Duncan steps into the light in front of him. He’s blinded before finding he’s somewhere else. A wide-open field greeted him; immediately after, a silhouette of himself appeared from inside of him. “Duncan Willis, your trial will be fighting against yourself at your strongest point,” Duncan’s double began to de-age rapidly, his Aura risen from 3rd Grade into 5th Grade.
Duncan frowned before quietly saying, “This is going to be a tough fight,” Duncan smiled at the challenge.
Meanwhile, Davida’s met with a familiar scene from her hometown, the beach from Sylphid Coast and her older sister. “Davida La Palapa, your trial will be fighting against the person you admire the most.” Davida gripped her staff tightly, determinations materialise in her eyes.
“Diane Treeborn, your trial will be besting the very thing you fear the most,” a giant spider jumped down from the sky, frightening Diane. “Please, mother Vaizeu, please no, please,” she quivers, curling her body on a nearby tree.
I, on the other hand, go back into the original room. “Greetings, Fate Master. Your trials will be different than those of your companion” I see on the other side of the room a figure rises from the ground. “This place was called the Trials Ground because it tested the companion of the Fate Master, but this place has another name. Fate Grounding Grounds. That’s why you’ll be facing against yourself, at your strongest form.” I readied my sword, while my double only stared at me arrogantly.
===
Duncan panted heavily on the ground while his younger self stands tall, looking down on him. “Smugly looking down on your opponent…. You truly are my younger self,” Duncan smiles wryly. He uses his massive sword to prop up his body. “If you’re truly my younger self, you must’ve enjoyed seeing your opponent crawl down beneath you arrogantly. BUT….” Duncan charges forward with smiles on his face, “That arrogance will also be your downfall!”
Duncan’s eyes lit up; he uses the momentum from his body to swing his sword diagonally, “Take this!” The young Duncan smiles arrogantly, meeting his sword with the old Duncan. “I was expecting you to do that,” Duncan let go of his sword and, putting his left palm forward, “Taste my move, Aura Flash!” A blinding flash comes out of Duncan’s left palm, stunning his opponent. “Now, die!” Duncan stabs his younger self with a dagger he hid inside his gauntlet.
The dagger pierces deep into the younger Duncan body as the old Duncan immediately let go of the dagger to grab his greatsword. “Hah, the old me would’ve been proud to just wound the opponent. Taste the experience of a battle-hardened man.” The old Duncan swings his sword at his younger self, “It’s over.”
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What the old Duncan anticipated did not happen, however. The young Duncan manages to move out of the way by blasting the ground with his Aura, using the recoil from it. The look on the younger Duncan’s face changed. Before, he views his opponent with disdain, but now, it’s a serious look that sees his opponent as an equal. “Damn. This is going to be hard,” the older Duncan push his Aura to his limit, “Let’s do this!” Two greatswords clashed once again.
===
Davida pondered in her mind as she dodges the magic arrow flying at her. ‘How amazing!’ glitter evident in Davida's eyes. ‘How did it do this? Scanning one’s memories require at least a 5th Circle Mage, and their mana control must be exceptional. I’m curious, I’m curious, I’m super curious.’
“Kyaa” distracted, Davida got hit by a light fireball. Davida’s sister duplicate, Gabriella, looks irritated as she chanted another spell. Davida remembered, her sister would always be annoyed whenever she was distracted by something. Davida looked at her sister duplicate, frowning, “All my life, I never beaten you once, sis. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try my best.”
Davida gripped her staff tightly, shouting, “Wind Blade.” A sharp blade of wind cut through the air, but the combustion from Gabriella spell stopped it on its track. “Incredible, using fire magic who’s typically weak against wind magic to cancel my spell. As expected from my sister.”
Gabriella’s double immediately cast her spell after. It was so fast, Davida barely had time to react. A couple of water ball fly toward Davida at high speed. Not finished, Gabriella’s Double cast another spell, this time an earth spell. A moat appeared below Davida’s feet, which she dodges by casting a wind spell to propel herself. Davida forgets, however, about the water ball that flies towards her.
Casting a barrier, she managed to defend herself, but her sister’s relentless attack did not stop. First, Gabriella’s double casts Firewall to trap Davida in one place. Then, Gabriella’s cornered Davida further by casting Earth Spike, forcing Davida to jump up the air. Once her opponent is in the air, Gabriella launched Fire Spark alongside Gale to make a fiery tornado out of a low-level spell.
“Amazing!” Davida exclaims while trying hard to dodge her sister’s spell, “We’re both almost at the same age, but you’re way better than me at magic.” She took out a round device from her robe pocket, “While I’m not going to match you purely on magic. Take this!” Davida throws the round device at her sister’s double, “Magic Grenade – Fire.”
*BOOM*
===
I stared at myself, feeling wronged. The guy in front of me kept on using Spell Cards after Spell Cards like it’s nobody business. While I, on the other hand, only have enough resources for 2 Explosion Spell. This room said ‘my strongest form,’ I’m glad it’s only for the Fate Master side, not the Aura side; I can at least defend myself. If I can somehow get past all the Spell, I can damage him somehow. I just hope he doesn’t have a barrier.
The battle continues as my doubles’ casts Spell after Spell. The Spells my double casts is exactly as I remember it, the Spells from the game. What I had, however, is the spell from this world. There’s little to no difference between our spell, except he had almost unlimited Resources while I only had my Neutral Resources.
When I finally get close to him, he casts Teleport to gain some distance and blasts me continuously with his Spells. This is tedious, but I know if I managed to get a hit on him, based on my double didn’t have Aura, I could defeat him instantly.
I readied my sword as I stared at my double. Noticing my stare, he smiled smugly at me. Fuck, I look like a bastard when I smiled like that. Getting irritated looking at myself indeed wasn’t healthy. Well then, time to get a little more creative.