the beginning after the end perfect duo

CHAPTER 24

The crate lurched, throwing us against the rough wood.

"Shit, we're trapped," Lilia's voice rose, vibrating with panic in the dark. "They're moving us. We're going to be shipped outside or—or sold! We're going to be auctioned off!"

"Keep your voice down," Arthur hissed, though I could feel the tension radiating off him. He shifted, his grip tightening on the black cane—Dawn's Ballad—that he had refused to let go of since the artifact room.

I was squashed between them, my knees pressed against the wood. Outside, the muffled sounds of the auction house workers grew louder.

"What do we do?" Lilia asked, her breath hitching. "Tom? Arthur?"

"We can't break out," Arthur whispered. "If we smash the lid, we pop out right in front of the movers. Three kids appearing out of a shipping crate isn't exactly 'low profile'."

"We need an exit," I muttered, my mind racing. "And we need it now."

I closed my eyes, extending my mana sense. I could feel the space outside—a long corridor, guards, workers. Too risky.

There was only one place safe enough. It was a risk, revealing it this early, but we were out of options.

"Give me your hands," I ordered.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it!"

I grabbed Arthur's wrist with my left hand and Lilia's with my right. I took a deep breath. I hadn't tested a triple-passenger warp over this distance yet. This was going to hurt.

I focused on the anchor point I had spent three years carving out.

Coordinates set.

SNAP.

The world twisted. The sensation of being squeezed through a narrow tube assaulted us, followed by a rush of nausea.

We slammed onto cold, smooth stone.

"Ugh..." Arthur groaned, dropping to one knee, using the sword as a crutch to steady himself.

I dry-heaved, my head spinning. My mana core ached with a sharp, throbbing pain. Teleporting three people wasn't just a skill; it was a burden.

"What... what just happened?" Lilia stuttered. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the sudden change in lighting.

She wasn't looking at a crate anymore. She was looking at a cavern.

"Welcome," I rasped, wiping sweat from my forehead, "to my workshop."

We were standing in a massive underground chamber. But it wasn't some pristine, magical palace. It was a construction site.

The walls were rough-hewn stone, reinforced with earth magic. The air smelled of ozone, sawdust, and sweat. In the distance, a half-finished pool was being tiled. A gym area was filled with crude but heavy iron weights. Tables were piled high with blueprints, mana crystals, and dismantled gadgets.

But the most shocking part wasn't the room. It was the workers.

"Tom?" Lilia whispered, her face pale. She pointed a trembling finger. "Why... why are there five of you?"

Across the room, five identical versions of me were working. One was hammering a metal plate. Another was scribing runes onto a crystal, his eyes dark with exhaustion. A third was meditating in a mana-gathering circle, feeding energy into the room's wards.

They didn't even look up. They just kept working.

"Clones?" Arthur asked, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the room. He didn't look scared; he looked calculating. "Solid physical clones? That's high-tier magic, Tom. How?"