The Doppelgänger’s Gambit

The moment her words settled in the air, I knew there was no turning back.

"If you had accepted," Bimpe's voice twisted, venom dripping from every word, "I would have killed you gently."

Her face contorted in disgust, an unnatural grotesqueness consuming her radiant features.

The world around us cracked like glass, shards of the fabricated environment collapsing into a brilliant white floor.

My chest tightened, the stark reality of the trial slamming into me.

I dropped my bag, my hands trembling as I dug inside and pulled out the Alice figurine. The mere touch of it steadied me, a reminder of the mysterious guide bound to the summoned group.

"Alice, I need you," I muttered, willing her to appear. But before anything could happen, the system chimed with chilling clarity:

[System Notification: Reconnection Attempt Detected.]

[System Notification: Reconnection Attempt Successful.]

[Fifth Floor Trial: Defeat your Doppelgänger who seeks to become the Original.]

The air thickened, and I felt a surge of cosmic energy flood back into my body. It was like breathing after being submerged underwater for far too long.

Relief was short-lived, however, as Bimpe's form shifted before my eyes. Her skin paled, features flattening into a monochrome version of… me.

My double stared back, his lips curling into a cold smirk that sent a chill down my spine.

Unlike my typical Nigerian appearance, his skin was devoid of any melanin, a ghostly white that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it.

His hair and eyes shimmered with a metallic gray hue, giving him an ethereal, almost alien presence. Even his movements carried an unnatural fluidity, as if gravity barely touched him.

"Why take that form?" I demanded, but the question barely escaped my lips before his fist shot forward, a small portal shimmering as his attack bypassed the distance between us.

Pain exploded in my jaw, the force sending me staggering back. My mind raced as realization dawned: he had my powers.

And worse, his current actions shows that he might be wielding them better than I did.

"I was promised your place," he sneered, his voice an unsettling echo of my own. "All I have to do is kill you here."

I clenched my fists, syncing my resolve with the thundering beat of my heart. "Then come and try."

We clashed in a flurry of blows, our movements fueled by cosmic energy. Every punch carried the weight of our power, ripples of energy distorted space trailing in the wake of our attacks.

The air hummed with tension, every impact a testament to the immense power we both wielded. Despite my initial hesitation, I began to push him back, my strikes gaining speed and precision.

"Isn't this just typical of you?" he taunted mid-strike, his words as sharp as his attacks. "Running away from everything, even your own feelings. How many times did you avoid your crush? And now you think you're some kind of special savior? You've let this power make you arrogant."

His accusations stung, but I swallowed the bitterness and answered with defiance. "You're right," I admitted, meeting his gaze with unyielding determination. "I've made mistakes, but I'll survive this. I'll go back and fix them all."

He laughed, the sound cold and hollow. "Fix them? There won't be a chance. I'll be ending you here."

Just as I felt momentum shift in my favor, his eyes glowed ominously. I realized he was about to fire a beam of energy. I decided to do the same.

Closing my eyes briefly, I focused on the energy coursing through me, forcing it down to my throat. The sensation burned, as if swallowing fire.

My willpower surged, and I channeled it upward.

With a sharp exhale and a mental push, I unleashed the beam from my eyes, the searing energy colliding with his in a blinding explosion of light and sound.

My intentional actions have resulted into more energy being fed to the beam.

The clash forced us apart momentarily, but the reprieve was brief. He charged again, wrapping space around his body to glide seamlessly.

I matched him, my own glide propelling me through the battlefield. As I moved, I extended my hand, warping the fabric of space itself to create a crack aimed at him.

The jagged fissure surged forward, distorting everything in its path.

Without hesitation, he countered with his own crack, a mirror attack that met mine head-on. The collision sent shockwaves rippling outward, destabilizing the battlefield.

The two of us floated amidst the chaos, our powers tearing through the space between us.

The battle's intensity began taking its toll. My cloak and shirt were torn to shreds, cosmic energy searing through the fabric as my movements pushed my limits. My exposed skin bore burns and scrapes, yet I pressed on, ignoring the sting of my deteriorating state.

As the fight raged on, I felt the cosmic energy within me trying to heal my wounds. But the process was excruciating, every cell in my body screaming in protest as I gritted my teeth to endure the pain.

My doppelgänger showed no signs of experiencing such a phenomenon. That realization struck me like lightning: he couldn't grow.

While I was learning and adapting with every passing moment, he remained static, bound by the limits of his creation.

"You've taught me so much already," I said with a smirk, deliberately trying to provoke him. "In a way, you're like my teacher."

His face twisted with rage, his next strike fueled by his anger. "I am no one's teacher!" he roared. "I am your end!"

The fury in his attacks grew, but so did the strain on my energy reserves. Every move, every defense, drained me at an alarming rate. My heart pounded as I realized I was running out of time.

If I didn't end this soon, I wouldn't have the strength to continue and in the end I would lose to him. During this fight, I had already learn how to glide in space, and seeing another individual wielding cosmic energy had broaden my perspective.

"I have been using my powers in a crude way and I have been to reliant on the knowledge the goddess of space gave me." I said as I promised myself not to be limited in this way. "Now, let me try this…"

As he prepared his next move, I reached into my storage space, summoning my twin daggers. Their silver blades gleamed with potential, and I infused them with concentrated cosmic energy.

The weapons vibrated in my grasp, almost eager for the battle ahead. With a flick of my wrists, I sent them flying toward him, their paths weaving unpredictably through the air.

But he glided through space with effortless grace, avoiding them entirely. The daggers struck the ground behind him and shattered, their energy expended in a futile effort.

"You're a failure," he spat, circling me like a predator. "You don't deserve these powers. Do you even know what your parents would think of you? Of your grades, your wasted potential? Mommy would be ashamed. Daddy would hate you."

His words cut deeper than I wanted to admit. My chest tightened as his accusations struck chords I'd tried to ignore.

The images of my parents flashed in my mind: their pride turning to disappointment, their love overshadowed by my perceived inadequacies.

"Shut up!" I shouted, my voice breaking. "You're not real! You're nothing but a fake version of me. At least I'm living my own life—not pretending to be something I'm not."

His expression darkened, and with a roar of fury, he lunged.

Cosmic energy wrapped around him like a shroud, propelling him through space with fluid grace. It wasn't teleportation—it was a technique that bent space around him, allowing him to glide effortlessly.

I barely had time to react, opening a portal just in time to redirect his fist. It slammed into the ground, spiderweb cracks radiating from the impact. The vibrations reverberated through my legs as I quickly stepped back.

Panting, I realized brute force wouldn't be enough. He matched me in strength and skill, but there was something he lacked: the resilience of the original. I needed to outthink him.

He snarled, drawing in cosmic energy recklessly, his body trembling under the strain. "As long as I kill you, I'll get a new body anyway," he growled.

His recklessness gave me an idea.

Mimicking his strategy, I began absorbing cosmic energy as I glided across the battlefield, refusing to remain stationary and to bring the fight to him.

I might survive if I could redirect all the excess energy out of my body in time.

The energy surged within me, a heady mix of power and danger. My hands burned with the overwhelming force, but I pushed through, directing it all into a single point.

The air around me seemed to shimmer and warp, space itself bending under the weight of our gathered power.

The moment our attacks collided, the resulting explosion rippled through the space, blinding light and deafening sound consuming everything.

We didn't stop. Blow after blow, our bodies began to falter, cracks forming on his monochrome frame while mine screamed in protest. Each strike sent shockwaves through the air, the raw energy threatening to tear us apart.

Then, finally, the gamble paid off. His form wavered, the cracks spreading faster than he could repair.

With one final surge, I unleashed a beam of energy from my mouth, the force obliterating him. The remnants of his form disintegrated into particles of light, dissipating into nothingness

 The light faded, leaving nothing but the white floor and the echoes and evidence of our battle.

Before I could celebrate, the energy within me threatened to spiral out of control. It was like I opened a reservoir into my body, trying to use my will power to push it out didn't work.

Pain seared through me, and I felt my internal organs being destroyed from the cell level, but just as I felt on the brink of destruction, the system intervened:

[Trial enforced has been cleared successfully]

[Level Up Delayed: Resolved.]

[You have accumulated enough casualty to evolve your soul into a higher rank.]

I felt a different surge of energy in me, different from the cosmic energy tearing my body apart, after all it was in my soul. It was the sensation I felt when I allowed the system to awaken my transcendent soul.

A rush of euphoria and clarity washed over me as my body began to repair itself, stronger and more refined. I could feel my very cells evolving to not reject the cosmic energy.

The energy that was once destroying me began to accumulate inside my cells. The cells as if liberated began to find strength in cosmic energy. I was growing to a rank that cannot be reached by things like training, weightlifting and taking conventional medical drugs.

I was becoming an [E-Rank] individual. This is a stage that cannot be reached without the interference of Mana, aura or any other mystic power. In my own case, cosmic energy was the mystic power.

My heart steadied, the cosmic energy within me settling into a harmonious rhythm. This feeling…

"… I can now use cosmic energy faster?" cosmic energy had mixed up with my essence, it was still not perfect as if there were impurities in my body that was slowing it down. But my heart was now pumping cosmic energy with blood throughout my body.

The oppressive weight of the trial on my body was gone, replaced by a new pressure—the pressure of ascension.

[Rank Up Achieved.]

[Congratulations, Seun. You are now an E-rank individual.]