The next day, Sero yawned as he waited for Amaya to arrive at the association building entrance. He was glad that the apartment complex Amaya set up for him was a rough 10 minute walk away.

"You look a bit rough around the edges," Amaya commented as she walked up to him. "Had a bit too much fun last night?"

Sero blinked away his exhaustion as he gazed at her outfit.

"Well, you look pretty stylish yourself," he said, his eyes drawn to the way her long, silvery hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, revealing her pale neck and the small, silver hoop earrings that dangled from her earlobes. She wore a form-fitting black tank top that hugged her slender figure, showing off her toned arms and midriff, and a pair of black leather pants that hugged her long, toned legs. Her black, knee-high combat boots completed the ensemble, making her look both sexy and dangerous.

Amaya immediately scowled.

"I told you to quit that. Anyways, you don't seem like you're dressed for physical activity." She raked her eyes over Sero's outfit.

Sporting a black bomber jacket over a plain gray shirt, Sero chose to wear dark blue jeans and tennis shoes for the trial.

"Hey, with the generous loan you've given me, I wanted to get myself something nice."

Amaya rolled her eyes.

"Fine, whatever. It's not my trial," She pushed past him and walked towards the association building. "Come on, let's get you tested."

Sero hurried behind her, feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

"So," Amaya continued as they entered the building and headed off a long corridor. "I've been meaning to ask you yesterday while you were in the infirmary– Why did you lie about your class to Raul?"

"Well, it's not like I wanted to hide it or anything," Sero made a face. "I figured if word got out that my class was unique, I'd get bombarded with requests from guilds wanting me to join. So, I wanted to wait until I got promoted to A-rank and start working as a mercenary."

"Hmm." Amaya slowed her steps and frowned at him. "But you could just reject the offers even if people knew about your class. You don't even know that you'd get that many offers in the first place."

"Yeah, but that's still too much work. I want to stay out of the spotlight for as long as possible."

"So you can swoop in and show off to the world once you gain an absurd amount of skills?"

"No, so I can live a lazy life full of money and women."

Amaya stopped in her tracks and glared at him. She opened her mouth to say something, then decided against it.

"I shouldn't have expected anything else, really." She sighed and continued walking.

"Glad that you're getting used to it," Sero grinned. "By the way, I've been wondering this myself. Why is it that the world isn't as... chaotic as it should be?"

"What do you mean?" Amaya gave him a quick and curious glance.

"Well, I'm pretty familiar with stories of monster invasions and whatnot so... I'm just wondering why the world isn't in disarray."

Amaya snorted. She took a double take upon seeing the genuine look of concern on Sero's face.

"Oh, you're serious. Well, I mean, S-rank Ascendants popped up pretty quickly, so they were there to take the brunt of the harder monster outbreaks. And contrary to a lot of stories you've probably read, most of the S-ranks genuinely want to protect the world. Well, not without something in return, of course, but the world is mostly safe because of them and the cooperation between guilds and the world governments."

She paused for a moment, frowning slightly as she considered his question further. "I think most people just accept it as the way things are. They know the world could be much worse, and that the heroes keep it from falling into complete chaos. As for why there aren't more monster outbreaks... well, it's not like the world's monster population is shrinking. It's just that the S-ranks are so powerful now that they can keep most of them under control."

"Oh."

They walked the rest of the way in silence until the pair reached the trial room. The room resembled a waiting area, with a couple of chairs and a pretty older woman sitting behind a reception desk. Behind her were several doors, each marked with a white letter ascending from D to A.

"Hi, I’m Sero. I’m here to take the A-rank trial." He said suavely as he stepped up to the receptionist.

"Mhm. You’re a little late, but thankfully there isn’t another appointment until a half-hour from now." The receptionist made a face and jerked her head over to the doors.

"Well... good luck in there. Hope you manage to beat yourself." Amaya sent him off with a solemn thumbs up.

"Thanks." Sero entered the door marked with the letter A.

The room was large and dimly lit, with a circular arena in the center. A single row of wooden bleachers surrounded the arena, and Sero could see a few people sitting on them, watching him expectantly. He took a deep breath and focused his energy, readying himself for the battle ahead.

"Hello. Are you Sero Kassel, here to take your A-rank trial as requested by Liaison Amaya?" A smart-looking man with glasses and neatly combed hair approached him.

"Yes, that's me." Sero nodded.

"Perfect. I will now brief you on the details of the trial."

Sero’s eyes began to glaze over as the trial administrator explained what he had to do.

"You should pay attention," Aphiel scolded in his mind. "This could really help you."

Sero inwardly groaned, but nevertheless tried to pay attention.

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"So, please try your best," The trial administrator finished. "The A-rank trial is understandably difficult, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t pass it the first time. The people sitting in the bleachers will also spectate your performance and your results will be averaged once your trial is deemed complete."

"Right," Sero gave a half-grin. "Thanks."

The trial administrator nodded and left Sero in the middle of the arena.

"The trial will begin now. You will be transported to an artificial personal space."

Sero took a deep breath as a white light enveloped him.

When the light faded, he found himself standing in a familiar-looking clearing. The sun was setting over the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over the trees. A small brook babbled nearby, and the air smelled of flowers and freshly cut grass.

"Oh, this is nice—"

"Hey, there."

Sero whirled around to find a man that strangely resembled him, though his entire body was monochromatic, like a black and white photo.

"You must be my copy." Sero remarked, looking at his clone with a frown.

"If I’m your copy, then damn, we’re ugly." The copy grimaced.

Sero ignored Aphiel’s laughter in his mind.

Clasping his hands together, Sero conjured his mana sword and assumed an offensive stance. The Sero copy took notice and quickly did the same.

"So… you think you can beat me?" The Sero copy smirked at the original.

"I’ve been beating myself for years." Sero replied, much to the disgust of Aphiel.

The two began to fight, swords clashing against each other and green mana flying through the air. Sero found himself slightly impressed at the way the two of them seemed evenly matched.

True to his predictions, as soon as Sero activated his Perfect Analysis, he learned that the copy was also using the skill, rendering them both unable to find and exploit weaknesses. Even as Sero mixed up the techniques he copied from Amaya and Raul, the monochromatic doppelganger easily mimicked his movements.

"Shit," Sero muttered as he barely managed to dodge an exploding mana dagger. "How exactly do I beat myself?"

He fired off mana railguns in retaliation, only for the copy to simply dissolve into darkness via Shadow Sneak.

The Sero copy quickly rematerialized in front of the original and swung his sword down. Sero barely raised his own blade in time and blocked the slash as sparks flew from the clash.

The copy held his palm to Sero’s face and shot a mana nuke point-blank. Sero yelped and managed to dissolve into darkness to avoid the direct hit. He created some distance and rematerialized again, raising his blade for another onslaught as he sent back a mana nuke of his own.

"You can do it, champion!" Aphiel tried to encourage him.

"Not helping." Sero thought back.

The two continued their duel, exchanging blows and counters. The more they fought, the more they realized that they were in fact two sides of the same coin. Sero began to feel a strange connection with his copy, despite the weirdness of the situation.

"What if you tried a feint?" Aphiel chimed again.

"I’ve done that already," Sero grumbled. "He won’t fall for anything I wouldn’t."

"Then what would you fall for?" Aphiel continued, nearly causing him to take another mana nuke to the face.

"I don’t know- stop distracting me!" Sero snapped, haphazardly jabbing the copy who dodged it with ease. Sero leapt back towards the brook, trying to gain a moment of relief. He made sure his energy and mana efficiency were running simultaneously.

"I’m only trying to help!" The goddess replied meekly.

"You can help by staying quiet–" Suddenly, Sero paused for a moment as he suddenly realized something.

The Sero copy noticed the hesitation and looked at him curiously.

"Hey." Sero lowered his sword and released his concentration on energy and mana efficiency.

"…What?" The copy studied him warily.

"Are you able to hear Aphiel?"

The Sero copy blinked in surprise.

"Now that you mention it… I don’t."

The quiet rush of the small brook became noticeable.

"Is it… peaceful?" Sero asked his doppelganger.

"Yeah. It is." The copy lowered his own blade.

"You’re lucky."

"I realize that now. And I’m sorry for you."

Aphiel was speechless as she watched the pair suddenly bond over what seemed like their grievances of her.

The copy and the original Sero stood side by side, looking out over the brook. The grass beneath their feet was a soft, springy carpet that seemed to cushion their weight. The sun cast a warm, golden light upon them, making the Sero copy’s monochromatic body appear almost ethereal. A gentle breeze rustled through the trees, carrying with it the sweet scent of flowers and the earthy musk of the forest.

"Can you hear her now?" The copy broke the peaceful quiet.

"No, she stopped talking. I think she’s shocked by us."

"Good. I can only imagine what’s going through her head now. Like, her having to deal with both of us?" The copy snickered.

Sero joined in with a chuckle. "Yeah, she’d be so stressed." He turned to his copy.

"You know, under different circumstances and maybe another life, I feel like we would’ve been best friends."

The copy grinned at him with a monochromatic smile. "Well, yeah. We’re the same person."

Sero returned the smile, but a sudden evil gleam flashed in his eyes.

"If that was true, then you should’ve seen this coming."

Before the copy could react, Sero turned and fired several mana railguns into his body at point-blank range.

The copy gasped in shock and pain, stumbling back with a look of betrayal and surprise. He clutched at his wounds, which were bleeding a white liquid.

"You… asshole…" Sero’s copy wheezed out before falling backwards.

"We both are." Sero grinned, watching as his copy began to dissolve into ashes.

"Can’t… argue… with that…" The copy smiled back weakly and finally disappeared.

"...Trial complete."

Sero felt a tug on his body and a flash of white light enveloped him. In the next moment, he found himself standing back in the arena.

"Con-congratulations," The trial administrator walked up to Sero with a flabbergasted expression. "You have completed the A-rank trial. Head over to the front desk and they will update your rank."

"Thanks." Sero smirked maliciously.

As he exited the trial room, he found Amaya waiting outside, a mixture of disappointment and disbelief on her face.

"Hey, I passed." Sero gave her a thumbs up.

"Yeah, no, I watched the whole thing… did you really just throw your Sponsor under the bus and bond with your copy?"

"Hey, it worked, didn’t it?"

Amaya opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head.

"In the year since all of this started, I’ve never seen anything quite like what you just did. Or met anyone like you." The Ascendant Liaison stared at Sero with a pitiful expression. "I can only imagine what your goddess has gone through with you."

Sero snorted. "Hey, I didn’t choose to be selected by her," his expression softened. "But I will admit she has helped me a bit, so I guess I have to give her some credit."

"Thanks, Aphiel. Sorry for throwing you under the bus." Sero thought to her.

Aphiel didn’t respond.

"Hey… are you mad?"

Still no reply.

Sero sighed, planning to apologize to her properly later. He turned to Amaya.

"So, where do I go to update my rank?"