Over-Reliance.

'Bang.'

A straight hook to his face. He absorbed the blow and used his left hand to land a blow to the chest.

The mirage moved aside and grabbed his fist. Aiming to restrain him, the mirage twisted his hand to put it behind his back. Alex took advantage of his flexibility and jerked his body violently in the opposite direction to free himself from the grip.

Even though he was free, he was still too close to his enemy. To land a proper blow, he sent out a back kick right towards the abdomen. It wasn't at full power as he was still off balance. But it connected and sent the enemy back.

Sliding his feet to turn towards the enemy, he pushed himself off the ground to move towards the Mirage. It was still in the process of regaining its balance, so this was the perfect time to strike.

He was about to punch the mirage. But to his surprise, the Mirage didn't try to maintain its balance and fell to the ground. Right in time, it turned mid-air and prevented the fall with its hands. With his punch already out, Alex was vulnerable. To execute the perfect counter in this situation, the enemy mirage contorted its body and performed a mule kick. With no other option, Alex had to raise his other hand to block, but the hit was strong enough to send him crashing to the ground.

40-10. In the favor of the Mirage.

5 days of upgrade, and 25 days of testing.

Two matches everyday for the past month, and this was his record against his own mirage.

The reality of the situation was very simple. After the upgrade, the mirages could fight as if they possessed battle instincts far superior than Alex himself.

He got up from the ground. The mirage had disappeared.

"This is getting embarrassing. What exactly are you doing with the mirages?"

"Nothing. I am just measuring all the problems in your fighting style and finding a counter to your moves as you fight. I make the first move, and I finish the last. You are swept up in my pace."

He looked at his hands.

"You have perfectly gotten used to your new body. But you have to understand that the assassins of this world are way above your previous world's league. A level one character with the best equipment possible is still weak when you compare it to a level one hundred character with basic items and enough skill. The principles of assassination of your world are almost useless here, except for the fact that as parallel worlds, they both share some common traits."

He nodded his head.

"I understand that."

System appeared in front of him and said,

"I don't think you do."

A proper explanation was needed. She brought up a panel.

"The A-class assassin that you just killed is a good example. In your previous world, that guy would have been a nightmare to go against."

From his memories, the system created a comparison chart.

"The strongest person you knew in your previous life was your teacher. He had never displayed the full extent of his powers, but from what he did show, he was a strong fighter with inhuman instincts and an experienced thought process."

That was true.

"But now, when you compare him to your mother, he feels at best, above average."

He had trained under his mother as well. If he were to compare the two of them based on skills and technique, Sylvia could have killed him after a hard fought fight.

"That is the difference. Your skills and the system make you unique, and your experience as an assassin makes you cautious. But those memories have created an invisible barrier that can be a detriment to your progress."

His past life was holding him back. He could work hard, but he had two different benchmarks for improvement in his mind. At any point of time, he would rather rely on his past experience to get out of a bad situation.

"After the upgrade, I can replicate some of the tactics that have been used against you by the people of this world. And by using those tactics, I can pinpoint your weaknesses to defeat you. You have many tells in your fighting style, and if I compare it to your memories, you become exposed pretty early. That is why as soon as my upgrade was finished, I made you a suggestion to fight your own mirage first."

Before, it was mostly Stats vs Stats with a simple touch of tactics. Alex had a chance then. But now, it was stats vs tactics, and Alex was becoming slowly over-reliant on his attributes, even if his skill usage was low.

"We can use your fight with Lucius as an example. When he came at you with full strength you couldn't figure out a way to fight back, simply because of your inexperience with fighters of that level."

Two mirages of Alex and Lucius appeared.

"In the fist pair, this happened."

A fast attack. Alex did try to find a way, but he was restricted in his movement.

"This usually happens when you are weaker than you opponent, and this was exactly what happened back then. Focus on the second pair."

When the mirage of Lucius attacked this time, the mirage of Alex moved its body in a different manner to evade and counter attack. It was futile, but the difference was clear.

"Here, attributes are the deciding factor. But the fight doesn't seem as one-sided as before."

The mirages vanished.

"Against a stronger enemy, you might not be able to decisively win without your attributes. But against an equal foe, this will make a huge difference."

After all, his attributes will continue to grow. That isn't the problem.

"Work on this, and no one will have a chance against you."