Visions of their previous fight in the cave with the centipede fade flashed through Rix's mind. That had been the only other time he'd truly fought above his rank. That had been precarious, nearly deadly, but it had also been immensely gratifying. He wanted to push himself, to prove wrong his litany of doubters. This was also a prime opportunity to push his weapon style and start working towards a rank up. It had been weeks since his style set, and he had a firm grasp of it now. He could use [Wind Blade] with it almost at will. He didn't know exactly what was required to bring it to Mid Rank beyond just working harder, but he had to assume a battle against a tough opponent wouldn't go astray.

This was certainly a fight that would test his martial skill. The hours of constant battle had left them drained. Rix's mana was down to just 57. He still had most of his qi, but nonetheless, this would be a fight where techniques did not feature prominently.

Wordlessly, he and Luna moved to engage. They fanned out in a semicircle, approaching their prey from roughly ninety degrees apart. Rix engaged first, letting his style settle over his mind. The fade hissed again — unsettling, as it had no mouth to speak of — and spun to face him. As Rix drew close, the air around it seemed to warp momentarily, growing opaque like a mirror suddenly frosty with steam. Rix raised his staff, bracing for an attack, but none came.

Instead, when that effect cleared, the fade had split into three.

Rix's surprise almost caused him to stumble. He'd fought fades with tricks before — the spine throwers, the mantises with their sonic attack — but this felt like a true technique, the kind of thing a powerful Martial Soul might wield. But what kind of technique specifically?

His offence was immediately turned on its head. Where he'd been facing a lone opponent, now he met a group. While one of the fades spun to meet Luna's attack, the other two engaged him in tandem, four bladed arms slicing the air. He felt a spike of panic in the back of his mind, but his hands were steady as he channelled his style. He'd done enough work with it now that he could maintain it for minutes at a time during training, though in most real fights, it dropped in and out as he wove in [Earth Hammers] and [Sunspots].

Gripping his staff in the middle, he whipped it from one side to the other. The wood shuddered in his hands as it met strange metal, blocking two separate blows that would have punched clear through his arms. While both attacks carried weight, one was noticeably stronger than the other.

That gave him a clue about exactly what sort of battle they were fighting.

Meanwhile, Luna was dealing with her own opponent, though with just one to fight it was she who was on the offence. She chopped out with her sword at the creature's chest, and when it parried, she pirouetted, dropping to one knee to slash its leg. Her blade swung true, biting deep into the fade's flesh. The thing staggered, though it made no noise and no blood spilled from the wound.

That basically confirmed it in Rix's mind.

"They're copies," he yelled, blocking another blow that would have cleaved his head clean off. "Some kind of illusion technique."

He'd read about such fades in one of his favourite chronicles, Tomorrow's Edge. It was the story of Shi To Lin, otherwise known as The Human Forge. Early in his career, he'd had an epic battle with a creature capable of duplicating itself and imbuing those clones with some degree of mass. Though the clones were not fully fledged opponents, collectively they were difficult opponents, tricky and persistent.

"Copy or not, I'm adding it to my tally," Luna replied as she yanked her sword free.

She went for the kill, hefting her weapon once more and activating [Falcon Slash]. Her blade cut a green arc through the air, trailing sizzling energy as she swung for the fade's head, but the creature was a step ahead. It threw itself backwards and into one of the two fades Rix fought, vanishing inside its body. Luna let out a curse.

The shift surprised Rix momentarily, but he saw an opportunity. The one Luna's fade jumped into had to be the real one, and if the Chronicle was anything to go by, killing that would end the fight.

He surged forward to meet it, while its compatriot — the other copy — spun to engage Luna. Rix activated Energy Surge and unleashed a dizzying array of blows, five rapid-fire strikes at the fade's head and chest, before mimicking Luna and dropping low to strike the legs. He was growing better at using his opponent's momentum against them, letting their block drive one end of his staff back to send the other end whipping forward. Swords didn't have that advantage, that ability to redirect leverage. Such techniques were a key part of what his style wanted from him, learning to take advantage of the unique properties of his weapon.

Fuelled by qi, his staff moved as if almost weightless, but this fade wasn't any regular opponent. It was a Peak Whisper. Its limbs were a whirlwind, parrying each central blow, before it darted backwards entirely to avoid his sweep attack.

In the blink of an eye, the air around the fade warped again, but this time, it didn't stay stationary as it split. From that strange murk, one of the fades leaped out toward Rix, bladed arms already in motion. Obscured as it had been, Rix couldn't tell if it was the original or the copy, but it was such a quick transition he didn't have time to consider it further. As he was down on one knee, his balance was off and his weapon was extended. He couldn't defend in time as the creature swung, cutting deep into Rix's left arm.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Pain flared and he batted the blade away and scuttled backwards, but the damage was done. His mantle was mostly exhausted from earlier fights and had offered only a token level of resistance. While not a crippling injury, the gash throbbed fiercely. Blood ran down his arm.

He fished into his pocket with his good hand for a sunberry and shoved it into his mouth, feeling that blissful numbness spread almost immediately as he bit down. With its split complete, the haze faded and the third fade spun to join the fight against Luna. It only took Rix a moment to notice that something looked off.

None of the fades were injured. Luna's fade had healed when it had merged.

She seemed to notice it too. "We really need to start finding opponents where our attacks stick!" she said.

The sudden injection of another enemy threw off her rhythm, forcing her to pivot an attack into an awkward block to stop herself being beheaded by the new arrival's swing.

Rix let out a low growl and reengaged. He had the solo opponent now. He had to take advantage. With the sunberry drowning his injury to a dull throb, he once again channelled his style. Two strikes to the head, one to the body, flowing seamlessly into a parry as the beast countered with a thrust of its own. With every combination, he felt himself slipping a little more into the rhythm of the duel, his style and mind working in ever-increasing harmony. Surely this was what he needed to master to rank his style up, this perfect level of oneness.

Even with his style singing, it wasn't enough to break through. The fade was too quick, too skilled, too strong. Its blades whistled through the air with devastating speed. He slipped one blow by arching to one side, but the fade's other arm was there to block his counter. The impact caused a shockwave to roll down his arm and sent him stumbling backwards.

His nostrils flared, his breath coming in short, angry bursts. Despite his best efforts, fighting it with his skills alone weren't enough. He needed something more. His mana was low, but that wasn't the same as being empty. Thrusting out his palm, he unleashed [Sunspot] directly at the fade's face. The creature staggered momentarily, but as Rix rushed to take advantage, it's instincts kicked in and it scurried backwards out of range. By the time Rix managed to reengage, it seemed to have recovered its vision.

Luna was having similar trouble. Though she defended well, she was fighting what were effectively two duel-wielding swordsmen while using a single blade. She did her best to keep her distance so she could block multiple blows with short, economical movements, but her style was built for offence, not defence. She was fighting a losing battle.

To his eye, Luna's fades were a hair slower than his, their attacks carrying a little less bite. There were two of them, of course, so that more than made up the difference, but it left him fairly sure he had the real fade. With their healing property, identifying the original was critical. Any effort spent on the clones just drained their resources and energy.

When one of Luna's opponents landed a blow, it all but confirmed his suspicions. She overextended on an attack, leaving herself exposed, and one of her opponents quickly took advantage, throwing its whole body forward to unleash a massive thrusting attack. Though Luna dipped desperately to one side, the strike still caught her in the meat of her thigh. Her mantle flared and the blade skidded to the side. She danced backward, surveying the wound. While she was cut, it was noticeably shallower than Rix's wound.

"I think I've got the real one," he yelled. "If we kill it, the others should fall."

"Well, go on then," she replied, assuming her defensive posture once more. "Not like these two are letting me through."

Rix grimaced. The reality was, he didn't think he could break through. This battle was bringing back memories of his failed fights in the arena. The fade may not have a style, but what it had was sheer animal instinct, well-honed over heavens knew how many years of evolution. It was, simply put, a better fighter than him.

He only had a handful of other tools left. His mind raced, conjuring and discarding options. After a moment, he landed on something. He checked his mana, and a grim smile crept onto his face.

"I'm going to knock yours off balance," he said. "When I do, come at mine from behind."

He didn't wait to see her reply. Attacking with renewed vigour, he pushed more qi into Energy Surge and unleashed a flurry of strikes to his fade's right side. The thing blocked several, but was forced to dodge left by a particularly vicious blow that Rix arced towards its head.

Exactly as he wanted it to.

By driving it in that direction, he changed his orientation relative to Luna and her group. Now the shockwave caused by [Force Hammer] could hit them without hitting her.

Shoving the last of his qi into his Energy Surge for speed, he summoned the staff technique and slammed it down at his opponent. The fade dashed to one side, not realising it wasn't the target. As his weapon crashed into the ground like a giant's fist, a ripple of force shot out through the soil in front of him.

It slammed into Luna's two opponents from behind, sending one to its knees and the other to its back. At the same moment, he thrust his palm forward and used the last of his mana to summon a final [Sunspot]. The technique flared in his opponent's eyes, again sending it scuttling backwards, but this time Luna was there to meet it.

[Falcon Slash] cut cleanly through the fade's torso, and it collapsed to the ground, causing the other two copies to blink out of existence as essence rushed into him.

"Finally, you let me take a little of the glory on one of these big kills," Luna said.

Rix shrugged. "Thought you could use the mental boost after all that brutal sitting you were forced to endure."

"Nobody will ever truly understand my pain."

Breaker chose that moment to reappear from the far side of the clearing. "Not bad, young ones. Not bad. If I read the situation correctly, that opponent was a rank above you?"

"So, you did send it on purpose," Rix replied.

Breaker grinned. He was still in his fadeborn form, which lent the smile a particularly creepy look. "I may not approve of you dedicating time to this lesser pursuit, but I approve even less of mediocrity. Comfort is the enemy of improvement. If you're going to fight, I will ensure you learn something from every drop of blood spilled."

Luna laughed. "That sounds like my elders."

Rix found himself wondering if Breaker had been watching over them during the fight. The way he'd spoken about not wanting Rix to die made him sceptical the man would let him be in true danger, though exactly what he was capable of was still a mystery. He'd been able to temporarily steal Yutaro's attention. Could he do the same for Han if the situation arose?

"That will conclude today's session," said Breaker. "You'll need to begin heading back to the portal soon."

Rix nodded. He'd actually felt the thirty-minute warning through the tether during that battle.

"Thank you for today's lessons, Breaker," he said. "And for helping with this." He gestured to the nearby corpses.

"And for agreeing to teach me," Luna added.

"You are welcome, both of you. I, too, am thankful. I have been in this place for what feels like an eternity, and for the first time I have a glimmer of hope for my freedom."

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