Thrud showed the Doppelganger around the Golden Griffon, teaching them the names of the things and the people they met by using a combination of mind links, gestures, and words that she had planned to use with the little Valeron.
Protheus proved to be smart and curious. They took samples from all those they met and in the space of a few days, the Doppelganger was already able to talk fluently. Protheus joined the classes for Awakened to understand magic, spending all of their free time practicing Accumulation.
Protheus would rarely speak because the world around them was interesting and filled with countless marvels that they were eager to learn about. Over time, Thrud and everyone else inside the Golden Griffon had become used to the Doppelganger's quiet presence.
Protheus usually spoke only to ask questions so when they chose Thrud's war room to give their first speech, she almost couldn't believe her own ears.
"Conquering the cities of the Kingdom from the inside is a smart plan, but you can't trust traitors. They could change their mind at the first hitch in your plans or simply chicken out under pressure.
"You need someone to keep an eye on them at all times. Someone that can take out a useless pawn at any moment and escape without being noticed." Protheus turned into their gelatinous form, mimicking their escape through a drain pipe.
"My brethren and I can pass through an enchanted sieve without being noticed, let alone the sewer's grids. We can get in and out from any city." Thrud had allowed the Doppelganger to reproduce in order to not make them feel lonely and to study their behavior as a species instead of a single individual.
"That's too dangerous." She dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand. "You and your children have no idea of how complex the everyday life of any creature is. Skinwalkers, instead, can learn everything they need with a single meal."
"Indeed, yet their feral nature limits their intelligence and adaptability. They can follow your orders, but not improvise." Protheus said. "On top of that, they make the perfect scapegoat. If one of your subjects betrays you, they can always claim that they acted under the threat of being replaced by a Skinwalker.
"Using those monsters as spies is a double-edged sword because even though they can replace anyone, their existence gives the traitors who have joined your cause a bargaining chip with the Kingdom to obtain a full pardon for their actions.
"If the Skinwalkers get exposed before the war starts, your plan will fail."
"You may be right, but your numbers are too few and you are too weak." Thrud shook her head. "Going from a red to an orange core is quick, but it will take you months if not years even to achieve a green core."
"We are not weak!" Protheus shapeshifted into an Emerald Dragon, crushing a huge stone with the sheer strength of their grip and showing the hardness of their scales by withstanding the strike of an enchanted weapon.
Then the Doppelganger turned into Iata the Scorpicore, stinging with the scorpion tail at the enchanted walls of the academy and secreting enough acid to open a sizzling hole.
Unlike a slime, a Doppelganger could store the excess mass obtained through feeding indefinitely and compress it into their bodies to have the same physical abilities as the creatures they turned into.
Then, Protheus combined the best components of each creature that they had sampled to use their bloodline ability, Chimeric Body. It allowed a Doppelganger not to be forced to mimic the full body of a creature to use their natural gifts, adapting them to whatever form they chose.
They could retain human form and still be able to use wings to fly or look like a rat whose bite was venomous.
"I admit that you are strong but without magic, there isn't much you can do." Thrud said. "I didn't create your species to use you in this war as soldiers. I did it only because I wanted to check the limits of the Unwavering Loyalty array and the potential of slimes' evolution.
"You guys are too young, naïve, and inexperienced to understand the implications of your proposal. If you get discovered, you are bound to be captured, vivisected, and then exterminated."
"No, it's you who don't understand the implications of your actions." Protheus said. "Before you Awakened me, all I knew were fear, hunger, and darkness. I lived my days incapable of planning past my next meal or seeing what was in front of me.
"Every time I felt a vibration, I could only slowly slither away and hope that whatever creature it was would pick something else to fill their belly. When you gave me sentience, you also gave me hope, light, and curiosity.
"I now understand that to really call myself a living creature I can't just worry about eating and surviving. I need a purpose. Otherwise, I would be no different from a slime."
"War is not a purpose. It's a means to an end." Thrud replied.
"I know." Protheus nodded. "That's why I found a purpose of my own. I want to help you build a world where my species, any species, don't have to hide from humans. I want you to claim the throne of the Griffon Kingdom so that you and my brother Valeron can have the life you deserve.
"Please, allow us to help you, Mother." Protheus shapeshifted into an androgynous human form that had Thrud's silver eyes, Jormun's emerald hair, and that bore a semblance to both of them just like Valeron did.
"Please, allow us to help you, Mother." One after the other, all the Doppelgangers joined Protheus' plea and shapeshifted into their unique human form.
They knelt in front of Thrud, leaving her no choice. She had sent the Doppelgangers to keep an eye on her willing subjects like Marquis Beilin and to aid them to destroy the Kingdom from the inside.
Yet before sending them away, she had given to each one of them a communication amulet. This way, the Doppelgangers could report to her developments like Jirni's arrival while pretending to be brainless slaves.
It also allowed her to know when something went wrong because with their death their communication rune would fade away. The moment Phloria and Manohar had killed the Doppelganger, Thrud knew that her plan had already been compromised.
She had already faced Manohar and the annoying Constable together and unlike the Marquis, she had never underestimated them. Thrud assumed that the worst had happened and ordered the Doppelgangers in Ruham to tie the loose ends before running away.
***
Jirni had her Featherwalker armor shapeshift into a more comfortable form while she threw her needles at the incoming Doppelganger, aiming where their vitals were supposed to be.
Her aim was perfect and Orion's enchantments easily pierced through the eyes, chest, and the opened mouth of the monstrous creature, unleashing pulses of darkness magic that would make organs rot.
Yet no matter their form, a Doppelganger had no brain nor heart so the needles merely stung and the darkness magic caused them pain but no real harm.. The wounds shed no blood and closed immediately, like the surface of a lake after being struck by a stone.
