The Trial of Reflection

The screen popped up with a message: "Congratulations on clearing the dungeon! Please choose a reward."

"I don't know what I'll get, but anything is better than nothing." Livio's words were broken by his exhaustion.

The screen displayed two options:

A red potion bottle: Refills your health bar and heals all wounds, inside or outside the dungeon, unless conditions apply.

A training ground for a day: Learn how to wield a weapon of your choice. Thirty minutes inside will grant experience equivalent to a month of training.

"I think I'll take the potion. If I take that, I won't have to rely on others." Livio moved his hand toward the potion but hesitated before selecting it.

"If I take the potion, I can only use it once. But will I ever get another chance to improve myself? I can't keep going without learning to fight. I don't even know how much harder I'll have to work. I can collect different potions if I clear more dungeons, but if I choose the potion now, I won't have any skills to clear anything harder than this."

After a moment of deliberation, Livio clicked the button for training.

The area around him shifted into a black abyss.

"I can't feel the ground. I can't see anything..... What is going on?" Livio moved, but his hand touched nothing.

He sat down, reaching for the ground, but felt only emptiness.

The screen popped up again: Choose your weapon.

Various weapons appeared before him. Among them, he noticed a small golden sword with inscriptions on the blade.

"I think this is it. I need sword training." He clicked on the sword.

Instantly, the darkness transformed into a floating island. Water cascaded from all directions, surrounding the island with a shimmering rainbow. The island was divided into three zones: upper, middle, and lower. On the uppermost border stood a massive structure carved from a single rock.

"Wow, that's beautiful. Can I ever train there?" Livio reached out toward the island, but he found himself standing atop the flowing water while the island remained above him.

A single water droplet resonated.

"What? I heard water, but where is it? What can I do?" Livio looked below.

"Noooo! I'll drown!" His eyes widened, sweat covering his forehead. His body trembled instinctively, reacting as if he had encountered a snake.

But he wasn't sinking.

"Is this a dream? I'm really standing on water." Livio kicked the water's surface, watching as ripples spread outward.

Then, something strange happened.

He saw an inverted reflection of himself standing beneath the water. Their feet were aligned, touching at the surface.

"Ohhh, amazing! My image looks so clear in this water." Livio took a step back, but his reflection remained motionless.

Suddenly, his reflection rotated within the water, rising to the surface. It emerged looking exactly like him—except it wielded a black katana.

Livio's hand brushed against the water's surface as he took a deep breath, standing once more above it.

"What is this? Do I have to defeat him? I thought this was just a training ground." Livio drew his red katana.

Between them, a stick emerged from the water, topped with a blue diamond.

"You came here to train, right? Prove your worth, and then I will teach you." A old man emerged from the water, his gaze fixed on Livio's sword.

"So, I have to defeat him. Guess I don't have a choice." Livio and his reflection charged at each other.

As Livio swung from the right, the reflection countered from the left.

The water rippled more intensely. Livio was sent flying but managed to land back on the surface.

"Damn it! He's too strong. I get it now." Livio picked up his sword and charged again.

"That sword... It's something...." The old man smiled, watching Livio closely.

Livio and his reflection circled each other, blades glinting under the eerie light of the floating island. The only sound was the soft ripple of the water beneath their feet.

The mirrored Livio struck first—a swift horizontal slash aimed at Livio's midsection. Livio sidestepped, bringing his blade up to parry. Sparks flew as their swords clashed. Livio retaliated with a diagonal slash, but the copy mirrored him perfectly, their blades meeting with a resounding crash.

Livio shifted his weight, aiming for a quick upward thrust. The reflection spun, deflecting the strike and countering with a sharp downward cut. Livio blocked, but the force pushed him back a step, his feet barely splashing against the water's surface.

The copy pressed forward, striking with relentless precision. A low sweep targeted Livio's legs—he jumped, twisting mid-air to counter with a powerful downward arc. The copy caught it in time, their swords locking as they pushed against each other.

"You're just a copy!" Livio growled, breaking the lock and stepping back. He launched a flurry of rapid slashes—left, right, up, down. The copy matched him perfectly, parrying each strike.

Sweat dripped from Livio's brow. He feinted high, tricking the copy into blocking. At the last second, he twisted, bringing his blade around in a wide arc. The copy spun to parry, their swords colliding with such force that both stumbled.

Breathing heavily, Livio adjusted his grip. "Time to finish this."

He slashed low. The copy leaped, but Livio had anticipated the move, twisting his blade upward in a tight arc. His sword grazed the copy's shoulder—the first clean hit.

The reflection faltered but steadied itself, lunging with a thrust aimed at Livio's chest. Livio sidestepped, spinning as he brought his blade around in a controlled slash, catching the copy's wrist and disarming it.

Before it could react, Livio's blade was at its throat. The reflection froze, its black katana falling into the water and disappearing.

"Well done. Now, I will take you as my apprentice." The old man stepped forward as countless swords rose from the depths of the ocean.

Outside the dungeon, the sun was setting. The orange light slowly dimmed as a portal opened at the cave entrance. Livio stepped through.

"It's already evening. I should head back." He started walking, shirtless and shoeless.

"I need to visit a shop. I can't walk around like this—it's embarrassing." He placed his katana back into his inventory.

The sky shifted from orange to yellow as Livio emerged from a shop in the capital, now properly dressed.

"Alright, I'm ready. Since I'm here, I should visit Eero and the others." He started walking toward the bakery.

As he walked, he saw a girl running without looking ahead. She barreled forward blindly. Livio tensed, instinctively stepping aside due to past trauma.

The girl, unaware of her own carelessness, tripped and spilled her belongings onto the road.

Instead of acknowledging her mistake, she glared at Livio like a predator.

"How dare you use your legs to make me trip, you bastard!" she screamed, the sharp crack of a slap echoing through the street.