Blanche’s heels clicked on the stone floor. Her eyes traced the entire room to assess her situation.
(To complete the trial you must defeat your reflection.)
She glanced at the notification, then turned around to take in the chamber. She couldn’t see the ceiling even when she tried to boost her vision with her mana. The walls surrounding her were covered with various mirrors, each one different size and shape. However, all of them were wrong. They showed distorted, exaggerated, and sometimes utterly alien versions of her. It reminded her of a carnival she visited with her late mother.
She grabbed her rapier and sabre, ready for any kind of ambush. She quickly turned around as one of the mirrors shimmered, her reflection stepping out and facing her. The reflection’s ice-blue eyes were stern. Her grey hair was tied neatly in a bun with a bang falling to her face. Her attire was somewhat formal, featuring a high-collared jacket that fell to her hip level with intricate designs on the shoulders, paired with a fitted top underneath that accentuates her trained physique. She was wearing high-waisted navy blue pants with a wide belt that connected to her sheaths and pouch.
“Pitiful.”
The reflection spoke coldly.
“What was that?”
Blanche asked, wearing the same cold expression the reflection had.
“You heard me. You are pitiful.”
Blanche recognized the eyes the reflection had. It was the same eyes all Silverfoxes had when dealing with common folk or beastkin. A look full of condensation. Blanche didn’t react. This kind of provocation wasn’t something she hadn’t seen before. Different branches of her family always tried to start fights with each other to gain some kind of upper hand in the political game. The first one to make a reaction would be seen as weak so she was trained to not get fired up.
“Why is that?”
Yet, she couldn’t help to ask.
“Look where you are. Look who you are working with. Are you really the same girl who promised herself she would become the family head in the future?”
Blanche's grip tightened on her weapons, her face remaining a mask of composure, but a flicker of something darker passed through her ice-blue eyes.
Her reflection gave a disdainful chuckle, the sound cold and hollow, echoing off the mirrored walls.
“You are working with someone who is working with beastkin. Who holds the secret of your family? What would your grandfather think?”
Blanche narrowed her eyes, assessing her reflection with a cool, calculated gaze.
“It doesn’t matter whether Poyraz works with beastkin or not. He is strong, is the Champion of Aliera, and has the cure for our problem.”
She replied, her voice firm yet controlled.
“Oh, please.” Her reflection rolled her eyes, a sneer twisting her features.
“This means that you rely on him! You know how relying on others will end up! You relied on your father and grandfather to cure your mother! How did it end up?”
Blanche took a measured breath, feeling something crawl to her throat from her chest. Her eyes held the reflection’s gaze, unwavering.
“I heard enough.”
She said her voice like steel. Without another word, she lunged forward, both of her weapons drawn. Blanche’s rapier met her reflection’s thrust mid-strike, the blades scraping against each other with a metallic hiss as they locked in a stalemate, each trying to overpower the other.
“Then again, what can you do except rely on others? You couldn’t even find the cure! Poyraz did!”
The reflection barked as her face twisted into an unnatural grin. Blanche didn’t answer with words. She pressed forward, dropping low and twisting out of the deadlock. She brought her saber up in a sweeping arc, but her reflection mirrored the movement flawlessly, sidestepping and delivering a riposte with inhuman precision. Blanche blocked it and both of them jumped back several meters.
“Lightning Bolt.”
“Lightning Bolt.”
Both of them chanted at the same time, their rapiers pointed toward each other. Twin bolts of crackling blue lightning surged from their rapiers, meeting midway and exploding in a blinding flash that rattled the mirrored walls. Shards of electricity danced across the floor, leaving scorch marks in their wake, as both Blanche and her reflection staggered back from the backlash. Blanche steadied herself, her heart pounding, but her face remained composed, eyes narrowed in unyielding focus.
“Haste, Surge of Strength.”
She chanted under her breath and leaped forward, cutting through the smoke the meet her reflection. The reflection must have thought the same as they met in middle and clashed once more.
“Glacial Lance.”
“Glacial Lance.”
Their voices overlapped, and shards of ice erupted from their hands, spearing forward with deadly intent. The frost-laden spears collided mid-air, shattering into a spray of icy fragments that sparkled in the dim light as they scattered across the stone floor. Blanche shielded herself, pivoting gracefully, her every movement calculated to waste no effort or energy.
Her reflection mirrored her, both of them circling each other, steps silent and watchful. The reflection sneered, her eyes never leaving Blanche’s.
“You are silent. Is it because you know that I am right? Of course it is.”
Blanche's expression didn’t falter, but a glint of irritation flashed in her eyes. She hadn’t come this far to be taunted by her own shadow. With a sharp exhale, she darted forward, her figure blurring as Haste propelled her faster.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Ice Wall.”
An ice wall blocked Blanche’s vision, causing her to slow down to not hit it.
“You would have lost control just like your mother if it wasn’t for Poyraz! Your will is weak!”
The reflection leaped over the wall with ease, positioning herself behind Blanche. She was able to barely turn around to block the reflection’s strike. However, the force behind the attack sent her flying into the ice wall.
"Is that all your training has brought you? All those books you read under the dim candlelight until your eyes hurt! All the training you did until your bones cracked? Weak, weak, weak! Lightning Surge!”
The reflection’s words were drowned in a surge of crackling blue energy that raced down her blade and shot toward Blanche. With no time to fully dodge, Blanche barely raised her saber, focusing her mana to defend herself. The ice wall behind her shattered into a thousand pieces as she fell down to one knee, her magical crest shining beneath her clothing in an effort to supply her with mana.
“The magical crest. Pride of Silverfox family. A curse containing the power of Wolf King.”
Blanche gritted her teeth, feeling mana circulated through her crest. She forced herself to her feet, her gaze locking with her reflection with an intensity that cut through the biting chill left by the shattered ice.
“Every child gets implanted it at the age of 7. If they survive, they are accepted into the family.”
Blanche felt her jaw tighten as her reflection’s words wormed their way through her defenses. She had heard enough. With a quick flick of her wrist, she whispered, “Frozen Edge.” Her saber’s blade glowed an icy blue, frost crawling along its length, coating it in a thick sheen of ice. She dashed forward, her movements swift and fluid with the aid of Haste, her blades whirling in deadly arcs.
But her reflection matched her blow for blow, each strike met with flawless, calculated counters.
“But even for those children, the curse comes. How could it not? We are not like other families! They built their magic crests with knowledge, time, and talent! What did we do? We stole it from a beast!”
They moved as if part of a deadly dance, the sharp clang of metal on metal echoing through the chamber. For every strike Blanche delivered, her reflection responded with equal force, their movements perfectly synchronized. Yet Blanche knew this wouldn’t last. The damage she took would affect her as she tired out.
“And we can’t even control it like Poyraz does! How pathetic!”
A lightning-infused slash sent Blanche stumbling back.
“I can now.”
Blanche straightened her back as she answered.
“Not with you-“
“It doesn’t matter if I received help or not.”
Blanche cut the reflection’s sentence.
“A noble may bear titles and command respect by birth, but no ruler, however capable, can oversee an entire land alone. Ruling over people and managing resources takes specialized knowledge and constant oversight. If we did everything ourselves, from governing to farming to fighting, we’d be stretched so thin that we would fail our people.”
Blue lightning clad her body like a dress.
“I get farmers to sow and harvest my lands. I get blacksmiths to forge my weapons. I trade services with other nobles if my lands don’t have a certain thing. What is the difference between that and getting Poyraz’s help?”
The reflection scoffed, rolling her eyes with a dismissive sneer.
“Excuses.”
She growled.
“I have no obligation to convince you. I only have to defeat you.”
Blanche moved with deadly precision, her words now behind her, her mind focused entirely on the battle. Her body crackled with power as the lightning danced along her blade, illuminating her figure in sharp, electric light.
"Glacial Barrage!" she whispered, channeling her mana into her blade. Frost-laden projectiles launched from her saber, scattering toward her reflection like a storm of icy daggers. Her reflection mirrored her, but Blanche was faster this time, pressing her advantage and forcing her reflection onto the defensive. The frosty shards cut through the air, several finding their mark as they grazed her opponent’s armor.
The reflection staggered back, her face twisted in frustration, yet she managed to stay composed, conjuring a barrier of her own. Blanche’s icy projectiles shattered against the shimmering shield, splintering in all directions and hitting her, yet Blanche didn’t stop. She raised her hand, and with a surge of energy, she summoned a wall of ice to her left, manipulating the barrier to break into jagged shards, hovering mid-air around her like floating daggers.
(You received a hit. Twice Strike of Mantle of the Unbroken activates. Your next attack will double in power.)
The reflection skiddled back to retreat and catch her breath but Blanche followed her.
“Frozen Lance!” Blanche shouted, thrusting her rapier forward, and an ice-coated spear shot from the blade’s tip, catching her reflection square in the chest. Her reflection cried out, stumbling back, and for the first time, Blanche saw fear flicker in the cold blue eyes.
With a final surge of mana, Blanche leaped forward, her saber glowing with a vibrant, frost-laden light. She brought it down in an arc, her reflection mirroring the motion but too late to block. Blanche’s strike shattered the reflection’s guard, her blade cleaving through her opponent’s form. The reflection's face twisted in shock as the icy energy overtook her, freezing her mid-scream before the entire image shattered into a thousand crystalline fragments that scattered across the chamber floor.
The room was silent, the echo of the shattering fading into the distance. Blanche stood still, her chest rising and falling heavily, the lightning slowly dissipating around her. She let out a slow breath, steadying herself as she sheathed her weapons, glancing around at the now-still mirrors that reflected only herself.
A new notification appeared before her eyes:
(You completed Trial of Mirrors.)