'System, can I transfer only my voice to the clone?'
[Let me see...]
Enrico asked the question while training by running around the Solcren Ferreira mansion. He wanted to create a new story for the mercenaries. After all, despite having powerful individuals among them, they had not played particularly important roles in the original story. Furthermore, none of the rookies he knew had become as strong as one of the protagonist's companions.
Therefore, when he saw Dorian and Arvanys, he was certain that something had happened to them in the original story. Perhaps they had died in a dungeon or during a future mission before reaching their full potential.
'They're pretty good. Maybe they died in a dungeon or on some future mission...'
[I'm back. As for your question, it's difficult to do that. You can switch places with the clone, but that doesn't mean you can transfer only a part of yourself without taking any risks.]
'I see... I don't want to transfer my mouth to the clone, just my voice. Do you think I can do it?'
[You can try, but it'll be difficult. There's a possibility that you might end up losing your voice.]
For some time, whenever he was out of everyone's sight, Enrico carefully tested the ability, remaining focused during each attempt. After a while, he came up with an idea that might work without putting him at such great risk.
'If I transfer parts of my body to the clone, I might end up losing those parts, just as I could lose my voice. But the voice isn't something physical. So, if I transfer only half of it, at most I'll lose a little of my voice for a while.'
[That... makes sense? I think.]
Of course, it wouldn't be easy. As Enrico himself had observed, his voice wasn't something physical that could be separated from his body. However, the ability to switch places with the clone allowed him to transfer everything from one position to another. Therefore, it might be possible to find a way to transfer only a specific part, even if it wasn't something material.
'This will be both good and bad at the same time, but it'll be useful for my plan in the future.'
Returning to the current situation.
"So you're the guy Kai said was strong?"
Upon hearing Kael's question, Arvanys and Dorian sighed. If that fellow decided to fight Enrico in the middle of all that chaos, things could turn bad for everyone.
Meanwhile, Enrico kept his body tense. He realized that controlling the clone while answering his questions at the same time was much more difficult than he had imagined.
'I tested it, but doing this around him is harder than I thought.'
"You know Kai?"
"So it really is you! Hey, when this is over, can we have a fight?"
"Maybe, if we make it out of here alive."
Kael began to laugh and gave Enrico a light slap on the back. The two rookie mercenaries seemed relieved when they realized that he had not caused any trouble. Taking advantage of the brief pause, they quickly began exchanging information.
However, a cry for help interrupted the conversation.
Enrico jumped onto the roof of a house and immediately headed toward the source of the call, leaving only a message for Alenya to look after Taíra.
"Well, let's go back inside, Taíra."
"...But will he be okay?"
"He's strong, so yes."
The mercenaries considered staying there to help protect the shop. However, when they saw Kael follow Enrico and then Kaela do the same, the three exchanged glances.
Dorian decided to stay and help at the shop, while Raul and Arvanys went after the others.
"Why do we have to follow Kael anyway?"
"Because it seems more interesting."
"I don't think you're all that different from him."
Enrico quickly arrived at the location of the cry and found a malnourished man watching helplessly as a figure Enrico did not recognize at first was about to be killed.
A hooded man raised his sword to deliver the final blow, but Enrico immediately intervened, blocking the blade.
"Zero Impact!"
The impact struck the opponent's neck. Enrico took advantage of the opening to knock him down with a sweep, making him lose his balance. He then used Charged Impulse to deliver a double kick to the enemy's chest. Before he could continue his attack, a voice caught his attention.
"I was just about to get up, Enrico."
A lightning spear passed close to Enrico's head and struck the opponent in front of him, piercing his stomach.
When he looked back, Enrico finally saw who had launched the attack.
'He's so disheveled from the battle and wearing different clothes that I didn't even recognize him.'
"What are you doing here, Lan?"
"None of your business."
Lan looked at him with a certain resentment. The expression irritated Enrico a little, after all, he had just saved that bastard's life. Even so, that wasn't the most important problem at that moment.
'As far as I know, he wasn't here at this time... The changes to the story are happening, so I need to be careful.'
Enrico decided to put Lan's attitude aside and observed the boy for a few moments.
"You must have come here to train, right?"
"...Of course not! W-Why would a prodigy like me need to train, risking my health by pushing my body beyond its limits? Don't be ridiculous!"
Lan was giving himself away so easily that it was almost pitiful. Enrico decided to ignore him and approached the man who had been saved. He pointed toward the shop where the others were and asked him to go there to take refuge.
"Thank you so much, young men! Really, thank you both so much!"
The man ran off while the mercenaries and Kaela finally arrived at the scene.
Without wasting any time, Enrico began moving toward the next location. This time, his destination was in the westernmost part of the city.
'I don't know exactly where the last location is, but I'm sure it's in this area.'
"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Wait for me!"
If Enrico had looked back at that moment, he might have thought he was being chased by enemies. The speed of those following him seemed to increase with every passing moment, and the mercenaries were beginning to understand why Kai had spoken about Enrico that way.
"Why is this guy so fast?"
"Kael, are you sure you can fight him?"
"Of course I can! That just makes things more interesting."
Since they were relatively close, Enrico managed to hear their conversation. Thus, he had no difficulty preparing a response that would serve his purposes.
"Professor, why are these mercenaries following us? I don't think they want to help the other people."
"It must be because of that Kael. He seems to be assessing my strength."
"Ha! He can try, but he won't be able to surpass you. I'm sure of it!"
Enrico flashed a confident smile over his shoulder before jumping even farther away, increasing the distance between them.
The provocation had the desired effect. Arvanys and Kael, especially, grew tense when they saw him pull away like that.
Satisfied to see that his strategy was working, Enrico looked ahead again.
'The only thing I don't want is to have to speak at the same time as him... It's way too weird to talk to myself.'
His goal was to create a false rivalry between Kael, the mercenaries, and himself. He intended to use this competition to motivate them to grow stronger, especially Dorian and Arvanys, who seemed to have good potential.
However, there was a problem he still couldn't solve.
'There's just one problem... Who exactly is this other guy? He seems to be around our age, but I can't see his stats.'
The person in question was Raul, whose existence remained an enigma to Enrico. Not only was he unable to view his powers, but the boy also gave him a strange feeling, as if something about the situation were wrong.
'The only problem is that he seems to be stronger than me. And I don't think he's the same age as us.'
For now, Enrico would continue using that fellow in his plans, at least until he discovered whether he posed any danger and whether he might end up turning against them.