A sudden pang of self-consciousness hit Aaron as his eyes swept over his shadow avatar. He knew he puffed out when energizing his adipose tissue, but seeing the size of himself in person… it made him feel a little uncomfortable.

  Breaking eye contact with his shadow avatar, he looked around. What he saw was… nothing. An endless expanse of nothing. There was ambient light, but no source. The ground was a reflective black, and when he looked down, he saw himself looking back up at him. The only sounds were the sounds of his own breathing and heartbeat. It was just him and his shadow.

  A strange feeling settled into him, and he suddenly thought that this final trial of Dominance was very fitting. He had conquered tribes, cities, monsters, and more, and now, at the end of it all, there was only one thing left to overcome: himself.

  He slid his right leg back, getting into a fighting stance, and the shadowy version of himself mirrored him. He took a few cautious steps, circling around, and it did the same. The whole time, he thought about how he would win. He had spent plenty of time thinking of his own weaknesses so that he could make up for them and make sure they were covered, but he had never thought of it in this context. How would he beat himself?

  The most obvious answer was overwhelming power. He was fast, agile, and had decent power of his own, but he was underleveled, and his raw power was nothing compared to Mo’han or even the weaker trial takers with similar styles. It didn’t matter how well Aaron dodged if all it took was one slip-up for his opponent to obliterate him. And even if he could resurrect, if his opponent could do it again right when he revived, he was screwed.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t really take advantage of that weakness of his because… Well, he was himself. He had the same lack of overwhelming power that would allow him to overcome himself.

  Could he outmaneuver the shadow? Not if it had all the same skills as him. Could he outlast it? No. Could he beat it on raw skill? If the shadow was an exact copy of him, then probably not.

  But there was one thing that he had that blank-faced shadow didn’t. His willpower. No matter how well the trials copied Aaron’s abilities, they couldn’t copy his ego. And even if it could imitate his stubborn perseverance, then Aaron would just have to stubbornly persevere even harder to overcome it. In the end, even if he didn’t have any tactical advantage over the shadow, his victory was all but assured.

  Let’s go!

  Overflowing with confidence, he stepped forward and activated Fate Weaver to prepare for the fight. But the strangest thing happened when he tried to figure out how he wanted to fight his shadow. He peered into the threads of fate, but he couldn’t make sense of them. They were all shimmering and shifting constantly, never remaining in place for more than a second or two.

  “Oookay… that’s not a lot of help.”

  If the threads of fate were constantly changing, there was little use in reading them.

  “So, looks like I’m gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way, don't I?”

  However, just because he couldn’t read fate didn’t mean he didn’t want to gauge his enemy, or rather, himself. Of course, he knew what he was capable of, but that was one thing, and it was another to actually face off against himself.

  Carefully, he shot forward with [ Gust Step ], and peppered the avatar with [ Spectral Fist ] as he kept his range, looking for reads.

  To little surprise, his avatar was as light on his feet as Aaron was, and easily avoided the test barrage, and flew forward to counter with his own.

  A short combination was exchanged between the two, but neither landed anything impactful, and they disengaged with a shockwave that pushed both back as they made their reads.

  There was no immediate path to victory, but Aaron was already formulating plans in his head. With any luck, fate-bending was as useless for the shadow as it was for him. If that were true, large combinations should work. Hitting himself wouldn’t be easy, but as long as the avatar couldn’t see fate, strikes would get through eventually.

  That just meant he had to save his best for last.

  But as they clashed again, and again, he found himself drawn into his shadow’s plans far more than he had hoped. Perhaps it made sense as the challenge wouldn’t mean much if the shadow was but a mediocre version of himself.

  This was the final stage of the Trial of Dominance, after all. The Shadow Trials weren’t going to make it easy.

  And it was obvious that his shadow avatar was anything but mediocre. The shadow always knew which attack to throw, and Aaron’s fists came up short against high guards, and strikes missed their targets repetitively as a maelstrom of action took place across the expansive arena.

  As the battle raged on, it became more and more clear that the shadow was not an inferior version, or even an exact copy of himself. No, it was a superior version. Not so superior that Aaron was completely overwhelmed, but it was obvious that in every category, the shadow was beating him. It had more Stats, a more refined technique, and a quicker reaction time. Aaron was holding his own, but he was losing ground.

  He gave the battle his all, but it wasn’t long before he had completely deflated while the shadow was still carrying a bit of weight, and soon after that, he died. He resurrected multiple times, but the shadow was always waiting to end him as soon as he returned, and just a few seconds later, he woke up back in the hallway.

  No one got in his way as he went back to the dial. He heard a few comments, and even one angry shout, but they were quickly hushed. He had built up a reputation, for better or worse, and too many people wanted to see how he would do for any to dare get in his way.

  As the second attempt raged on, Aaron had a somewhat sobering thought. Mo’han said that this trial had him facing off against a D-rank. That meant he was facing a D-rank version of himself. And not only that, he had won on the second attempt. Aaron felt a chill run down his spine as he began to fully comprehend the monstrous talent of the asura. He was not a multiversal prodigy for nothing. And Aaron had to defeat him.

  His moment of distraction cost him a heavy blow to the stomach, but he grinned even as his energy roiled within. This shadow was tough, but it wasn’t even the toughest opponent he would have to face. He could win. He would win.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  …Just not this time. It wasn’t long before he found himself back out in the hallway and had to re-enter.

  A half dozen attempts followed, and as they went on, Aaron was reminded of his spars with Yendal. It quickly became clear that brute force wasn’t going to let him win against himself. He needed to be better. More perfect. More refined. As much of an upgrade as his avatar was from him, it still wasn’t perfect. It had flaws, and as he fought, Aaron realized those flaws were as much his own as they were the shadow’s.

  For example, while his feints were very good, they were also nearly identical every time. Until then, his opponents had been too overwhelmed to notice and take advantage, but now that he was facing himself, it was obvious. His feints had him looking harder in the direction he was pretending to attack than when he was actually attacking, and once he noticed that, it was incredibly easy to pick apart the shadow’s own feints.

  Even so, it was only on the eighth attempt that he finally managed to kill his shadow. Once. Of course, just like him, his shadow could resurrect, and Aaron was already on his last legs when he managed it. He was soon back in the hallway again, but this time he was grinning.

  Unlike him, the shadow version of himself did not grow between attempts. Each fight, the shadow was exactly the same as the last, seemingly having been set permanently on his first attempt. None of the improvements he made were mirrored in the shadow, so each time he went in, he was able to do better than the last. The shadow was still just as adaptable as he was himself, so even when he found a weakness, it was soon covered, but as he found more and more weaknesses, he did better and better.

  After noticing the issue with his feints, he next noticed that he had a really distinct tell when he was using [ Turbocharged Haymaker ]. His nostrils would flare, and his eyes would widen. Not only did this make it easy to see it coming, but when he managed to reduce those signs himself, he found himself able to hit the shadow more easily, since it was less prepared. The tell only came a split second before the gathering of energy, but that split second was a huge boon in such an intense and precise fight.

  Next, it was his [ Soul Shattering Strike ]. It made sense that he hadn’t fully mastered it, since it was his newest Skill, but seeing himself using it, it became extremely obvious exactly how far he had to go. The attack was by far his slowest, and his body almost went on autopilot when he did it, his attention sucked away by his spirit. When his shadow used the attack, as long as Aaron dodged, it made for a perfect window to counter-attack.

  On the fifteenth attempt, Aaron managed to kill the shadow four times. He ran out of gas himself, failing once again, but he knew he was right on the verge of success. He himself could only revive 5 or 6 times, depending on the aether, and the shadow was not that much stronger than him that it could do more. This next attempt could be his last one if he did it right.

  No, it will be my last one, he told himself, entering the trial. I can do it.

  That statement wasn’t much, but when he found himself back in the empty space standing across from his shadow, he felt an odd sense of serenity. When the battle began, everything suddenly felt slower. He was in a flow state, and all of his moves felt perfect. When he dodged, the shadow’s fists passed by so close they brushed his clothes. His own strikes hit exactly where he aimed for with perfect precision every time.

  Calmly, and almost casually, he dismantled his own fighting style. His shadow tried a feint, and Aaron ignored it and punched it in the face. It charged up a haymaker, and Aaron charged up [ Equal and Opposite ] to block it. It tried a [ Soul Shattering Strike ], and he leapt to the side and delivered one of his own while it was still pulling its fist back.

  As the battle went on, he found himself wondering how he had struggled so much in the last few attempts. He felt he could have done this a few attempts ago. He had the information. He had the skill. The shadow wasn’t evolving with him. Why couldn’t he have done it? Did he just lack the resolve?

  He scoffed at himself. Aaron Dober lacking resolve? Not likely. No, it was not resolved, but confidence. Before, he had still been uncertain. He had the time, so he was taking things slower and trying to make sure he had everything under control. Now, though, he actually had things under control, and it wasn’t because he was going slow. No, it was because he was acting with confidence.

  He always had confidence, but this time, it was of a different sort. His confidence previously had been in his resolve. His ability to bounce back no matter what. His ability to emerge victorious no matter the odds, as long as he kept trying. This time, though, it was different. It was not a confidence in his resolve that he had, but instead a confidence in his skills.

  He had all the tools he needed to beat the shadow. In fact, he had probably had them after the first attempt when he got used to his own fighting style. Instead of trusting those tools, though, he spent his time observing and waiting. Somehow, despite all the effort he was putting in, it was like he was looking for the easy way out. A trick or a cheat to allow him to best the superior shadow.

  But who was he? He was Aaron Dober, the man who died thousands of times to master his skills. The man who had been personally trained by the Martial God herself. The man who had impressed the Martial God enough to earn her true blessing. The man who carried the blessing of the ogre god. He didn’t need a cheat to win. He just needed to be more confident in his own skills.

  Is that what makes Mo’han so strong? He wondered as he casually evaded the shadow’s attack and countered again.

  The battle was not a perfect one for him, but even when he got hit, he never doubted that he would win. He maintained his confidence, knowing that even if the shadow wouldn’t go down easily, it would go down. Each blow he took or punch he missed was just a minor setback on his inevitable path to victory.

  When he killed the shadow the first time, he still had a quarter of his reserves left. He waited for it to resurrect, then killed it again. Then again. Then again. The fifth time he killed it, it struggled to reform, and Aaron knew it was the end. The shadow struggled to its feet after resurrecting, showing a resolve that Aaron had to respect. He nodded to it, then delivered one final [ Soul Shattering Strike ] to its head, and it was over. The shadow disintegrated into nothingness, leaving Aaron alone with no company but his own reflection on the black ground.

  Stage tenth of [ Trial of Dominance ] COMPLETED!

  Trial of Dominance COMPLETED!

  You have tested yourself against your perfect shadow and emerged victorious.

  Quest Rewards: Cape of Shadows [ Mythical], Crafting Station upgraded to level 10!

  Experience rewarded for completing a quest!

  Ding!

  [ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

  38 → 39

  Ding!

  [ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

  39 → 40

  Title acquired: Dominator.

  Complete all stages of the Trial of Dominance

  Reward: +10% to Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma

  “Wait, they want me to wear a cape?” Aaron felt like groaning. His look was extra enough as it was; it really didn’t need a cape to top it off.

  However, it was mythical, and his brows perked, and he opened the inspection window.

  Cape of Shadows [ Mythical - E grade [ Adaptive ] ]

  Flowing through the wind at your back, this cape is a testament to your domination within the Shadow Trials.

  Provides: When wrapped around the user, they become a shadow. In low light, the user becomes blurred and blends in with the shadows, providing a significant dodge and evasion bonus.

  “Oookay, not what I had in mind. But it does sound pretty useful.”

  Patreon!