"W-What is happening? Why is there someone that looks exactly like me?" Oliver asked in shock.

However, he quickly realized the answer. The slime had completely disappeared, and in its place stood Oliver’s perfect copy.

Erb had transformed into him. But the transformation was so flawless that Oliver could not spot even a single flaw. Suddenly, Erb dashed toward Oliver and activated Quickstep.

In an instant, it appeared directly before him and swung its dagger, the exact same dagger as Oliver’s. It seemed even equipment could be copied by Erb.

PING!!

Oliver quickly raised his dagger and blocked the attack. He immediately followed up by sweeping his leg toward Erb. However, Erb jumped upward smoothly before landing behind Oliver.

"Assault Slash!"

Erb suddenly unleashed the dagger skill toward Oliver. Oliver was startled, but only for a brief moment before regaining his composure and quickly dashing away using Quickstep.

Both of them stared at each other with sharp eyes.

"Looks like it can copy everything I have, even my skills. But can it copy my classes as well?" Oliver thought before immediately switching into the Crimson Striker class.

Erb merely stood there quietly while observing Oliver’s transformation.

"It seems it cannot copy my classes. Or... is it because it copied me before I transformed? It must have copied me when it swallowed me earlier. That must be one of its abilities." Oliver muttered while carefully watching Erb’s movements.

Right now, he was carefully studying his opponent. It seemed he had truly made a mistake by underestimating monsters obtained from the system. Even a monster that supposedly looked weak could actually be terrifyingly powerful.

Suddenly, an idea appeared in Oliver’s mind. He reverted back to his normal form and slowly steadied his breathing. A smile gradually formed on his face.

"Husk and Flora, both of you just watch and don’t interfere. I want to face it myself." Oliver said while slightly crouching down, preparing to move at any moment.

To him, this was actually a perfect opportunity. If his theory was correct, if Erb truly copied the exact condition he was in when it absorbed him, then Oliver wanted to see whether he could defeat himself.

In the future, he would eventually face formidable enemies, whether humans or monsters. And because of that, he needed to continuously improve himself. Even if it was only by one percent.

"I want to become stronger than the version of myself from one minute ago!"

He rushed forward, followed immediately by Erb. The two of them then clashed fiercely against each other. Every attack Oliver launched was blocked and countered perfectly, while he also did the same against Erb’s attacks.

The battle remained in a complete stalemate for several minutes. Sweat slowly flowed down Oliver’s temples, while the fake Oliver still looked completely calm and unchanged.

"You’re already tired? Is this your limit?" Erb suddenly asked using Oliver’s exact voice and intonation.

"No. Not yet. This is just warm up." Oliver replied confidently.

’So this is really how my tone sounds to other people? I seriously sound like an arrogant guy.’ Oliver thought awkwardly.

Oliver then charged forward once more. However, this time, he deliberately began altering his attack patterns. For the past five years, he had continuously refined and perfected his combat movements thanks to Husk and the others’ guidance.

But if he kept using the exact same patterns, then his copy would naturally predict all of them as well.

This, was the birth of a completely new attack style.

Oliver swung his right hand, which Erb easily avoided by bending its body backward smoothly. Erb then prepared to counterattack as Oliver’s body was fully extended forward.

However, Oliver suddenly released the dagger from his right hand before instantly catching it with his left hand and slashing toward Erb’s abdomen.

Swoosh!

Slimy blood splashed out from Erb’s abdomen as it received the unexpected attack. Erb immediately lowered its gaze toward the wound on its stomach.

"Hmmm... not bad," Husk commented while smiling proudly like a mentor watching his student improve.

Erb seemed surprised by the sudden change in Oliver’s attack pattern. Erb’s ability was indeed terrifyingly powerful, but its weakness was also quite simple. It’s copied power was static.

If it absorbed an enemy when their ability was at 100%, then it would surely lose if that same enemy suddenly pushed themselves beyond that limit and displayed 110% of their ability.

Oliver did not waste any more time before bringing out Iron Whispers, a set of six throwing knives he recently obtained from the system.

---

[Iron Whispers]

Type: Throwing Knives

Rarity: Rare

Stats:

AGI: +95

Skills:

[Whispering Talons]

Call the thrown knives back into the user’s hands.

---

Oliver held all six knives firmly, three fitted between the fingers of each hand. He then threw them forward rapidly, but Erb easily evaded all of them with smooth movements.

Oliver immediately continued his assault again using the new attack patterns he had just developed, forcing Erb onto the defensive side.

However, Oliver soon noticed something strange. Most of his attacks were successfully landing and injuring Erb’s body, yet it seemed completely unaffected by the damage.

"Whispering Talons!"

Oliver then called back all the knives, causing them to fly rapidly back toward him. On their return path, the knives sliced through Erb from behind, causing purple fluid to spill out from the wounded areas.

And just as expected, Erb showed absolutely no reaction.

"Hehehe. Physical attacks cannot harm me. Stab, slash, thrust, smash, or whatever it is... none of those can truly affect me." Erb said while smirking using Oliver’s exact face.

"That’s cheating! How am I supposed to damage this guy?" Oliver complained loudly. But then, he suddenly fell silent.

"Wait a minute. It said physical attacks don’t work on it. Then what about magical attacks?!" Oliver’s eyes widened instantly. Without hesitation, he immediately summoned Nyx.

Erb looked slightly startled after seeing the giant flying insect suddenly appear.

"Nyx, charge your weapon and attack him!" Oliver ordered quickly.

Nyx’s weapon began gathering mana from the surroundings, meaning the attack was fundamentally magical in nature.

BOOM!!!

A massive blast erupted forward toward Erb. Erb did not even have enough time to react before it was blasted away by the attack.