“Wonderful!” Kurt smiled and turned towards the stone building again.

Drake’s party slowly walked forward,

Two rectangular gates made of metal bars marked the entrance to the stone building. Kurt walked forward and pushed. The gates opened with loud echoes spreading across the village. Once it opened, however, the group was greeted by darkness.

Drake’s eyes scanned the opening and stopped at a stone slab on the floor, leading into the darkness below.

‘It goes underground?’ he wondered, thinking about the first village ruin he had come across in this inheritance grounds.

Everyone took a deep breath and started walking down.

It didn’t take long for the group to reach the end of the staircase. The bottom was an unbelievably large room, lit up by numerous torches placed all over the walls and ceilings, casting a dim white light, in contrast to the red from the blood moon above ground.

However, the room was not empty. Most of their view was blocked by a large wall that stretched horizontally to the ends of the rooms, and vertically, almost reaching the ceiling.

Interestingly, the walls were made entirely out of crystal-clear mirrors. Drake saw his reflection after a long time. Despite his short height, his body had a toned physique, covered from neck to toe by the rank three robe artifact he had bought from the merchant’s guild. Combined with his other artifacts, Drake thought he looked quite cool.

As Drake looked into the mirror, he felt drawn by his own reflection which seemed to gaze back at his soul.

Suddenly, the reflection broke into a smile.

What the hell? Drake thought, snapping out of his trance. When he looked again, his reflection appeared normal.

‘Did I imagine it?’ he wondered. He wasn’t sure.

Looking around, the group shared an uneasy glance with each other, readied their weapons, and turned back. There was only a single opening at the front, enough for a few people to fit through.

The group slowly walked through the opening and Drake followed, ignoring the nervousness building up in his stomach.

The Silver Crane Sect disciples entered first, followed by Blaze and Farisa. Once they left, Drake and Sylvia who were at the end of the line also entered the path of mirrors.

Drake carefully watched his reflection but didn’t spot anything odd. The path soon came to an end and branched off in two directions to the left and right. The Silver Crane Sect disciples took the left, so Drake’s party decided to go right.

Soon, however, that path arrived at a fork, giving them the option to turn left or continue heading forward. The party came to a silent agreement and split up, with Blaze and Farisa going forward and Drake and Syliva turning left.

As they walked deeper into the mirror maze, Drake felt himself being drawn by the reflections again. He saw dozens of reflections in the extensive mirrors and, as he focused, he could swear that some of them were forming strange facial expressions.

“Are you seeing this?” asked Drake to Sylvia who was walking slightly behind him, to his right.

“Yes… there seems to be something unusual about these mirrors…” she agreed, furrowing her brows as one of her reflections appeared to quickly smile at her before reverting back.

The two warily made their way through the maze. They tried to keep track of the direction they were going in, but soon became completely lost. Not only were there so many twists and turns, but the addition of the infinite number of reflections and its mysterious effects, made them even more confused.

Around half an hour later, a strange voice softly whispered something incomprehensible.

Ajswachjwaschasj

‘Huh?’ Drake thought, stopping and looking at a particular reflection. All the reflections stopped and stared back. Drake focused on the one closest to him, which stared at him blankly.

Drake moved his arms and the reflection copied him, but its expression was completely blank. Just as Drake was about to give up and continue walking, the reflection’s lips moved and he heard the strange whisper again.

Hschwasjcujuquaschajhiii

“What the hell!?” Drake snapped and jumped back.

The reflection slowly curled its lips into a smile.

“Sylvia! Are you seeing this?” Drake exclaimed

But there was no response.

“Sylvia?” Drake asked once more.

Again, no response.

Drake broke eye contact with his reflection and turned around. Standing to his right was Sylvia, but she was staring unblinkingly at her own reflection, completely mesmerised.

“Sylvia?” Drake asked softly, worried now.

He started slowly walking towards her. However, she didn’t seem to even register his voice or movements. When Drake came close, he tried to gently touch her shoulder.

However, his hand passed right through her!

‘What the hell?’ Drake jumped back again, freaked out.

Like disturbing a reflection on still water, when Drake’s hand passed through Sylvia, her whole figure began distorting. Not just her, but the entire room, with all the mirrors and the walls starting to warp.

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“What’s going on? Who's there!?” Drake exclaimed, drawing and holding his sword with both hands.

As he observed, his surroundings distorted and began disappearing like a mirage. Drake tried to use acute sense to better observe his surroundings, but it didn’t change anything.

Within a few seconds, all the walls, mirrors, and everything, along with Syliva, disappeared, leaving just a dark room, dimly lit by a mysterious light.

“It’s just me,” came a voice from behind.

Drake pivoted and turned around in a split second, ready to strike down whoever was responsible. However, seeing the person made him freeze in place.

Standing in front, was a young man, who looked identical to him. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was a clone of him, or maybe…

‘Is it my reflection?’ Drake thought. ‘But how is that possible?’

The figure stepped forward and its expressionless face was highlighted by the dim lighting. It reminded Drake of the reflection that he had seen earlier.

‘It must be that reflection then… no?’ he wondered again. Drake gripped his sword tightly, ready to attack the moment the clone, reflection, or whatever it was, made a wrong move.

The figure opened its mouth and the same whispering voice spoke out. However, the voice didn’t come from its body, but rather, from everywhere around him and directly echoed in his ears.

“You think too much for someone so weak,” the voice whispered.

Even though his reflection was still several metres away, the voice seemed to speak directly into his ears.

“What?” Drake asked, confused.

“You are weak, don’t you know that?” the voice whispered condescendingly. “You are too weak to do anything…”

“Oh really?” Drake snapped. “Even if I’m weak, I’m strong enough to do this.”

“Solar barrage!” he exclaimed, pouring mana into his glove artifact.

Over a dozen scorching hot fireballs appeared behind him and shot towards the figure. To his surprise, the figure made no move to block or dodge his attack.

The first fireball was inches from his face now, and it continued shooting forward… and passed directly through him!

The explosion Drake expected never came. Instead, the figure continued walking forward calmly as every one of his fireballs passed through it.

Drake was speechless. ‘What the hell is that thing? Is it a demon? Or a dark mage? Or something else? Some kind of a monster?’

He had no idea, but the figure just continued walking closer. Drake steeled his resolve and decided to attack it directly.

Shadow steps!

Drake activated his martial technique and moved like a shadow. In an instant, he appeared above the figure and brought his sword down on its head.

The figure looked up at Drake and raised its hand.

Clang!

This time, his sword did not pass through the figure. Instead, it caught his sword casually with its hand and a metallic echo spread out into the surroundings.

Once again, Drake was in disbelief seeing the figure be unaffected by his attack, so he decided to take it up a notch. He poured his mana into the sword and the fire and lightning runes activated.

The sword became encased in brilliant flames, and vicious lightning coiled around it.

However, the figure continued holding onto the sword like it was nothing.

Drake pressed on the sword with all the strength that his steel body cultivation could muster, but it was completely useless in front of the figure.

“You cannot beat me,” the voice whispered again in his ears.

“Are you sure about that?” Drake retorted, but he was internally panicking. He had no idea how to get out of this situation!

“You cannot beat me,” the voice continued again, ignoring Drake’s remarks. “For I am you.”

‘What?’ Drake thought, confused again.

“What are you talking about?”

“I am you,” the voice whispered again. “I am everything that you fear.”

‘Huh?’

“You’re not making any sense!” Drake exclaimed. He stopped pouring mana into his sword now and tried to retreat. However, the figure held onto his sword firmly, preventing him from moving. Drake decided to let his sword go and jumped back, rolling on the ground and getting back on his feet.

The figure casually chucked the sword away and stared at Drake.

“You really are too weak,” the voice whispered with a sigh. “Just like you were too weak to protect your father…”

The moment it said the word ‘father’, the surroundings instantly changed. Drake was back in the dungeon in Jain village and could see Holt lying on the floor in front of him, in a pool of his own blood. All the emotions he had felt at that moment, came back to him tenfold.

“Fatherrrr!” Drake cried loudly, but the voice continued whispering.

“Too weak to protect your village…”

The surroundings changed once again and Drake was floating in the air as Damon’s army of demons rummaged through his village, setting everything on fire, and eating everyone alive. Even though Drake had been mostly unconscious during the actual raid on his village, he was now seeing everything clearly.

“Too weak to protect your friends…”

Once again, the surroundings warped and became replaced by an underground mine. Theo had just thrown Helen into the air and she was getting pierced through by Sylvia’s arrow.

All the emotions Drake had been trying to suppress came back.

“No! Helennnn!” he screamed and tried to run towards her, reaching out with his hands. The moment he raised his hand, his surroundings cracked like a mirror, and the vision broke apart, being replaced by the same darkness as before.

“Do you understand how weak you are now?” the voice whispered softly.

Drake became quiet. The visions had triggered too many emotions, causing them to rage within him. His mind was a mess, and he could barely think anymore.

“But don’t worry, I’ll give you a chance to become strong,” the voice chuckled.

As before, the surroundings changed.

Drake was now standing in the inheritance grounds again. In front of him was Theo, weak and on his knees, and Drake had his sword pointed at his neck.

“If you want to be strong, you know what to do…” the whispering voice trailed off.

Drake looked at Theo kneeling weakly. He just had to move his arm a few inches, and he’d be dead. Drake had the power – he could do it if he wanted to.

But… I can’t…

“Why not? Why can’t you do it?” the voice whispered, sounding slightly frustrated.

“Because… that’s not me!” Drake replied.

The voice laughed.

“Why? Do you think you’re so innocent? That you’re so great?” it asked mockingly.

“Shut up!” Drake yelled. All the whispers and all the visions the voice was conjuring were overwhelming him with too many emotions. He felt like he was reaching a breaking point.

However, the surroundings changed again.

Drake was now in the middle of a battlefield. Specifically, he was in the canyon with the narrow opening during the demon tide he encountered during his first mission in Jain village. A pile of corpses had built up at the front, corpses of both demons and many of his soldiers.

“All these people died, because of you!” the voice spoke loudly.

Once again, Drake felt like he was emotionally transported to that moment. So many people had died under his watch and all the emotions he had felt at that time came back to him, multiplied dozens of times, adding to his breaking point.

“It was your fault!” the voice accused.

“That’s not true!” Drake retorted. “I already did my best to protect them!”

“Did you?” the voice mocked.

The surroundings changed instantly and Drake was returned to having his sword against Theo’s neck.

“Then do your best again. Do your best to protect your friends. You know what that means right?” the voice asked.

Drake’s hands were shaking now.

“I… I can’t… If I do then…” Drake couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Then you wouldn’t be the same person anymore…” the voice whispered, completing it for him.

Suddenly, the vision broke, and Drake returned to the empty dark space again, facing his clone. The clone opened its mouth, but this time, it spoke normally, without the whispering voice echoing in Drake’s ears.

“Don’t you see now?” the clone asked. “I am everything that you fear…”

Drake stared at his clone.

With the voice gone, his emotions slowly started calming down and he was able to think more clearly again.

It took him a few seconds, but he slowly began to understand.

“I… see now…” Drake said softly. “You are me… or rather, what I would be if I took that path… no…” Drake paused and spoke again, correcting himself. “You are, what I fear I would become if I took that path.”

For the first time, the clone’s expression changed. Its lips slowly began curling into a smile.

“Indeed,” the clone replied. “I am what you fear the most. I am you, without your weaknesses.”

“And that is the reason why you can never beat me.”