[Test has now begun... brace yourselves]
[Restrictions on your SS–Rank Degeneration ability have been lifted... you'll now be teleported to the arena]
Instantly, everyone was teleported into a large colosseum. Each was granted their arena for their pending battle.
Blake stared at the area and noticed a strange mist swirling above. From the mist, he could finally make out the image of a figure dropping down and landing in the centre of the arena.
A replica of him, holding a pair of daggers with rattling chains merged to the hilt. The only difference was the figure's golden eyes, which were glowing brightly and a strange dark glow in the shape of a star within the left eye.
"Nice. Nice." The figure said with a large grin. "To think you and I are the same. Truly pathetic." Prowling around while occasionally swinging his daggers, the figure licked his lips with a crude smile.
Blake had his eyes fixed on the figure, not wanting to miss even the slightest step.
"You have the SS-Rank degeneration ability, yet you still look pathetic! Lemme show you... the true strength of this ability!" Kicking off the ground, the replica dashed forward, swinging the daggers in a circular motion in front of him.
"For starters, eat this!" Swinging the daggers down, they shot forward with pinpoint accuracy at Blake.
"Shit!" Clenching his daggers tightly, Blake swung upwards, hitting the dagger away. Rolling across the ground he evaded the second one. Looking up, a figure was already before him with legs raised high.
"Dammit!" Raising his hands, he could only prepare to block.
BAAMMM!
The heel of the replica crashed on his hands pushing it to the ground. "Shit! What's with the heavy kick?!" He thought, gritting his teeth. For a moment his arms felt numb leaving him widely open.
Spinning his body, the second leg shot out from the momentum striking him across his face.
Blood splashed on the ground and Blake felt a throbbing pain on the side of his head. Blood slowly dripped from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to get his bearings.
Getting off the ground, he saw his replica staring at him just a few metres away.
"Those hits were heavy." Spitting out a blob of blood, he wiped the remaining blood from the corner of his mouth. 'I was caught unaware, I can't let that happen again.'
"C'mon! You don't want me charging first again. Show me what we got!"
"Alright." Crouching slightly with daggers held tightly, he dashed forward. Swinging his daggers, a spark of light exploded with the sound of metal hitting metal. Both engaged in a round of sword fight before jumping backwards.
Blake had a few slashes over his body with a deep cut just inches away from his ears.
"You've got to do more than that to leave a scratch on me!" Charging forward, his form changed into a blur. Appearing before the startled Blake, the replica struck hitting Blake across the face with the chains wrapped around his fist.
Holding onto his raised hand, he leapt high before slamming him to the ground.
"Ughh," Blake groaned with speckles of blood escaping his mouth. 'Aren't we supposed to have equal strength? How come... how come I'm unable to put up a fight,' he thought bouncing on the ground before collapsing weakly.
Yet amidst the pain, he felt his strength surging. Getting off the ground, once again the replica had stopped in his attack allowing him to get back on his feet.
"Just one skill and you're already messed up! Hahaha. And I only just began. Brace yourself, brace yourself for hellish pain!" Without warning, he charged forward swinging the daggers wildly.
"Shit!" Blake knew the fight had just gotten harder. He could feel it, the killing intent surging wildly around his replica. Carefully watching the approaching figure, he readied himself for the fight of his life.
Swinging the daggers down from above at the same time. Blake had no choice but to roll from his previous spot. As soon as they struck the ground, it shattered with debris flying over the area. From the chaos, Blake caught sight of an object heading right at him and was just in time to block it with his daggers.
Deflecting the blade, he spun around and then launched a series of attacks on the charging replica. With the skill of being able to extend and retract the daggers, he attacked from all sides, aiming to overwhelm him.
Tsk! "That won't work on me." Blocking with just one hand, while swinging his daggers rapidly, a blue ball of energy was beginning to form in the other hand.
"This is something you're supposed to know." Leaping forward, he released the ball of energy that shot right at Blake.
Slamming into his stomach, it exploded, causing Blake to fly backwards, bouncing across the ground. "What was that?" He thought in agony. Struggling back on his feet, he raised both hands, trying to block the daggers heading right at him.
SPLATT!
Blood spilt under the dark sky as a figure swung down once again. "Damn! You're fucking pathetic!" Grabbing his face, he slammed him to the ground face-first. "At this rate, I don't even need to use the Degeneration skills... that's overkill. I can't believe I was created from this weakling!"
"If you think you're gonna survive with this petty strength of yours, then it's best I end us now! Swinging his daggers down, it was caught this time around.
"I'm... not... dying here!"
"Blast away!" His replica felt a force slammed into him, sending him skyrocketing backwards.
Rising from the ground, Blake wiped the blood dripping from his eyes and let out a soft breath. His gaze locked onto his replica which appeared to be lost in thought.
Exploding forward, he swung his daggers in a sweeping motion catching him off-guard.
Just at the last moment, his replica swung his dagger blocking the attack. "Huh?" Raising his hand, he felt a warm liquid trickling down from his shoulders. "Oh. I see."
Blake adjusted the momentum from the last attack to pivot into a new position and struck his open spot. Breathing softly, for the first time in the fight, he had drawn the blood of his opponent.
Not wanting to let go of the chance, he leapt backwards, while swinging both daggers from above with the chain extending.
BOOOOM!
The ground exploded with the area momentarily clouded with dust.
"Good. Good. That's more like it."
Straining his senses, he swung his daggers around him aiming to fend off any unexpected attacks. The dust began to dispel, revealing his replica with blue balls of energy on his fingertips.
"Let's increase the pace, shall we?" He said with a short bark of laughter. Each ball streaked forward heading right at Blake.
"Dammit!" From the last impact, he knew the balls weren't to be underestimated. Swinging his daggers, he managed to deflect a few before the rest finally caught up with him.
"That does it. He won't be able to survive that. What a waste of time and potential....
Huh? What's taking this damn tower to send me back?" He thought with a frown. "Or? Don't tell me he was able to survive that!"
"Hey! The fight... isn't over!" From the dust, a figure slowly emerged, his body covered in blood with a gaping hole below his chest. "This was how you were able to do it right?" From his index finger, a blue ball of energy was beginning to form before finally taking shape.
Disappearing from his position, he appeared right before his replica, slamming the ball into his chest.
BOOOM!
"Bravo! Although it was slightly unstable, you did great learning it during the fight. Hahaha! This is just the beginning! I'll bring out the potential in us!"
HAHAHA!