Reincarnated With A Glitched System: Why Is My MP Not Running Out?

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They had no true name.

But the Gods, when they discovered them, gave them a code name.

Doppelganger.

It meant some gibberish that Khepri didn't remember, but the name did fit them pretty well.

"They're beings that appeared from the stars…" Khepri said. "You see, before the Gods arrived in Terrarium, they traveled across many planets and star systems, seeking life, seeking energy, and seeking resources to continue their interstellar voyage."

"I've heard about that from time to time," said Aquarina, nodding.

"T-The gods came from outer space?!" Silvia asked.

"I-I didn't knew that!" Justicio said.

"I guess it's not something that's told to everyone, only a couple know the gods' true origins… Well, every person I've known so far knew a bit about them, I guess the most common of people don't know." Aquarina smiled.

"Who are you calling "most common of people"?!" Silvia got a bit angry with that derogatory term.

"Anyways, Khepri, continue," said Justicio.

"Doppelgangers are a parasitic threat from outer space that the Gods found at one point…" said Khepri. "Because of their powers, they could easily copy their abilities and even attempt to replace them. The gods, in their immense power, had almost met their match in the Doppelgangers, who replicated their DNA and part of their powers due to their carelessness, paying the price for that."

"T-They can do the same thing they did to us with gods themselves?!" Aquarina asked. "Hahaha… That's nuts. Maybe we should use them to kill the gods and-"

"It's not that simple…" Khepri said. "They were a great threat, yes, these parasitic aliens… They were the first threat and challenge the Gods faced in a millennium. But then, they created… me, or us."

"Us? What do you mean?" asked Silvia.

"I am not… a High Spirit actually, ugh, well, my primary composition is Spiritual Energy, so technically I am!" Khepri said. "But, uh, well, I am an artificial being designated to fight these monsters, and also protect the gods, back then… eons ago. I was one of many actually, but perhaps I'm the last one remaining now…"

"EH?!"

"The parasites cannot copy inorganic lifeforms with no DNA," said Khepri. "So they pushed the machines to fight them, but them alone weren't enough. Then the Orichalcum Golems, but they were too expensive to make. Then… they made us. Not totally made of Orichalcum, with other metals, flexible, with powerful cores powered with artificial spiritual energy unlike the one found in this world. And… I think that's just all I remember. I assume we defeated the aliens, but I don't know why they're here. They shouldn't be… they're so dangerous. The only weakness is that they're almost completely made of water, so this harsh, incredibly hot and dry desert is their worst enemy. Probably the only reason they've been unable to spread."

"So that's how it is…" nodded Aquarina. "So you're kind of like Nephilim, Sylphy has someone like you as her Familiar, so you're not that unique, heh."

"Nephilim? I have never heard of such a being, were they a machine too?" asked Khepri.

"Kinda," said Aquarina. "Sylphy told me she used to be a human…?"

"A cyborg then…" said Khepri.

"Nah not that either because she said she was made combining the power of Gods and True Demons, but she ended being a failure for some reason…" Aquarina said, crossing her arms. "Hmm, and I don't know more than that! Though I don't like her that much, she gets too clingy with my Sylphy sometimes… She's also a terrible maid that eats her breakfast!"

"Hahaha… that's a bit funny," Khepri said. "I wonder if I could meet her…"

"Maybe!" Silvia finally spoke. "Okay Khepri, I've heard you; you know a bit but you gotta learn more from the ornaments right? I wonder why they spread them around like this though?"

"I don't know but probably they belonged to the same unit that fell and was left here, it ended dividing," said Khepri. "There might've been more of my own kind in these units, but they probably didn't make it… I woke up in this desert alone. Meaning that I ended separating from my ornaments at some point, and without memories, the data stored in these ornaments, I became a wandering "spirit" making temporary contracts with monsters to keep up myself alive."

"So you were doing that because you can't keep yourself alive?" asked Aquarina. "How does that work?"

"I'm guessing it's because she's not a complete spirit, like a real one?" asked Justicio. "So she ended not being stable enough or something."

"Bingo, yeah, it must've been that" nodded Khepri. "Hmm, anyways. We won't do much sitting around here. Those parasites… judging by this entire cave, a meteor with their larvae frozen must've fallen from the sky at some point, impacting the area where my ornament was in the process. Hence why we found that tunnel made of molten Orichalcum."

"Then let's burn them all," Aquarian smiled, her fists forming into flames. "They give some really nasty good exp too, I want them dead."

"Okay, I'm in," nodded Silvia. "Let's use your sunlight beams to burn them, Khepri."

"I can use some basic fire spells," said Justicio. "To get by and cook, most people learn them. So let me help."

At the end, the group backtracked and started burning every single mushroom they found, every time they did, the creatures would release little cries of agony.

The more they died, the more Aquarina kept accumulating EXP, they were so easy to kill when they didn't absorb DNA it almost felt unfair.

"Alright, it seemed that the other routes were all dead ends," said Khepri. "The actual route is the one we took at first, let's go back now."

Once they were done, they walked back to the first path they took, as Silvia wondered something.

"I wonder though, did a monster never got here? Why haven't they been replaced by the doppelganger?" she wondered.

"Good question, and I have no idea why it's so silent here," said Khepri. "But let's keep our guards up… I don't know what might be waiting for us at the end of the corridor."

Unbeknownst to them, the sound of their footsteps echoed through the caves, slowly waking up a sleeping giant, as it opened its dozens of eyes.

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