This next part of the metamorphosis labyrinth, its details to be precise, didn't need to be dredged up from memory or triggered by any stimulus. It had been on my mind ever since we set foot in here.
There was no way I could forget how Hajime and the members of his party each fought inverted clones of themselves, the latter group possessing all their memories, abilities, and skills.
This is what I had been aiming for ever since we started our challenge here today, and I was on the verge of experiencing it myself.
After navigating our way through the maze and fighting the frost ogres littering it in droves, we arrived in a massive room, also made of ice, a set of tall and wide doors waiting for us.
They were locked, naturally, and ladies and I split up with our respective compasses to find the keys that unlocked them.
There were four keys, and they were jewels. Yue and Siv retrieved two, while I retrieved the others, the frost ogres defending them posing no hindrance whatsoever to us.
After taking a short period to rest and recover a bit, we opened the doors and entered yet again, another maze. This one didn't have any ogres, and it was significantly larger than the previous one, judging by how much time it took us to navigate and escape it.
Size wasn't the only significant difference though. The whispers were even louder, sometimes gaining a visual component in the crystal clear ice around us, our own reflections sneering and leering at us.
Yet again, we interlocked fingers and bared our minds to each other, speeding through the nearly endless series of winding paths and corridors at a pace much faster than before.
After our experience in the prior maze, there was no way even louder whispers were going to slow us down. The labyrinth had no more "dirt" on us, so to speak.
It took hours, but we eventually made it out, our spirits soaring high at the strengthening our bond had undergone under the rigorous and relentless effort of the maze.
We were not allowed to rest our bodies though—there was another massive set of doors awaiting us at the end. Worn down by the monotony of the labyrinth's trials and appearance, we all agreed to press on and forgo any more breaks.
These doors were not locked. Behind them we found a room, encircled by walls of crystal clear ice like all the others but totally empty. In our collective "let's get this over with" mood, we waltzed into the clear trap, and lo behold, we sprung it.
As soon as we reached the room's center, a rain of ice shards fell from the ceiling and stayed suspended in midair. A small sun followed their sudden appearance and unleashed rays of light that leapt from one shard to another at blinding speed.
Multiple, sharp lines of light crisscrossed each other across the room and attacked all three of us, the angles they traveled making them impossible to track.
My reinforcement, Yue's barriers, and Siv's shield and her breaker abilities allowed us to weather the confusing attacks easily. Answering my question as to what else was in store for us in this room though, three chunks of ice fell from the ceiling.
Upon hitting the ground, they cracked but didn't shatter, the cracks giving way for the blocks to rearrange themselves into five meter tall giants of ice, each armed with an appropriately sized halberd.
Without a word we all moved for one of the golems, my sword meeting the left one's ice halberd head on, Yue's golden giant construct meeting the one in the middle, and Siv charging the one on the right while her proportions grew.
It went without saying that the battles—if they could be called that—were extremely one sided and short-lived. It took just three strikes of the darksword to reduce my opponent to icy dust.
Turning around to spectate the other battles while sheathing my sword brought similar sights into my vision. Yue's construct landed punch after punch on her opponent, carving away chunk after chunk with the drills that had taken the place of its fists.
In a similar manner to Yue, Siv also carved chunks of her opponent's body away, but hers were more clean, seeing as her enlarged sword and shield were responsible.
In no time, the ladies joined me in victory, their opponents rendered into mounds of icy dust. Right on cue, the lasers ceased their ineffective efforts and the mini sun disappeared as well.
A portal of light appeared at the end of the room and we shared a look. 'Remember what I told you guys,' I cautioned through our connection. 'Be safe.'
'You too,' they both responded.
Our prize closer than ever, we shared a series of nods, affectionate emotions and thoughts before walking to the circle of light, our footsteps carrying us into it and beyond.
A blinding light overcame our senses and I felt the connection that had seen us through the worst of this labyrinth vanish. Showing no outward sign of my displeasure, I looked around and surveyed where I'd been dropped off.
My reflection in the glassy ice matched my movements as I examined the corridor. Finding no other path than the one before me, I started a brisk walk down its length.
Every step I took pounded on my heart, instilling me with a sense of not just being watched, but being judged as well. Reassured of the many words I'd shared with the girls hours and even moments before, I paid the annoying, persistent sensation no heed.
The corridor brought me to a room, large enough to serve the purposes of the trial about to take place. Whether its integrity was up to the task though remained to be seen.
Steps echoing loudly, I approached the crystal pillar in the center, catching sight of my growing reflection the closer I got. Upon arrival before the ice tree, I checked for the expected changes.
They weren't there. My reflection still had my pale skin, white hair, white shirt, and dark pants.
"Hello?" I said out loud and knocked on the ice.
Both sounds echoed in the utterly silent room, reminding of how empty it was. Just as I was about to knock on the ice again, my searching expression frowned and looked at me. Really looked at me.
I smiled at that and took a few steps back, revving my cursed energy like a motorcycle while I prepared my mind and body for the fight ahead.
"You knew," my reflection said as it stepped out of the ice, materializing in the cavern and standing right opposite me. People who weren't close to me would be hard pressed to spot the difference between us.
From the crown of our hair to the sword on our hips, we were an exact match. Well, except for our differing expressions. I couldn't see my own face, but I was sure it showed the opposite of whatever clone me felt.
I didn't care about that or his words though. I wanted the Metamorphosis magic and I wanted out of this labyrinth. So as soon as his other foot touched the ground, I moved.
Proving that he was indeed a mirror of me, clone me rushed forward at the same moment, all the whites on him turning black and the blacks doing the opposite.
His own fist was raised and poised to meet mine, our contact was earth-shattering, literally.
The air visibly rippled and exploded when our fists struck each other, the titanic force behind each colliding with such force the ground came apart and shot up in large chunks, both our footing destabilised.
That didn't deter any of us though. Being of one mind, we both tried to take advantage of the chaos, catch the other off guard. We clashed again and again, hurling not just our fists and legs but the rock chunks around us at each other.
"I'm you, dumbass," my clone sneered after somersaulting backward, grabbing the sheath of his own sword. "I can do everything you can."
Keeping my grip on the handle tight and sword in its sheath, I smiled at my sneering copy and made use of the ability I recently gained; Heavenly Restriction.
"Yes. The labyrinth must've copied my information as soon as we entered it or right before this trial started."
Narrowing his eyes, my copy frowned and asked, "What are you getting at?"
'Seems I've been caught.' From the subtle tensing in his shoulders and slow widening of his stance, I could sense that my copy had caught on to what I was doing. Either that, or my confidence unnerved him.
None of that mattered. This fight was over.
"What I'm trying to say is, you are that past me. If I want to defeat you, I have to change. Improve."
"And you think you ca—"
SHING!
Standing behind my silenced copy with my right arm stretched wide, I straightened and flicked my sword, angling the sheath with my left hand as I put the former back into its holder.
I spun around to look at my copy, just in time to see his head roll off his neck, the stump spurting blood. The head rolled toward me and gave me a perfect view of the shock on its face, a sight that filled me with great satisfaction.
The body fell on its knees with a thump, another thump echoing as it fell forward. Blood had just begun to pool below it when the corpse, blood and all, dissolved into motes of light and vanished, the gory scene removed entirely.
Pumping my fist in excitement, I looked at where the copy's body lay a moment ago and the scene of destruction the room had become. "Wasn't sure that would work."
The plan to defeat the copy had long been formulated before we left the Sea of Trees for this demented place.
According to the rules put in place and by design, the copy was a crystallisation of whatever you hated about yourself.
And it was its job to throw it in your face repeatedly until you either accepted that yes, you were a piece of shit, or no, reject and deny it and not just fail, but have your body stolen.
By accepting your negative emotions, the copy would grow weaker, by doing the opposite, it would grow stronger and you would fail this trial and miss out on the metamorphosis magic.
For me, there was nothing to deny. Apart from the initial guilt at having more women apart from just Yue, there was nothing tying me down. Not even the slavers I slaughtered or the fact that I hadn't thought of them since.
This was something I'd already accepted about myself long ago, ever since that day when I attacked one of the idiots who beat me and enjoyed the act from start to finish.
I'd long come to terms with the fact that if it came down to it, I was willing to take someone's life just to make a point or solve an issue. It had taken a while to convince myself I wasn't crazy.
I was just someone who saw the world for what it was… a facade of civility that made two classes of people coexist somewhat peacefully. Those who were willing to kill for what they wanted, and those who weren't.
This belief about myself is what robbed the clone of some of its ammunition, leaving just the stuff with Yue and the multiple lovers. However, that had also been dealt with in the mazes, leading to our strange confrontation.
If we had kept fighting as we did during the first round, I'm not sure I would've won. I don't know how, but the labyrinth managed to replicate cursed energy and its effects perfectly.
The copy could reinforce itself and heal just like I could. As for whether it also had the abilities granted by the other labyrinths, I couldn't tell.
I didn't use Black Flash for fear of destroying this place entirely and ruining the trial. It also didn't display its usage too, but it matched my cursed energy output.
.............................................................................................
Name: Richard Santen
Age: 23 Years Old
Gender: Male
Level: ???
Class: ——
Strength: 100
Vitality: 26,380
Defense: 100
Agility: 100
Cursed Energy: 74,805
Cursed Energy Output: 100,000
Skills
Reverse Cursed Technique
Cursed Tool Creation
Increased Cursed Energy Output
Black Flash
Simple Domain
Domain Amplification
High Speed Cursed Energy Recovery
Increased Cursed Energy Efficiency
Heavenly Restriction
Lightning Resistance
Night Vision
Poison Resistance
Paralysis Resistance
Petrification Resistance
Fear Resistance
All Elemental Resistance
.............................................................................................
It all didn't matter in the end though.
With Heavenly Restriction, I finally sacrificed my main physical attributes: Strength, Defense, Agility, and dumped them all into Cursed Energy, bringing my total to over seventy thousand.
It was more than a bit shy of the hundred thousand I knew was Special Grade, but it served my purposes splendidly. The increased efficiency allowed me to gain +100 points in the three physical attributes with one point of reinforcement.
With over seventy thousand points of cursed energy (that regenerated faster than I could use it mind you) at my beck and call, I reinforced my body to the point even my copy, who was meant to match my abilities, failed to perceive me when I moved.
It felt great watching his stunned expression. In a way, it felt like I'd gotten back at the labyrinth, punishing it a bit for what it put me and the girls through.
Smiling to myself, I flashed out of the ruined room into the corridor that led here and retrieved the compass. I missed the girls. I was one step closer to receiving my promised reward, and I wanted some special people to celebrate with.
Dashing through the winding corridors of glassy ice, reinforcement carrying me toward my heart's desire like a gale, I contemplated reversing the attribute shift, returning to the point where without cursed energy I could demolish a building with a punch.
I won't lie, it was tempting, but that lure couldn't beat the sense of rightness coursing through me right now. If it was because the change had brought me closer to what jujutsu sorcerers were supposed to be or something else entirely, I couldn't tell.
All I knew was, I didn't want to reverse the point redistribution, and I felt better than ever. Sure, I had made myself weaker (I'm looking at you, Defense), but isn't that what cursed energy is about? Finding strength in negativity?
My flesh was soft and weak just like regular humans now. Hell, I had gone from the hardiest person in our group to the one most easily wounded. And though my untouched Vitality would patch me up in no time, I had become susceptible to a lot of things I wasn't before.
Thoughts of how easily I could be killed now tried to inundate me, but I fought back, reminding myself of how I'd already died once, and how fearing it wouldn't change anything.
The fact that the magic I was about to receive was geared toward enchanting organic matter also helped. With Yue on my side, I could gain all that I lost in due time.
Almost as if I summoned her, I found my white haired lover immediately upon exiting the corridor. She was leaving her own trial room from the looks of it, looking none the worse for wear.
She spun her head and our eyes met, our minds touching a second later.
In less than a second, the space between us vanished. We met in a hug that turned into a deep long kiss, our intense exchange threatening to push the other back and turn this into something less P.G.
After minutes, we got our fill of each other and came apart, Yue resting her head on my chest and putting her entire weight on me.
"Did your clone give you trouble?"
"Mmm-mmn…" she managed the best head shake while keeping herself pressed against me.
"Did yours talk a lot?"
She raised her head and pulled back, taking my hand. "Mmn. She tried. But I didn't let her. Just like you told us."
"Good. The labyrinth is already annoying as it is," I nodded and started on the path to find the last member of our group, hoping she'd seen success like the two of us.
We heard Siv before we saw her. "Shut up and die!" came her deep voice.
"Don't you get it? He doesn't love you. You're just a convenient and submissive hole for him! That's all you'll ever be."
"I said SHUT UP!"
It was at this moment we rounded the corner and reached the entrance of her trial room. Both Siv's were larger than the real one's normal self but smaller than the ogres and yetis.
They both darted and clashed about the room in a blur, our Siv's black sword and shield clanging against her irritating copy's pure white ones in an even and matched dance.
I wanted Yue to connect our minds to hers. Those words we just heard couldn't be allowed to go unanswered. However Siv beat me to it, responding to her copy while they fought.
"So what?"
"What?" Her copy sounded like she couldn't believe what she just heard.
"So what if he never loves me? I never wanted that in the first place. What we have now is perfect. It's exactly what I want. Sure, sometimes I fear that I made a mistake, that I gave myself over too easily.
But that doesn't matter anymore. I'm stuck with them for life, and if that means I'll never get to hear him say I love you, so be it. The great sex and the power he grants me is already enough."
"Idiot," the copy uttered, only to shrink right after. Like a hound picking up the scent of its quarry, Siv intensified her offensive, growing larger and going harder on the offensive.
In no time, she stood above her copy like a blacksmith over an anvil, her sword playing the role of the hammer.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Her gigantic black sword pounded on the small round shield relentlessly, pushing the copy down until it was on its knees and gritting its teeth. Breaking the monotony of her attacks, Siv tilted her sword all of a sudden, the downward swing missing the shield by inches.
She flexed her arm and shoulder and brought the sword up swiftly, catching its blade on the underside of the shield and yanking it away from her prey.
The white disc went flying away, leaving the copy with an expression somewhere between furious and gobsmacked. That visage died the moment Siv brought her sword back down like a black bolt of lightning and bisected it from head to crotch.
The two halves fell apart in a shower of blood, turning into light particles upon hitting the ground.