Immediately, the runes on the floor were re-engaged as the gravity was once again strengthened. Although this time, the force was nearly doubled as Rin had to channel her mana into her legs and core just to remain upright.

‘Survive, eh?’ she thought, a little confused. ‘Survive what?’

Looking around, there wasn’t any change in the arena other than the increased gravity. While the panels that lined the side of the arena had already closed. There just wasn’t anything Rin could see pointing towards any sort of survival as several minutes passed.

Until finally, she heard a grinding sound, gears. Her eyes immediately flicked to the source as one of the tiles on the floor began folding downwards, receding into the floor as a platform rose from the hole.

Standing on said platform was a humanoid figure as a frown appeared on her face. Waist length white hair, cold blue eyes, a haunting beauty... it looked just like someone Rin knew very well.

[Mage - lvl 29]

‘Is that... me?’

****

Emma tapped her fingers restlessly, a nervous habit from her past that only stuck with her. It was the second phase of the assessment and would test the white-haired mage in a simulated fight. But Emma couldn’t help it as a slight worry appeared in her eyes.

She knew that the girl was deceivingly strong, their scores had far surpassed her own assessments of just barely average. But that would only make the second phase harder.

“You see. The nexus assessment takes part in two phases,” the warrior said, his voice coming from the side. “The first part analyzes the applicant, measuring their strengths and capabilities. While the second uses the data from the first to create an equal opponent for the applicant. However, the abilities of the doppelganger will far surpass the applicant’s skill. Every move will be perfect, following the best course of action...” His voice paused, glancing down at the white-haired girl. “But if there was the off chance that the applicant was hiding something in the first phase. The doppelganger will increase its strength proportionally to the applicant to achieve a combative equilibrium. Whereas skill will be the only thing that truly matters.”

Hearing the man, Adam. Emma sucked in a deep breath. He along with his sister, the rogue, had invited her and the two others, Kai the guardian and Tanner the swordsman, to join the party just two days prior.

They had already raided two dungeons together, the level 35 Crystal Hollows, an easy one. While the second was the level 38 Kobalt Kove which was just slightly harder. However, today they had planned on heading to the level 42 Garden of Shadows, which was going to be much more difficult, meaning that they needed a sixth person to join their team.

But Emma could only care less about the dungeon at this point as she leaned over the barriers and stared at the ice mage’s doppelganger. It scared her how it could replicate almost everything down to a tee, and then there was the fact that it would do things better. She remembered in her assessment that it didn’t even allow her to breathe for a single second as it drowned her with her own fire.

Emma didn’t understand how its capabilities far exceeded what she thought was possible with her own skills. She just... couldn’t wrap her head around it as her grip tightened on the barrier.

‘She’s going to lose...’

And she assumed as such, that it would be the same for the white-haired mage.

“Yo Kai!” The swordsman called with a smirk. “Ten silvers she lasts less than two minutes.”

The guardian frowned. “Two minutes? What are you stupid? Didn’t you just see the first phase, I'm betting fifty she lasts at least five.”

Emma glared at the two. How could they be joking around like this, placing bets just as their future teammate was about to be slaughtered. Although a part of her also wanted to join in. She couldn’t help it as a hint of jealously seeped into her, seeing how the ice mage was garnering all the attention.

Below, the first shift of movement was made. The girl rotated her arm, her lean body swaying to the side as the runes flickered silent. The gravity was turned off, and the fight was just about to begin.

Emma glanced at Anna. The rogue’s eyes bore into the two figures below, taking in every movement while the skin of her knuckles were white. Emma then turned to Adam. His body was as relaxed as his sister’s was tense, and strands of dark hair fell to his neck just short of his shoulders. He was unreadable. Even after the dungeons, Emma had never seen a trace of emotion disrupting his cold face. While for his eyes, they betrayed nothing.

But Emma couldn’t afford to spare any extra thoughts as her eyes lingered down to the space below. She could feel it in the air, the tension was taut, stretched out tight like the drawn string of a bow.

Then it was released.

Without a sound, the doppelganger dashed forward with a burst of speed. Steps light as ice started to spread on the ground from each impact. While the girl—Emma saw, stood disinterested. Not even a flinch was seen crossing the girl’s figure as Emma struggled to watch the scene, knowing that she would lose.

However, as she leaned over the railing, Emma’s eyes widened as she took in an unimaginable sight.

‘Is she smiling...?’

Emma swore that she could see the faint remnants of a grin adorning the girl’s lips.

****

Hearing the cheers of the crowd, Rin drowned their voices out as she glanced around the arena. The runes on the ground had flickered off while the gravity’s pull on her had diminished. Her body feeling quick and agile after the sudden change.

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Rin raised her gaze, looking towards the doppelganger as it continued to stare at her, not a trace of emotion in its eyes.

“It’s just like me,” she murmured before grinning. “Although... definitely not as pretty.”

Seemingly hearing her words, the doppelganger took a step towards her before launching into a full-on sprint. Ice was spread on the ground from its steps just as she’d done against the infernal wyrm.

‘It’s not normal,’ Rin immediately thought.

The reason why she spread her ice across the ground like that was to gain speed. Yet more significantly, it was to create a dominion of sorts.

The way her magic seemed to work was that there had to be a source, and the most common way to channel her ice into existence were magic circles. But the doppelganger seemed to know that by spreading its ice, it could use that very ice as a proxy.

Frowning, Rin stomped on the ground, hard. Frost instantly coursed through the floor from her feet. If she were to lose authority over the ice and end up being surrounded, the arena would only be a frozen tomb for her. Or in other words, an instant loss.

Rin took a step and looked forward. The doppelganger had crossed nearly three quarters of the distance between them. A tsunami of ice rushing from along its side before extending in front of its figure to drown the girl.

But Rin didn’t flinch before such a sight. Instead, she raised a hand as a wave of her own rushed out to meet the other. The two torrents clashed, intertwining as they threatened to overpower one another all the while the sounds of ice cracking echoed through the air. It continued like that for several seconds until a massive cacophony of brittle splintering roared through the arena.

One wave had risen, easily eclipsing the other as the latter fell short. Rin smiled seeing her ice crash towards the doppelganger. She had won out in the engage, although a little surprised at the feeble fragility of the doppelganger's ice.

As her ice continued to rush forward, propelled by her mana. Rin expected to win the fight there and then as her ice rose above the height of the doppelganger. However, her victory was immediately denied as spikes punched out of her wave, shooting towards her.

‘Interesting,’ Rin thought, waving a hand.

Instantly, a thin barrier came into existence as the spikes shattered against the ice that protected the girl’s body. She then summoned seven magic circles above her head, the proxies slowly rotating as they emitted a faint white light.

The doppelganger burst through the shattered ice that remained after both their torrents collided. But when it caught sight of the girl’s magic circles, it hesitated for a moment, before a set of glowing circles materialized above its own head.

“It’s learning in real time...?” she muttered.

The doppelganger raised an arm, palm wide open before striking down, sending shards of ice flying like arrows towards the girl. Likewise, Rin had also sent out her magic, although without the needless action.

The ice collided in the air, some ricocheting into the crowd as a barrier flared to life and blocked the stray projectiles. As for the rest of the doppelganger's ice, Rin’s easily shattered through and continued spiraling towards the figure.

But the doppelganger waved a hand as a barrier came to life before its figure. Rin noted that it was a carbon copy of her earlier movement.

Frowning, Rin watched on as the shards crashed into the barrier, causing fractures to appear within the ice before it was immediately regenerated.

It raised its arm once again as another set of shards were sent flying towards her.

But this time Rin raised a brow. She could feel it in her ice, hear it in the air that the second wave was nothing like the first.

“What the hell? It’s getting stronger too?” Rin questioned as she conjured a wall much thicker than before. “Just who made this thing?”

The shards smashed into her wall, but this time they didn’t immediately shatter, but instead penetrated the ice, their edges protruding just an inch from the opposite side.

‘Geez,’ Rin thought, a slight shiver running down her spine. With the power and speed the shards of ice just demonstrated, Rin imagined they could easily cut through her like butter.

As the two continued to exchange magic, Rin noticed that the doppelganger wasn’t getting any stronger as they interchangeably attacked and defended. Instead, it was merely matching her strength, or rather, what she displayed of said strength.

Realizing this, a smile slowly spread across her lips.

‘As long as I don’t go a hundred percent, I can never lose...’ she thought, but her smile slowly dissipated, disappointment setting in. ‘But I also can never win.’

Leaping back, Rin created a large space between herself and the doppelganger. Her dominion consisted of one half of the arena, while her doppelganger held the other half as its domain.

If she continued to fight as she was, the trial would never come to a conclusion. Their equal strengths would cancel out resulting in nothing. But... if she were to defeat the doppelganger with an attack that left no room for it to increase its strength.

‘Here goes nothing,’ she thought and took a deep breath in.

Rin sprinted forward, her form flickering as her stats along with everything else were unleashed at full throttle. She flicked her wrist, ice instantly exploding from her feet as the entire arena was coated in a layer of white.

Rin felt the doppelganger struggle as it fought for control over what little it had. But Rin wouldn’t allow it. She was a tyrant, and this was her dominion. Within her rule nothing would be permitted without her authority.

Her aura erupted from around her as the faint beginnings of winter fell within the arena. Snow, in the form of a wild blizzard swarmed through the air, billowing with a chilling breeze as the doppelganger’s control was snuffed out with ease. It was like a toddler blowing out the candles to their coming-of-age cake. But instead of a little child, Rin was akin to a tornado.

As she advanced, the doppelganger was now within ten metres of her. Its body pulsing with energy as Rin could feel the doppelganger’s strength rising at an alarming pace, escalating with each and every passing second.

Quite aware that all the time she had left was a window of about five seconds, she reached behind her back as a sword shimmered to life in her hands. A blade of pure ice, glowing violently with cold destruction. The very air around it crackled from the mana coursing through the weapon as her hand burned from the cold.

‘I have to teleport.’

From the very start of the fight, Rin had been denying her frost blink ability for fear of revealing the skill to both the spectators and the doppelganger. But now, she had no other choice. If she stalled any longer, there was the chance that the doppelganger would be able to react in time.

The blizzard blazed, roaring with strength as Rin commanded her mana forward. Ice wrapped its cold embrace around the doppelganger’s legs, strickening the figure with the fate of death as Rin materialized behind it.

She glanced down at her blade. The ice flickering and crackling as the frost whined to be unleashed. Rin smiled, her visage like a reaper as her blade plunged forward and out its chest. Ice coursing across the figure, devouring the doppelganger as its entire form froze over.

Then with a shivering hiss, she ripped her blade out as the doppelganger slid off the weapon and fell lifelessly to the floor.

She looked down at it, seeing her own self. Her pale skin, her delicate white hair. It all remained until slowly, the skin lost its luster while the white hair it once wore to resemble herself faded away into nothingness. The only thing remaining was a hunk of metal crudely shaped into the form of a humanoid figure.

Rin raised her gaze to the stands, the blizzard dissipating and the ice covering the field, starting to melt. She saw that they were... mute. Not a word was uttered in the deafening silence, leaving even the slightest pin drop able to be heard.

Then, Rin turned. Her eyes fixing on Emma’s group as she appraised their reactions. The rogue along with the cider brewer had dropped jaws and their gazes couldn’t be torn from her figure, even with a wrench. While the guardian and the swordsman were alike the first two.

For the warrior, however. His seemingly permanent emotionless face was now tainted by a deep settled frown that crossed his entire visage.

‘Maybe I went a little overboard...’

Although, she didn’t get any more time to ponder over things as a booming voice echoed through her thoughts.

“Applicant Rin, mage. Congratulations on survi—” the voice suddenly paused, as if clearing its throat. “Ahem... sorry. Congratulations on successfully completing the Nexus Assessment. We hope to see great results with our organization. Welcome, to the ranks of the Nexus.”