Of course, Lily couldn't be considered a telepath. She couldn't read minds. Her innate succubus abilities were quite limited, allowing her only to sense the emotions of the person she was talking to, but not to determine their source.
With the information available to her, Lily could only draw a limited number of conclusions and use her advantage to steer the conversation.
But right now, she, Cheryl, and Hope were simply standing obediently to the side, waiting for Grey to finish his conversation with the guard.
She couldn't and had no intention of interfering in their conversation. After all, their main goal was to test the girls' new abilities, not get into a pointless argument.
Grey's behavior and that of her best friend fit this picture perfectly. She figured Grey was simply afraid of revealing Hope's witch abilities, which was why he was being so cautious.
And Cheryl... Well, Cheryl was just Cheryl...
Just yesterday, she had boldly volunteered to go to Grey's room, since she liked him, to show off her new skills. Yet in the end, she had returned empty-handed. It was only natural for her to be so nervous now that her escape route had been cut off.
So Lily didn't suspect a thing.
She had even been glad when she heard about the massacre at the Merciful Flame's Cult hideout, but she hadn't given the incident much thought.
In her eyes, cultists were nothing more than pests who got in the way of her enjoying life with her friends. She didn't hate them for their atrocities, nor was she afraid of their retaliation. She simply found them annoying.
After chatting a little longer with the potbellied guard, Grey said his goodbyes.
At last, the group could leave Thorn's Cloaca in peace and head into the forest "to gather herbs."
However, they didn't head straight for the old estate. Instead, they looked for a more secluded spot where no one would see them, including Grey's subordinates.
After all, although the teenagers had formally pledged their loyalty to Grey, they had still been born and raised in the Magical Empire.
Who knew how deeply the distorted ideology that society had imposed on them for centuries had brainwashed them? To them, witches might very well be considered hellspawn and evil incarnate. Not because of any personal experience, but simply because that was common sense here.
Grey saw no reason to test their loyalty so early.
You couldn't simply make someone change their entire outlook on life with a single order. A person's way of thinking changed gradually as they gained new experiences and learned more about the world around them.
And that was exactly what was happening now.
The teenagers needed to get used to Hope, get to know her better, and even become friends with her. Only then would he be able to reveal her true nature without risking a rift between them.
As an educated man from Earth, he knew better than anyone what the "Overton Window" was. He knew exactly how he needed to influence the teenagers to gradually expand the boundaries of what they considered acceptable.
Grey had complete confidence in the refined methods of political propaganda that had been used and perfected over centuries in his former world. Applying those same methods in this backward society was no challenge at all. Especially since he had already earned the respect of the recruits.
Thirty minutes later, the group stopped at a small clearing in the middle of Thorn's Tabernacles.
They had chosen a secluded spot far enough from the city that no one would disturb them.
Then Grey clapped his hands and fixed Cheryl and Hope with a burning gaze.
"Who wants to go first?" he asked with a provocative smile.
"Cheryl first," the rabbit girl stepped forward confidently, meeting his gaze without flinching.
She didn't look confused or embarrassed. Her large brown eyes were filled with determination.
Ever since she had learned what Grey had done the previous night, she had become even more eager to impress him. So she took a deep breath and prepared to give it her all.
Cheryl brought her palms together in a prayer-like gesture and held her breath.
At that moment, she began circulating mana throughout her body, following her instincts.
Her long ears, which were usually ash-colored, suddenly turned a bright silver and began to glow softly.
Since she was facing Grey, he couldn't see what was happening to her tail. However, it too was glowing with a silvery sheen.
Trying to concentrate, Cheryl closed her eyes and stood perfectly still for about half a minute.
Suddenly, her little tail detached from her body and fell to the ground. It looked like a fluffy ball of silvery fur, which grew brighter with every passing moment.
Grey couldn't help but squint to protect his eyes.
However, the glow didn't last long.
When he opened his eyes again, he simply couldn't believe what he was seeing.
There were no longer three girls standing before him, but four: Lily, Hope, and... two Cheryls, identical in every way. Their poses, facial expressions, and even their movements were exactly the same. If not for the strange angle of his view, Grey would have thought he was looking at her reflection in a mirror.
And yet, both Cheryls were real and could move independently of each other, something they eagerly demonstrated to the astonished Grey.
The Cheryl on the left tugged down her lower eyelid and stuck out her tongue. Meanwhile, the one on the right wiggled her ears one after another and winked.
Instinctively, Grey reached out, wanting to touch the tops of their heads and compare how they felt. But he only felt a touch against his right palm.
His left hand passed straight through one of the Cheryls, as if she were an illusion. The sensation was similar to putting his hand into water, but lighter and more ethereal. Grey even felt a pleasant drop in temperature, as though he were standing beneath the moonlight.
Cheryl smiled modestly, clearly proud of her achievement, and quietly let Grey stroke her head. She liked it when he touched her hair. She liked the attention and the admiration shining in his eyes.
She was genuinely happy that she had listened to Lily and hadn't refused to use the beast essence to develop her abilities.
"How long can this clone exist?" Grey asked curiously.
Cheryl hesitated for a moment and pressed a finger to her lips, trying to think it through. Then she began to explain:
"Cheryl doesn't know exactly. Cheryl's power comes from the Moon Goddess, so it's most effective at night. The clone becomes more tangible, much easier to maintain and control. And if Cheryl uses this ability during a full moon, its duration is almost unlimited."
Since Cheryl knew Grey's personality well and understood how much attention he paid to magical abilities, she had already conducted several tests and drawn a few conclusions that she could share with him.
Of course, she couldn't figure out all the intricacies of her new ability in such a short time, but she hadn't missed a few basic details.
"During the day, everything becomes much more difficult. The clone feels somewhat unstable and can only last from half an hour to an hour. Cheryl doesn't know the details, since she only awakened this ability a week ago and can't use it more than once a day."
After finishing, she looked expectantly at Grey, who had been listening attentively.
"I see. Sounds pretty good. But does the clone have any special abilities? It can't exist just to distract people, can it?"
Cheryl felt a little disappointed, because that was exactly the case.
Although her clone looked completely identical to her, it couldn't perform any actual tasks. Even holding other objects was incredibly difficult and required a large amount of mana.
Worst of all, she couldn't control the clone freely. Not because such a thing was impossible, but because Cheryl found it extremely difficult to make her main body and the clone perform different actions at the same time.
When she activated her ability, the world before her eyes seemed to split in two, as if two different images were overlapping. On top of that, she had to make a considerable mental effort to keep the clone from simply copying her main body's movements and make it do something else instead.
To be honest, when she first awakened this ability, she couldn't understand what was happening at all.
She immediately lost her sense of direction and stumbled repeatedly, even on perfectly flat ground. The same thing happened to her clone, since Cheryl hadn't even realized it had appeared at the time.
She had to make quite an effort to show Grey two different gestures at the same time.
Although Cheryl felt disappointed, she honestly explained everything to Grey, hoping he might offer her some advice.
Grey patted her miniature head again, asked her several leading questions, and tried to logically analyze the capabilities of Cheryl's ability.
A minute later, he seemed to reach a conclusion and suggested that she practice some simple exercises that Formula 1 drivers in his previous life often used to train their multitasking skills.
Cheryl was supposed to repeatedly throw a ball against the wall and catch it while performing simple calculations at the same time. For example, counting backward from one hundred to one in steps of three: 100, 97, 94, 91, 88, and so on.
This would gradually train her brain to handle different tasks simultaneously, making it much easier to control her clone. Over time, the difficulty could be increased by adding new elements.
Of course, this kind of training would put considerable cognitive strain on Cheryl. For a little girl who had only recently learned how to count in a slave camp, it was indeed quite challenging.
But everything came with practice.
Besides, Cheryl was at the perfect age to develop such skills, so Grey wasn't too worried.
Although Grey appeared rather calm about the new ability, he actually found it truly impressive.
Yes, the clone wasn't physical, which meant it couldn't be used directly in combat. However, this ability had plenty of other applications.
For example, the double was perfect for reconnaissance. Even if the clone was destroyed, Cheryl herself wouldn't suffer any harm, and all the information it had gathered would still remain with her. What's more, all she had to do was put on a hood, and her enemies wouldn't be able to identify the real Cheryl, especially if she dispelled the clone at the right moment.
The clone could also be used to escape by distracting enemies and creating false targets.
If Cheryl had possessed this ability during the battle with the Panther, escaping would have been much easier. She could have distracted the enemy with her double while the others launched their attacks.
And those were only the most obvious possibilities.
Grey was certain that Cheryl's innate ability had many other, less obvious but extremely useful applications.
"Well done, Cheryl. I'll definitely be needing your help with my work from now on. I hope you won't mind putting in some overtime. I'm counting on you."
Grey gave the rabbit girl an encouraging pat on the shoulder, but didn't bother explaining all the advantages of her new ability in detail.
It would be far more beneficial for Cheryl's future if she learned to master her new skills on her own and came up with ways to use them herself. After all, whatever she discovered through her own efforts would be etched into her memory much more firmly than if he spoon-fed her every little detail.
Cheryl beamed with a smile in response, and Grey shifted his gaze to Hope.
...
P.S.
Dear readers, please don't forget to write the reviews, support book with Power Stones, and express your opinion in the comments.
Your reactions not only inspire me, but also influence the algorithms that promote the work and allow it to find more readers.
Thank you so much for your support.