The doors shuddered open, releasing a heavy gust of cold air into the chamber.A distant rumble echoed through the metallic corridors, as if something enormous moved behind the walls.
Phase Three was beginning.
Jarek wiped blood from his lip, still staring at the place where the Faultline Guardian had exploded moments earlier.
"That thing was Tier C," he muttered, voice faint."There's no way… no way that should've been in here…"
Aria didn't respond.Her eyes were fixed on Elias—sharp, thoughtful, dissecting.
Elias ignored them both and stepped into the next chamber.
The floor here was different.No gears.No plates.Just smooth black metal, polished enough to reflect their faces back at them.
Aria entered behind him.
Jarek hesitated before following.
Torches ignited along the walls—cold blue flames that didn't produce heat. The moment they all crossed the threshold, the chamber doors slammed shut with a metallic finality.
A message etched itself into the air.
Rift Simulation — Phase ThreeObjective: EndureTime Limit: 3 minutes
Jarek's face fell.
"Endure what?"
The answer came instantly.
The walls groaned.Then liquefied—shifting into shimmering black surfaces.
Shapes emerged from the metal, their bodies silver and fluid, their faces blank and empty.
They were the cadets.
Copies.Perfect reflections.
Emotionless, hollow versions of themselves… stepping out of the walls with synchronized precision.
Jarek cursed loudly."Oh hell no—"
Aria inhaled sharply."These are Mirror Constructs. They imitate combat style, speed, strength… everything."
Her gaze flicked to Elias.
"And they adapt."
Three silver figures stepped forward.Perfect duplicates.
One of Aria.One of Jarek.One of Elias.
The mirror-Jarek cracked its knuckles.The mirror-Aria moved with the same analytical calm.The mirror-Elias stood still, eyes cold, posture controlled—unnervingly similar.
Jarek pointed weakly."Why is your copy scarier than mine?!"
Before Elias could answer, the mirror-Aria vanished in a flicker.It reappeared behind him, swinging a blade-like arm toward his neck.
Aria reacted first, intercepting her copy with a temporal twist that bent the distance between them.
Their strikes collided.Shockwaves rippled.
Jarek roared and charged at his copy.
His double met him with identical ferocity.
Fists collided.Metal cracked.Both howled in pain—each hit mirrored in force, as if the chamber itself enjoyed mocking them.
Elias faced his reflection in silence.
The mirror tilted its head exactly the way he did.Moved its fingers exactly the way he did.Shifted its stance exactly the way he had taught himself to hide his true strength.
A perfect illusion.
A dangerous one.
Jarek yelled across the room.
"Ward! My copy's stronger than me!"
Elias didn't look away from his own double.
"It isn't stronger," he said softly."You're predictable."
Jarek froze, mid-brawl."What does that even—"
His copy punched him in the face.
Elias stepped forward.
The mirror-Elias mirrored him instantly.
He examined its posture, searching for a flaw.
None.His mask was too perfect.Too consistent.His movements too controlled.
The mirror saw exactly what the world saw:
A quiet boy.A weak class.A cadet with nothing special.
But Elias knew something else.
The mirror could only copy what he revealed.
Which meant—
He stepped forward again, faster.
The mirror matched.Identical pace.
He shifted his weight to the right.The mirror mirrored him.
He faked a breath.It faked the same breath.
Perfect.
He stepped into striking distance, blade raised.
The mirror raised its own.
They moved simultaneously.
Elias didn't attack with his blade.
He slid his knee forward, smashing it into the mirror's thigh—an unarmed technique he had never once used in training.
The mirror stiffened.It lagged.Just a fraction.
Not recorded.Not copied.
A moment of imperfection.
Elias drove the shard into its chest.
The mirror-Elias cracked like shattering glass, splinters of silver dissolving into the air.
A message pulsed softly.
Spiritual fragment absorbedCombat memory integrated
Jarek's jaw dropped.
"You beat it… just like that?"
Elias didn't answer.
Because Aria's situation was far more complex.
Her mirror fought like an echo inside her mind—every move she predicted, it mirrored.Every strike she attempted, it countered.Every dodge she executed, it mimicked.
Absolute symmetry.
It was like fighting her own timeline.
Jarek was losing ground fast.His mirror landed punches he couldn't stop.He bled from his nose, lip, eyebrow.
"Ward! Aria! A little help?!"
Elias glanced in his direction briefly, then approached.
"Don't fight it head-on," he said."You're too direct. It knows everything you'll do."
Jarek snarled."Then what do I do?!"
Elias didn't hesitate.
"Stop thinking."
"What?!"
"Instinct only. Stop using patterns. Stop using techniques. Just move."
Jarek blinked—
—and then a punch hit him square in the face.
He stumbled backward.
Elias sighed inwardly.
Hopeless.
He moved past Jarek and struck the mirror directly in its throat with a precise palm strike.The construct flickered.It staggered—slightly—but enough.
Jarek saw the opening.
He roared and slammed his fist into its skull.The mirror cracked, shattered, and dissolved into dust.
Aria was still fighting her double—locked in a perfect stalemate of mind and motion.
Elias approached her carefully.
Her eyes flicked toward him, a sharp warning.
"Don't interfere."
He watched their patterns.Her mirror predicted.Aria countered.The mirror refined.Aria accelerated.
It was a recursive loop.Elegant.Deadly.Unbreakable.
Unless—
Elias stepped forward.
Aria's eyes widened."Ward—don't!"
He threw his metal shard directly at Aria's head.
Not at the mirror.At her.
Aria's instincts kicked in.Her mind accelerated.She dodged.
Her mirror dodged too.
Exactly the same way.
Perfect symmetry.
Except—
Aria had moved with a subtle twist of her body, something too refined to copy without understanding it.
Her mirror didn't understand.
It mimicked the twist… poorly.
The angle was wrong.
Its guard opened for half a heartbeat.
Aria struck.
Her palm hit its core.Time warped.The mirror's existence shattered like broken glass.
Silver dust rained down around them.
The timer flickered.
Phase Three CompletedTime Remaining: 11 seconds
Jarek collapsed onto the floor.
"Oh thank the Ancestors… I thought we were dead."
Aria turned toward Elias.
Her voice was quiet, but not cold.
"What you did was dangerous."
"You handled it."
She stared at him.
Hard.
Searching.
Her breath grew just a touch uneven.
"You threw a blade at my head," she whispered.
"And you dodged it," he replied.
Her lips parted—just slightly.
Not anger.Not fear.Something else.
Recognition.
She understood him now.
Not fully.But more than anyone else ever had.
He wasn't predictable.He wasn't readable.He wasn't weak.
And he wasn't safe.
Before she could say another word, the chamber lights dimmed.
A new message burned into the air.
Final Phase InitiatingSurvival or Termination
The floor shook.The metal groaned.
Jarek's voice cracked.
"Oh come on… there's a final phase?!"
Yes.
There was.
And this one would push them past every limit they believed they had.