Fate. It was not just a word or a concept. As one of the twelve lineages of the Origin Sea, it had countless Mysteries. So much so, that no Wanderer could ever hope to completely understand what Fate truly was, or what secrets it held. Like the curse that came with his name. So, it did not come as a surprise to Alnea that the Rings of Fate could create a mirror world. The ‘Mirror World’ itself though had countless surprises for him. Like the dark shadow, roughly a head taller than him, swinging its right fist towards his head.

Pushing against the white, empty floor—if it could even be called as a floor— with his left foot, Alnea slammed his right foot on the dark fist coming towards his face, and used the reactionary force to flip back, opening some distance from his enemy. But only for a fraction of a moment.

Following up on its punch, the shadow stepped forward and swept its legs towards Alnea’s head while he was still in the air. Fortunately, trapped in the mirror world, the shadow could not use its Aspects. Unfortunately, Alnea could not use his Aspects either. And without his Aspects, or his sword, he had no way to deal with the shadow’s attack. In the end, he could only use his left hand to put up a guard…

“Tion’s beard,” Alnea cursed. The sudden jolt of pain aside, he could feel his hand going numb, and bend. It was probably broken. Even if the injury would fade away after he left the mirror world, suffering from broken bones was not a pleasant experience. There was nothing he could do though.

The shadow was a mirror image of one of the Wanderers he had faced a few days ago. A veritable Peak Stage False Wanderer, who walked on the path of Warriors. Even without access to Aspects, or Arcanas, it was strong enough to deal with him. Especially since the shadow only copied the basic attributes and abilities of the Wanderer. Its combat abilities, and skills were created by the mirror world itself. Or rather, by—

“…Pathetic,” the ring on his left hand flashed, as the teasing voice of an arrogant man rang out in his head. “Being toyed around by the shadow of a Wanderer you have already defeated…”

“…The shadow is clearly not the same as those Wanderers,” Alnea mumbled, pivoting on his right hand, and sweeping his left leg at the shadow’s knees. The shadow, of course, easily dodged his blow by jumping in the air. But it gave him the opening he needed. “And stop distracting me.”

Using the momentum of his first kick, he tuned his body, and slammed—the pain almost made him fail. Almost. Gritting his teeth, Alnea ignored the pain, and swept his right leg towards shadow’s chest. Right in the next moment, he felt his heel connect with the shadow. And with how much strength he had put behind the attack, he did not have to look to know the outcome.

Ignoring the pain, Alnea quickly pushed himself off the ground, and flipped in the air, dodging the shadow’s counterattack, before landing back on the ground, facing his enemy once again. Just like him, the shadow also had a hand lying limp by its side. Unlike him though, the shadow truly had no concept of pain. So, it did not hesitate to charge towards him once again.

“If you are getting distracted, then it only means that you are not good enough.”

Stupid ring. It was much more appealing when it was still sleeping. Or when it was not taking its revenge. Why did a Divine Treasure have to chatter so much anyway? Forget it, Alnea thought, and shifted his focus back to the shadow charging at him. They may have both lost a hand, but it was still him who was at a disadvantage. Still, it was not as if he did not have any chance of winning.

Exhaling a breath of pain, frustration, and determination, Alnea drew a half circle with the toes of his left leg, shifting it towards his back, before transferring most of his weight on his left leg, and putting up a guard with his right hand, adopting a variant of the Mountain and Rivers Style. He had the stable base of a mountain but had only one branch of a river flowing down its peak. For the shadow though, just that single branch of river was enough.

Swatting the shadow’s punch away with the back of his hand, Alnea deflected the shadow’s kick with a tap, before pushing the torrent of the river in towards the neck of the shadow standing defenseless in front of him. Unfortunately, without any Aspects, the reach and speed of the river was limited, allowing the shadow to lean back, and dodge the fatal blow.

Yet, Alnea was not willing to give up such a perfect opportunity. Shifting the mountain itself, Alnea directed the torrent of the river down on the shadow’s chest, delivering a blow strong enough to slam it to the ground. But not enough to destroy it. So, he followed up on his attack by collapsing the mountain, shifting all his momentum to the nose of the river, directing it towards the fallen enemy. And before either of them knew it, his hand had already pierced through the shadow’s neck.

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It was a sickening feeling. Taking someone’s life. Even if it was just a shadow, it was the shadow of someone whom he had killed. And every time he killed the shadow, it felt as if he was relieving the moment of killing his enemies once again. Watching life fade away from the eyes of those men… But he did not regret killing them. Exhaling a heavy breath, he reaffirmed his resolve, as he watched the shadow disintegrate into wisps of black mist, before dissipating into the empty, white world around him.

“Who is not good enough now?” Alnea said, grinning at the ring adorning his finger of fate.

“This is the seventh time you fought the shadow. Yet you suffered three broken bones, and almost failed to take it down…”

“It was at the Peak Stage!”

“You had no problem fighting Peak Stage False Wanderers a week ago.”

“…I had my sword back then. And those Wanderers were definitely not as strong the shadow.”

“…Those Wanderers were just a little careless. And they might have been influenced by their Aspects and patron Origin Beast more than you think. Or else, you would not have been able to take them down so easily.”

“…You call that easy?”

“Did any of you get injured?”

“…We almost died.”

“Did you?”

“…Talking to you feels like I am talking to air.”

“Yet you always come begging for my help.”

“…I did not beg you for anything,” Alnea mumbled. “In any case, I am your master now. Shouldn’t you help me when I ask you to?”

“Wait until you gain my approval.”

“…Forget it. I will not argue with an ignorant ring,” Alnea said, and stretched out his hands, allowing himself to fall on his back. “You are really not going to fall asleep again?”

“…I do not wish to hear your voice either. Unfortunately, things are out of my control now.”

“…For a ring, you are quite cheeky,” Alnea said, stretching out his left up in the air to look at the arrogant ring. “What’s your name?”

“…Is your stupidity finally catching up to you?”

“…I cannot keep calling you as a ring, now, can I?”

“Why not?”

“Because it is stupid.”

“…I truly think that there is something wrong with your head.”

“…Don’t tell me that you don’t have a name?”

“…Names are meaningless. It is what we—

“How about I give you a name then?”

“Like I said. Names are meaningless. They are—

“Blackie? No, that would be too plain.”

“…Are you even listening to what I am saying?”

“Black Fate? No, that’s too ominous.”

“…It is less ominous than—

“Blafe? Flack?”

“…Now you are just making up words.”

“Fin? Jack? Mat? Mash?”

“…Evitum. You can call me Evitum.”

“…What kind of stupid name is that?”

“You wanted a name, I gave you a name. Take it or leave it.”

“Fine. Fine. There is no need to be so grumpy,” Alnea said with a chuckle. “Evi it is.”

“…Forget it. Call me whatever you want.”

“That’s not how you should talk to someone who gave your name, Evi. This is not how I have taught you.”

“The only thing you have ever taught me is how to be stupid.”

“…Grumpy little ring,” Alnea mumbled, and was about to tease the ring once again, when he felt a wave of strange fluctuations in the world around him. The kind of which he felt when casting his Arcanas. Just a little more violent. It was as if someone was shaking the fabric of the world. Thankfully, the fluctuations lasted for only a fraction of a moment, so nothing really happened to the world. Except for the presence of another person in the world, of course.

“I knew I would find you here,” Yuri said, as she walked towards him with a smile. A wide, and mesmerising smile. More than a year had gone by since he had first seen that smile. Yet, every time he saw Yuri smile, his Heart could not help but fall into a little daze. Especially since—

“What happened?” Alnea said, suppressing his thoughts back into the depths of his Heart. Thankfully, he had already gotten used to her smile. Or else… “Is master looking for me?”

“Not yet… But she should be coming soon.”

“…Is it time already?”

“…If you would stop for a moment, instead of throwing yourself into your training, then you would not be so clueless. But yes, it is indeed time for us to leave the Night Canyons, and head towards our next destination.”