...

Swoosh!

Shin appeared in a place that looked like an arena on top of an altar. He looked around to check his surroundings. And while he was doing that, the torches attached on each pillar surrounding the place, started to lit one by one.

At the same time, a system notification suddenly sounded on Shin's ears.

*Ding!*

System: Please Select a type challenge that you want to take.

- One against many or One versus Oneself?

...

"Ah!" Shin was surprised at the odd choices that he got from the system and thought to himself. "From what I remember, the system said that this quest is going to be a 'Mirror Image Battle'. So, if the system is asking me this-…?"

He trailed his words when he reached this point as he knew that this was going to be another troublesome matter; he couldn't help himself but remember his battle against the 'Blood Doppelganger' when he was taking his promotion quest.

"Tsk! Based on my experiences at that time, I can tell that a duel against myself is going to be a beneficial fight even if it is a little problematic. But based on how tricky this game can be, taking a risk will give me an even better benefit than the other choice that I have."

Shin became troubled at choosing between the two choices since he knew that both of them could give him a unique benefit of their own. And based on the nature of the game, he needed to pick the choice that would give him something that would benefit his current battle style, or even better if it could improve his style further.

Considering those thoughts that he had, it was obvious for Shin to pick the harder route.

"I already experience battling against myself, so let's try battling against many this time," said Shin as he hit the button for battling against many. And immediately after that, the follow-up system notifications quickly sounded at his ears.

*Ding!*

System: One against many Challenge has been initiated!

System: The challenge will have 7 rounds to be completed and you can only die 3 times on each round.

System: Exceeding the number of deaths per round will result in the failure of the Awakening Quest. And not dying will give you an extra reward when the quest is cleared.

System: Doppelgangers are spawning, please get ready for that battle!

...…

And when the notifications were done at informing Shin, a pair of hooded figures immediately appeared a few meters away from Shin.

Each of the hooded figures were emitting some black smokes from their bodies, making their figures too noticeable in the battle arena. But that was not the real thing that caught Shin's attention. It was the weapons that they were holding.

One of the hooded figures was holding a sheathed katana on its left hand while the other had a pair of sabers on each of its hands. One look at them was more than enough for Shin to understand the true nature of this Awakening Quest.

"So~, that was it, huh? Now, this is an interesting development," muttered Shin to himself while taking his signature sword-drawing stance. And from the looks of it, he was inviting his opponents to make their first moves.

And as if complying with Shin's invitation, the two doppelgangers immediately made their moves.

The doppelganger with katana quickly rushed towards Shin together with its great speed while the doppelganger with twin sabers suddenly disappeared from Shin's sight as it obviously entered a stealth mode.

On the next instant, the katana doppelganger suddenly transformed into a streak of light as it accelerated towards Shin.

Seeing that, Shin just calmly hopped to the side in a very timely manner and moved away from the path of the incoming streak of light. He was too familiar with his own skills so he was pretty much aware about the weakness of his skills.

Given that, he knew that even if his 'Moonlight Steps' and 'Moonlight Splitter' were quite strong, they were still easy to dodge and to counter. Those two skills were just moving in a straight line, so dodging to the side was quite effective against it.

After avoiding the path of the streak of light, Shin immediately readied himself at throwing an attack at the katana-wielding doppelganger the moment it materialized back to its physical form.

But while he was getting in a good position, he suddenly felt an immense threat coming from behind. And with that, he quickly turned his body around and pulled the [Yamato] from its sheath and swung it at whatever was coming at him.

'Class Fighting Style: Quick Draw'

Shing!

Clang!

This was Shin's current strongest single target skill and the skill that currently had the second highest skill among Shin's skill arsenal. But to much of his surprise, the force behind this attack was completely nullified by saber-wielding doppelganger.

Shin wanted to immediately do another attack as a follow-up. But before he could even execute it, the doppelganger in front of him quickly used the 'Void Steps' that it had and appeared a few meters away from him.

And before Shin could give chase, the other doppelganger which was holding a katana, already threw a bunch of vertical sword waves. And from the paths that these sword waves were taking completely covered all the escape routes that Shin could take from both of his sides.

The set up was quite familiar to Shin since he often used these kinds of attacks to scheme a surprise attacks for his enemies; setting up the sword waves and his clone to cover his opponent's escape routes while his other self was hiding behind those sword waves to cover the places that could become the potential gaps for dodging.

Thinking about these, Shin chose the most effective way to counter this scheme, which was to attack the doppelganger covering his front instead of dodging.

'Phantom Swordsman Skill: Phantom Steps'

Shin appeared behind the saber-wielding doppelganger while swinging the [Yamato] downwards. And at the same time, the doppelganger waited for Shin's sword to fall a little lower before using a 'Phantom Steps' of its own and appeared behind its opponent.

Shin was already expecting for that to happen; if these doppelgangers were really mimicking his moves and battle styles, then predicting their movements were much easier for him.

Given that, Shin was already using the momentum of his downward swing to do a front-flip in the air while also throwing a consecutive kick at the doppelganger behind him.

But those kicks missed their marks because the doppelganger was also doing a flip in the air while throwing a kick of its own at the same time.

Seeing the doppelganger was responding with that kind of speed, Shin finally confirmed that these pair of doppelgangers also possessed his innate personal trait; the Immediate Response if not his Ultra Instincts.

Having that in mind, Shin quickly positioned the sheath of his sword in front of him to block the incoming kick.

Pak!

Swoosh!

The force behind that kick was quite strong that was why Shin was sent flying backwards even if he managed to block it. What's more, he was currently in the air, so he couldn't completely nullify the force behind that attack.

Shin turned his head to the side to look over his shoulder and see what the other doppelganger was planning to do. And that was when he saw that the katana-wielding doppelganger was currently charging a bunch of mana on its sword and waiting for him to enter its attacking range.

And when Shin reached the ideal range, the doppelganger quickly drew its katana and swung it to the side, sending a chilling sword wave towards his direction.

Shing!

Swoosh!

"Hup!" Shin quickly adjusted his center of gravity before doing a spinning flip in the air, barely dodging the crescent sword wave.

After that, he immediately re-adjusted his position in the air when the sword wave brushed past him. Then he kicked the air behind him and sent himself flying towards the katana-wielding doppelganger.

'Legacy Skill: Mondi's Jump'

Pa!

Shoosh!

At the same time, he was swinging his sword at the doppelganger while borrowing the momentum of his flight to strengthen the force behind his attack.

'Extra Skill: (Modified) Falling Lightblade'

Shing!

Seeing that Shin was coming at the doppelganger with a great force and speed, the latter quickly threw a 'Destructive Slash' at the incoming opponent as a response to it.

Clang!

The doppelganger was pushed a little backwards when its katana collided with its opponent's sword. Shin, on the other hand, seemed to suspend in the air for an instant during that collision of their weapons.

After that, Shin tightened his grip on his sword and strengthened his right arm so that he could stay in the air for one more second. Then he threw a powerful kick at the doppelganger, trying to see if he could catch it off-guard.

But just like the other doppelganger, this one was able to respond at his attack almost instantly and block his kick with the use of the sheath that it was holding on its other hand.

"Tsk!" Clicking his tongue with a little disappointment, Shin turned his body in the air before sending a back kick at the doppelganger and forcing it to take a few steps backwards for dodging. And with that, Shin's feet touched the ground once again.

After that, Shin quickly switched his grip on the sheath of the [Yamato] before transforming it into a sword with a narrow blade and sharp edges.

'Legacy Skill: Mondi's Style: Conviction Form'

Then he immediately stabbed it towards his left multiple times the moment its transformation was done.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

'Extra Skill: Multiple Stabs'

Clang! Clang! Clang!

When Shin threw those stabs, consecutive metallic sounds were immediately created, together with some sparks that flew in the air; it was as if the [Blue Demon's Bane] rapier collided against something hard.

Immediately after that, a hooded figure suddenly materialized in that spot with its guards being blown in the air.

Shin squinted his eyes the moment he saw that and quickly threw a powerful slash using the [Yamato] on his right hand.

'Extra Skill: Destructive Slash'

Swoosh!

Puff!

Unfortunately, this sword hit nothing but air and missed its target. It was because the doppelganger used the 'Phantom Assassination' Skill to disappeared from the spot it was standing earlier.

When his attack failed to hit its target, Shin quickly teleported away from his spot with the help of the 'Void Steps' elemental skill. And a moment after he teleported away, a powerful sword wave swept through that location as if it wanted to devour everything on its path.

Appearing a few meters away from his previous spot, Shin looked at the two doppelgangers with 'True Sight' being activated before muttering to himself. "If this is going along the script, then these two can't use any kind of 'Combat Technique' just like the Blood Doppelganger that I battled before. And I will be able to defeat these guys if I use that advantage."

He paused for a moment to stretch his neck left and right which created some cracking sounds. Then he stretched his waist next before looking at the doppelgangers with squinting eyes.

After that, he resumed muttering to himself. "But I want to beat these guys by using the skills that they could use against me rather than beating them using my advantages. That way, I can understand my skills better which will also help me grow even faster compared to my usual growth rate."

Then he took a battle stance while saying. "And if Arthur's words are right, then I can accelerate the harmonization of my mind and virtual body with this battle."

And when Shin saw that the two doppelgangers were making their moves once again his lips couldn't help but curve further upwards as he muttered to himself. "And now, let us see how much improvements I can make this time."

...…