The Dreamforged Arena shimmered and broke.
Not in reality, but in design. The sky cracked like porcelain, then stitched itself with golden veins. The ground rippled with mirrored tile, each piece reflecting strange angles, distant shadows, and a warped version of the team that stood atop them.
Kieran's reflection blinked—and smiled.
Not him. Not quite.
The system voice rolled like thunder.
"Third Team Battle: Umbravale Academy vs. Verdelain Academy. Commence."
Verdelain's team emerged from the mist—five students clad in vine-threaded robes, each one barefoot, each one expressionless. Their presence wasn't loud. It was... wrong. A cold calm that didn't match the flickering, fractal battlefield they stepped into.
"They don't carry weapons," Rei said, voice low.
"They don't need them," Selene replied. "Verdelain are mimics. Their Aspects grow by copying others."
Calla narrowed her eyes. "So we're fighting ourselves?"
Talon stepped forward silently, scanning the terrain. "No. We're fighting what we could become."
---
The Arena snapped.
A wave of light pulsed from Verdelain's team—each member extended a hand, palm glowing with green-gold fractals. In response, mirrored copies rose from the floor—warped silhouettes of Kieran, Calla, Selene, Talon, and Rei.
But twisted.
Kieran's reflection shimmered with shadows that writhed like snakes. Its eyes burned gold, mouth sewn shut. Calla's clone bled flame from her fingertips, laughing as she caught fire. Selene's mimic stood like a statue of light, crackling with judgment. Talon's copy flickered in and out of sight. Rei's clone… just grinned.
"Stay sharp!" Kieran called.
They split.
The clones moved fast. Too fast.
Rei clashed first, steel meeting steel. But the clone didn't mimic his fighting style—it predicted it. Every strike was met with a counter. Every feint was already anticipated.
Selene sent a burst of light toward Calla's clone, buying her teammate time to breathe. The burning version of Calla laughed, absorbing the blast and growing brighter.
"They feed on intent!" Selene called. "Don't strike where you expect to win. Fake them out!"
---
Kieran circled his clone.
It didn't attack. It waited.
Every time he blinked, it shifted. One step closer. One step more distorted.
He lunged.
The clone flickered—then split into two shadows. One lunged back.
One whispered.
"You're not ready."
Kieran froze.
It was his voice.
The clone slammed into him, knocking him across a cracked mirror tile. Glass dust scattered, shimmering like ash.
Revelation stirred again—but not fully. Not enough.
"Get out of your head," Calla shouted, fire burning hot around her fists. "We've seen worse!"
She blasted her clone in the chest—twice. On the third hit, it shattered into flame and dissolved.
One down.
---
Selene moved like a ghost, her clone mirroring every step. Then she stopped, lowered her light—and smiled.
The clone paused.
And Selene drove a flash-pulse into its chest, detonating it in a blast of searing light.
Two down.
Talon's copy appeared behind him.
But Talon was already moving.
His blade traced a perfect arc through the reflection's throat. It blinked once, then fell apart.
Three.
Rei finally cracked his clone's rhythm. He feinted high—and elbowed it low, sending it crashing through a mirrored pillar.
It shattered.
Four.
Only Kieran remained.
He stood again, blood at his lip. The clone circled.
Then it charged.
Kieran didn't dodge.
He stepped into the strike—and let it pass through a flicker of his shadow.
When the clone turned—he wasn't there.
A blade of dream-glass slid across its throat.
Five.
---
The battlefield groaned.
Verdelain's team collapsed. They hadn't taken a single step during the fight. But the cost of channeling mimics had drained them completely.
The system spoke.
"Victory to Umbravale."
But none of them smiled.
Rei breathed hard. "That… didn't feel right."
Kieran looked at the last mirrored shard on the ground—his face, twisted in shadow, staring back.
In the sky above, thunder rumbled softly.
Victor, from the watching balcony, tilted his head.
"A false self defeated," he murmured. "But what happens when the real one breaks?"