy would be to big of a help.’’ Thalor said to Orin. ‘’Well we haven't really got everything out of this forest, I think that we should make another so that they can continue to explore everything and squeeze everything we can that's our hero. I'm sure there are different fungi here we haven't gotten to yet. Not to mention having a secret base would be bad ass’’ Orin explained

  ‘’I'm not saying it's a bad idea, it's just that I don't want to feel like we're abandoning it here. While we go and live lifes and are able to learn and interact with people. I mean you remember i felt before i made you two.’’ Thalor said. Interjecting Vaelin chimed in ‘’he’s got a point about the whole not getting everything possible from here. And why would the third have to be lonely? I mean it could just make more of us. What's stopping us from non stop production of us.’’

  Not having really considered how being alone felt Orin agreed with Thalor but Vaelin was rite. They could just make even more clones to not feel lonely, there was also nothing stopping them from just making hundreds of themselves to explore as well.

  Thalor stopped walking as he truly thought of just how many of themselves they could make. ‘’I'm not saying no, but we can't just flood the academy with clones as that would be too suspicious. The schools first years start in a month and between now and then they will get a lot of new students showing up but they definitely would think something was up if there were tens of new students coming. They probably wouldn't guess clones but they would get suspicious. We can make a more clones to explore but i don't think any more should come with us to the academy.’’

  Both clones agreed, They would make more clones in order to get as much out of this forest as possible, as well establish a base for themselves. They just couldn't flood the school with unaccounted for students. The only question now was how many clones to make?

  After some more discussion and back and forth with his clones Thalor didn't think it mattered how many clones were made as long as they remained hidden. The biggest issue wasn't if they could make more of themselves. It was what would happen when they were noticed.

  As that would be a disaster to Thalors fungal secrets.

  Thalors first step in not gaining suspicion of clones was to of course change all the clones' faces so they were not obviously clones. Next was to give names to each clone so they wouldn't get caught by something as silly as calling each other Thalor.

  Thalor wasn't really worried about them developing different personalities as there was no way it would happen except in extreme outside intervention. He and all his clones felt at a core level they were all him. Even the discussion they had just moments ago was just his clones trying to think differently then he usually did to give outside perspective.

  With the future decided and some general plans made they went into the forest in different directions together with enough fungal mass to produce five clones to start with. The amount of mass needed was truly huge. Thalor thought the reason it took so much mass to make a clone was because it needed to transform into a higher form of fungus.

  They mostly avoided healthy and alive plants in order to preserve the forest. That might not be an issue now but they all knew that their need for all forms of fungus would grow exponentially later, and this would cause more and more of the forest to become empty if all they did was convert everything and not come up with a more permanent solution later.

  It took the better part of three hours of careful culling to gather enough mass.

  The hardest part of making a clone was the brain, not just because it took the most mass even though it was relatively small but because of how intricate it was. One mistake would either kill the clone or make something that wasn't him. So each brain was made with extreme care, and effort. Thalor and his first two clones all sat inside the house as they all put together one brain at a time. After one was done they would set it aside as the new consciousness inside finished the rest of the body while the first three continued with the brains.

  When the fifth and last brain was made there were already two new Thalors fully together and two more in different stages of completion. All of the complete clones then helped the rest of the forming bodies finish.

  When it was all done another day had passed and there were now eight Thalors. With all of the clones in the house and how cramped it felt they all thought of how much space they will need in the future ‘‘well expanding up is out of the question and we shouldnt expand past the wall to not grab attention of any one flying over. It leaves us going down.’’The original Thalor said.

  All of the clones agreed with him but they did not immediately start construction instead they modified each other's appearance and gave names to each other.

  With that out of the way the only thing left for Thalor, Vaelin and Orin to do before returning to the academy was to wait for some of the mana mushrooms to collect enough mana to get Origin to Tier one. While Thalor would have liked to get to tier two before leaving, he didn't want to stand out.

  At the rate of the four mushrooms, Thalor and the others guessed that it would take about five days for enough mana to gather inside to get Vaelin to tier one. In that time frame all but two of them planned to take a deep dive into the forest just to see if they could find anything new, or at the very least get a better picture of the landscape of this forest.

  With the six of them leaving only two would be left to take care of the base. While most of them were gone the two clones planned on completely redoing the base. They planned to remove everything from above ground and make an underground base.

  The clones jokingly said they were going to make an evil lair for dark magic, so by the time the others returned they would already have summoned a horrible evil creature.

  Thalor moved through the forest with the five others. None of them had any particular ability in stealth as Thalor had never learned, as the city orphanage he had called him all his life had never taught them any adventuring skills. As they walked they made enough noise to scare away any low level creature they might have encountered. Having more numbers gave them all a sense of security, not to say they didn't look out for possible danger but because they all had each other's back.

  They hadn't taken the beetle with them and they all regretted it after walking for almost half a day straight. Thalor didn't think that walking would ever be tiring but that was before he and the others walked twenty miles. They swore the first beetle they found would be the victim of a mind mushroom.

  It was closing in on dusk when they heard a loud roar. As soon as they heard the noise they all tensed as they couched. Whatever had made that noise was either big, or was able to infuse mana into that roar. Either case they were note eager to find out.

  After they all stood there motionless for the better part of five minutes they all got up and headed in a different direction. The new direction they faced had some small mountains covered in trees, and was in the opposite direction of whatever that noise was.

  Along the way to the mountains they found a decent sized pond. The water was murky so none of them really wanted to get close and tempt whatever may or may not be in there. ‘’I'm gonna throw a rock in.’’ one of the clones said and did just that. The rock hit with a plop the ball sized rock hit and promptly went into the water. At first nothing happened but just when they were about to keep heading towards the mountains a few bubbles popped out of the water. The speed of the bubbles kept increasing until the entire pond looked as if it was boiling.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  After a minute the ‘boiling’ stopped. A giant head the size of a carriage slowly made its way out of the water. The head looked broad and flat, it also had some wrinkles. Definitely reptilian in shape but not quite.

  Not knowing what it was or what to do the six of them stared at the head as it stared back. Its nostrils flared, then it spoke in a deep voice that did not match its jaw movement. ‘’ that was rude, that rock landed perfectly between my shell as i was sleeping and hit my head.’’

  Dumbstruck all Thalor could do was stutter out and apology. ‘’ sensory we didn't mean to wake you we were just chch checking to see if the water was safe.’’ he stumbled out.

  ‘’With a rock? That doesn't even make sense, the only reason i came up was because i was mad that it woke me up. Most monsters wouldn't even notice the rock.’’ the turtle spoke once more.

  This time it was a clone that spoke up ‘’makes sense that they wouldn't have noticed. So what now?’’

  ‘’What do you mean now I never hurt something over a small rock? If I did , I'd just be another monster. You are free to leave, but word of advice one monster to another don't throw rocks in places you have no clue what's in there.’’ the turtle chided, as it looked glanced to the side.

  Confused Thalor spoke ‘’Why did you call us monsters, were not monsters.’’

  The turtle chuckled as it spoke. ‘’Haha not a monster look at you all, you all have the same soul, i may be old but my sight hasn't left. Only a monster can split like you have. I do admit I don't know what you are, but I have never seen one of the two legs split like you. Ok im done im going back to sleep this has lasted far to long anyway.’’ the turtle spoke one last time leaving Thalor and the clones to look at each other in confusion.

  After having that strange interaction with a talking giant turtle they decided to find a spot to camp for the night.

  Under the water the turtle shook its massive head. ‘Friggin weirdos always seem to make their way over to me. First that drake, now some kind of hive. Maybe I should move somewhere more peaceful?’ The turtle thought to itself as it sank to the bottom of the pond this time making a magic formation to keep out pests.

  Having found a spot to make camp that was a respectful distance away from the pond, the six rapidly made a fortified structure for the night. They may have had walls, but that didn't stop them from having two at a time to keep watch. Each of them took a watch with a partner.

  Nothing happened through the night other than what they believed were growls from monsters in the distance. Each of them were completely refreshed and ready to explore by the time the sun came up.

  Taking down their shelter to leave no trace the six of them left and headed back towards the mountains.

  ‘’What do you think we will find in the mountains?’’ one said. With a chuckle Thalor responded ‘’your guess is as good as mine. But who knows at the very least it will be a vantage point.’’ He said with a chuckle. All six of them couldn't help but smile at the dumb joke.

  It took a couple of hours but eventually they found themselves at the base of a mountain. All of them looked at the shear wall that led up and wondered how the trees that stuck out from the stone could grow. Having nowhere to go but up they made a vein of mycelium go up the cliff face. With grunts and lots of sweat they made their way up.

  Whenever they got tired they made platforms to stand on to rest. Which was convenient because even with them having the rope like mycelium helping pull them up it still took almost half the day just to make it half way up.

  Grunting the clone in the lead grabbed the rope and pulled himself up and over a little ledge. After he pulled himself over and collected himself he was greeted with the sight of a truly large bird.

  Quickly looking over the edge and making a shushing motion to the others, he looked back over at the bird. It had dark brown and green feathers, and looked like it could fit one or two people on its back. It took a few moments to realize what kind of bird it was but it was some type of hawk. Waiting for the rest to get up he touched each of them to let them know his thoughts.

  Thalor smiled when their minds synced, they were gonna try and use mind mushrooms to try to dominate it. Everyone had the plan and they all spread out and circled the bird. And at the signal of the clone who found the bird they released as many spores for the mind mushroom in the direction of the bird. The bird was asleep but it woke up as it breathed in the spores and it immediately spotted the intruders to its nest. With a loud screech the bird stood up and fluffed up its feathers and stared at them.

  Seeing the bird get up the six of them did not immediately panic as they felt the mushroom slowly start to grow. The bird who didn't know it was already too late let out another scratch and bolted into the air.

  Cursing the bird for leaving before they could fully control it they fumed. That was until the hawk swooped in and grabbed Thalor. Being suddenly torn from the earth and into the sky Thalor was stunned at what was happening. He was just about to panic when he felt the mushroom take hold of its mind.

  He thought he was safe now that he was in control but that was a short lived hope as they began to free fall. Forcing the bird to spread its wings they slowed down but it wasn't enough. They were still falling, just slightly slower now. Having no other ideas he tried to alter the mushroom to let more of the instincts though. It ate up valuable seconds and Thalor was not sure exactly how he was altering the nature of the mushroom so much but the bird seemed to come too before they hit the ground and it pulled up.

  Thalor got a couple of leaves in his face but other than that he was relatively ok. Spitting leaves out of his mouth he ordered the Hawk to head back towards its perch. Taking a moment to snake a tendril of fungus around the bird he pulled himself up and onto its back. He hugged its neck to not fall off as they rapidly ascended. It only took half a minute but they were already back at the nest and safely on the perch.

  ‘’That was fucking crazy.’’ Thalor said as he slid off. Seeing this the others burst out laughing. ‘’Man you had us worried that we would be finding out if we could live without you.’’ Vaelen said in between laughs.

  Shaking his head Thalor stood up and looked over their new mount. ‘’Dont walk, fly. Or whatever the expression is.’’ he said, taking one last look at the bird before looking at the nest. There were no eggs but they did feel a couple of plants that were slowly gathering mana.

  ‘’Well it looks like this fellow had a nice stash. Probably waiting for more mana to gather to break into tier two.’’ one clone said as he found the plants that had mana in them, popping one into its mouth it smiled. ‘’What a lovely snack, scrambled eggs would have been better.’’

  Two more of the clones were able to eat the plants before they ran out. They sat at the ledge looking over the forest as they made their way to tier one.

  There were of course better ways to use magical plants through alchemy, but having no experience in alchemy all they could do was refine the mana and forgo any other possible effects. It was only another hour of waiting before the two clones made their way into tier one.

  ‘’Let's take the bird to scout up the mountain to see if it's even worth climbing.’’ Orin said as he hopped on the back of the bird. One more clone was able to get on the bird comfortably, and was not to put too much weight on the bird. Spreading its wings the bird took off like a released arrow.

  Wind rushed past their faces and tears trailed down their faces as they rapidly ascended up the mountain. It took mere minutes which would have taken them another few hours at the very least to reach the top.

  Circling the peak and using their hands to block the wind they looked at the summit. There were no trees growing on the top and the trees that were on the sides stopped. The ground was a smooth stone with the only thing being out of place was a small pool of water.

  Seeing no danger they landed, Orin had the clone take the bird down to grab more of them while he went to check out the water. Walking on the smooth stone felt weird to him. He had no idea why it was so smooth, as if something had cut it with a scalpel. After an unnerving walk and reaching the center he peered into the water. The water was crystal clear but other than that it was completely normal.

  It was then when the bird landed once more and dropped Thalor off. ‘’So what's this?’’ he said not expecting an answer, he didn't receive one. Thalor extended a tendril of fungi from his hand and into the water ready to break it off any moment. Still nothing happened. Furrowing his brow he bent down and stuck his finger in. there was no rush of power or pain just regular admittedly cold water.

  ‘’Magic.’’ Orin said sarcastically. It was then that all of the clones had arrived. ‘’Well this was a waste, my apologies to the bird though you are fantastic.’’ Thalor said and he got a twist of the head in return. ‘’Well I think I'm all adventured out for now. I will be returning back to base.’’

  No one argued with him as he looked at the water with disappointment. ‘’You all continue exploring me, Vaelin and Orin are going to return early.’’ no one threw a fuss as they all felt the same disappointment it was just what else would they do other than explore.

  The three of them hopped on the bird and set off in the direction of base.