"When we encounter them, race to the left," Adam said as they gradually drew closer to their adversaries before adding. "Don't forget what I told you about the cross, ok?"
"Count on me. But aren't you too careful?" Julius responded, scratching his head.
"Trust me, I'm not. Learn to make contingency plans, just in case." Adam said, his upper lip raised as he remembered the painful lesson from the first trial's wolves.
"I'll keep that in mind." The boy's eyes narrowed, considering his big brother's words as a valuable lesson. But for now, he had to focus on his fight as two amorphous figures floated ten meters before him.
"A ghost and a child... What do we do, brother?" A voice reverberated, giving the duo the impression that it came from nowhere but everywhere.
"Easy, kill the human and let the ghost pass." Another voice answered the question, causing Julius' hair to bristle.
Silently, he filled his lungs with oxygen before dashing towards the left wall of the canyon, his Qi bubbling in his dan tian.
"Ah! He is trying to escape. Can I go after him?" The first voice excitedly asked as one of the figures gradually transformed into a copy of Julius.
"I want half his life force! If you eat everything alone again, I promise to complain to the boss." The second voice said, reshaping itself into Adam simultaneously.
As the fake Julius nodded and raced to the left, smirking, the other doppelgänger locked his luminous eyes with Adam's and said casually, "You can pass and meet the guardian. He'll explain everything."
"Sure. But I need to kill you first." Adam sneered, materialising his blade of adaptation in his left hand and taking a battle stance.
The doppelgänger fell silent for a second before bursting into laughter. "How do you plan to achieve that? I can do everything you can without limits." He said as a red cape materialised and billowed behind him. Then, the Luminous Wildblade and Blade of Adaptation condensed into a rain of sparks from thin air to land in his hands.
"You are interesting. An apprentice who uses mana to bypass casting and fights in melee." He added, feeling the abilities he copied before taking the same battle stance as his adversary and gesturing for Adam to attack him with his hand.
"Don't try to bluff. There is no way you can copy my weapons faithfully." Adam answered before propelling himself forward.
"Fool! You are one of the rare ghosts blessed with mana, but you charge in?" The doppelgänger said, his eyes filled with disdain. With a snap of his finger, negative energy thickened behind him, taking the form of twenty red spinning arrowheads.
Widening his eyes, Adam thought, 'Shit. I wanted to save mana!' Then, he condensed his own light-blue projectiles and launched them to intercept his ennemy's.
As they collided in a cacophony of hums, neutralising each other, a dozen meters on the left, obscured by the mist, Julius suddenly stopped running.
"Hahaha. You understood it was useless to run?" The doppelgänger exclaimed, licking his lips as he continued his charge, gladius in hand.
However, the swift victory he expected didn't happen as Julius stepped forward, his eyes wide open in concentration. 'According to big bro, I have the advantage with my weapon's enhancements. I can do it!' He thought, swinging his blade to meet his opponent's.
The sound of metal colliding echoed in the damp canyon as a thin layer of frost covered the doppelgänger's weapon. Then, with an elegant movement, the boy deflected the weakened weapon to the side, leaving his enemy defenseless.
Almost simultaneously, he imbued his left fist with fire Qi, causing a soft orange glow to encase it before sending a piercing hook at the faker.
Unfortunately, the doppelgänger swiftly understood he couldn't underestimate the boy. Using Julius' unnatural reflexes and dynamic vision, he bent his torso backwards in a split second. Then, like a spring, he propelled his upper body back after dodging the punch and swung his sword in a wide arc from the weird position.
His eyes widening, Julius hurriedly bent his legs, avoiding the horizontal cut by a hairbreadth. Alas, his defensive manoeuvre only caused his head to plunge straight into his copy's rising knee.
Through gritted teeth, he thought, 'I'll be hit.' The timing was exquisite, leaving him no room to dodge.
Prepared to endure the inevitable strike, Julius' eyes suddenly narrowed as his mind raced. 'I won't win if I don't surpass myself!' He screamed inwardly, his neck's veins protruding as he reinforced the muscles with slivers of earth Qi. Simultaneously, he swung his right fist to deliver an uppercut, his big brother's angry words echoing in his mind.
"Anything you try to do to me, I'll do it to you first!"
Crunching sounds echoed as Julius' nose broke on impact, and his body flew back a few meters. But a smile tugged at his lips as he felt his own strike connect with the doppelgänger's chin.
"Tch, not bad for a brat still wet behind the ears. Can't believe you landed a hit." The ghost said, his left eye twitching and his veins bulging. He was decades older and was a master of combat and magic. That's why their species was among the most feared.
They could not only infiltrate any place to sow chaos using any persona but could also beat anyone in one versus one, thanks to their experience and negative energy. Infuriated by the humiliation, he reviewed Julius' abilities in-depth, ready to go all out.
As Julius rose to his feet, exhaling by his nose powerfully to expel the blood, the doppelgänger's eyes widened at his discoveries. "You are not a body cultivator or mage. What is this energy?" He asked, interest flashing in his eyes before they narrowed as he remembered why he had been stationed here.
Sixty years ago, a man stormed the canyon and defeated everyone. Strangely, he killed no one, but the unusual thing about him was his use of a strange energy that wasn't mana according to his brother.