Celestial University: A Bully Romance

Chapter 49: Cloned Constructs

Sehki immediately raised a finger. "You're just going to bury me underground!"

Ainsley sighed, punching themselves. "I'll give you your answers. The further away, the more I can probably," clutching their head, "control myself."

"Oh, say that next time," walking with him into the door, opening to a thorny elevator leading them to an underground tunnel. Their transportation connected to a wooden astroship, which encased them and accelerated, akin to a train.

"Huh, it's like an underground railroad. There wasn't slavery, were they?"

"You forgot your education? Most slaves learned enough earth magic to free themselves from their captors and dug tunnels to help them escape to people resembling their old families on Earth. They fought back against Tellus' colonists and saved them during a Void attack."

"Which led to the other countries agreeing to outlaw it! Tellus decided instead of using others for profit, they'd be an asset to focus on agriculture and medicine?"

"Your memory's too inconsistent. They're not used often, but one was made privately for me had I decided to go to Celestial."

"Lucky, you get to go back home with no cost at all! You know how expensive travel tickets are? Wait, was it Bethany?"

Ainsley didn't look back at him. "Why do you always bring her up around me?"

"Because even though you don't deserve it, she seems to be the only person who cares about you. It's nice to have that one person always watching over you," looking back into his notes.

"What's that for?"

"Just a journal of my thoughts. It was supposed to be for someone," lowering his eyelids, "I cherished, that moved on. Now it's just a therapy and sanity checker."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

"Is she okay?"

"Since I've been training with Professor Gorgon, I haven't seen her."

"Gee, I wonder why," causing Ainsley to infer a similar disturbing conclusion.

"Gorgon, or my parents - wanted her gone?"

"Or to get you on the," hand quoting "right track. Now personally if someone was that loyal to me, I'd keep tabs on them," refusing to continue only when the weight in their eyes started to shift. The two remained silent for the duration of the trip until they entered coordinates that took them to an underground laboratory.

Sehki's mouth dropped at the sight of the being he saw.

Inside a tube was another person complete with Ainsley's facial features and hair color, but with a much stronger physical physique.

He turned to them. "You're," catching his breath, "a clone?"

Their head shook. "My replacement body. The ideal shell for the next monarch of Tellus and Terra."

"What on earth," spotting them and numerous others, less impressive than the ace one.

"When my mother was preparing to have me, she made sure the sperm cells for my creation had DNA from every StellArts user to create me."

Sehki's brain searched around for an answer. "To create a super soldier resistant, or able to wield all the StellArts magic?"

"And it didn't work. My magic pool is higher than most, but it drains the life out of me."

"Hence you keep at a distance or make monsters to fight for you. Otherwise you're a glass cannon that has to fight like a wall."

"And you beating me is just a fluke."

"More like my skills being better," earning disdain. "I kid, partially," glancing back at the superior body. "There's a reason why you won't take it."

"It takes an immense spiritual pressure, and the user has to focus exclusively on controlling their magic to maintain control of their body. You'd need a massive amount of spirit magic to even ensure a body would have the lifespan to do so. Our plants can provide the life source, but too much is a risk to our lives, and our flora."

Sehki saw their body shudder. "What else?"

"If I take the body, I can lose all of my memories. Anything and anyone I've loved, wanted, cared for, gone. Just someone only focused on becoming the strongest."

Sehki couldn't figure out the words to respond to such a dilemma, unsure of what I would do.

"I want to get stronger...without losing myself. Like Xia, Rigal, and Taylor do. Professor Gorgon is many things," feeling their muscles, "but her methods are working."

"I didn't know. Do the others?"

"No. And I wanted to keep it that way. If I can get my constitution well enough, mother won't need that body after all."

"And if it doesn't work? Wait, make a journal or upload your designs somewhere."

"It won't work. Last time they tried," explaining to him the horrors of their anguish and torment, coughing under the weight of their entire consciousness and blood stream being projected outside of their body.

"It took me months to recover from that. The other servants tend to listen to my parents and rid themselves of distractions. I could hide most of it underground but at the same time, the Qilin statue was the only place exclusive to royalty. Dad probably used his spare time to locate it."

"Well, technically I am a prince-let's check it out."

They reluctantly agreed, turning back to park it at the edge of the town to ensure rare users wouldn't expect them. However, Ainsley sensed something other than bodies.

Searching through the rest of the tunnels, they seemingly came across a dead end with a massive hole in the way.

And risking shaping the earth in the cave could result in a cave in.

"Hmm, I got it. Take my hand!"

They reluctantly grabbed it, climbing out and using his shadow as a platform to walk across. He shifted the end to the front each time until both got towards the end, dropping in.

He wiped the sweat off his face while Ainsley persisted until finding a cavern with a metal lock. A laser scanned their bodies and it opened up, revealing a base the size of a two story small dorm.

"A bunker?"

Both of them entered, finding a note for Ainsley.

"In the future, a great calamity will unite the five heirs against a giant threat. Should the worst come to pass, Prince Ainsley, use this as a haven while you prepare."

Ainsley poured their magic power around the source.

"It's underneath the Qilin?"