Jack's reflex was fast. He managed to activate Shooting Dash before the thrust hit him. He rushed backward and avoided the ambush. When he thought he could take a breather to analyze the situation, his reflection was before him. His reflection also used Shooting Dash to get close.
Jack used the skill's second and third dashes to move further away, but his reflection followed suit. After exhausting the skill, the two's swords finally clashed.
"Who the hell are you? Why are you imitating ?" Jack asked.
His reflection sneered. "I am you! Your ti is over. Now, it is my ti. Hand over your body to !" After finished speaking, the reflection's two swords burst at high speed.
"Formless Flowing Sword Style?!" Jack exclaid in surprise. He didn't expect his reflection could use martial arts, but he didn't stop from the surprise. His two swords also danced with equal speed. The four swords clanged countless tis and caused sparks of fire.
Both sides ended their clashes using Fla Strike. Both were knocked back an equal distance. They now stood still and stared at each other.
"... You are the demon who dwells inside the fallen apostle's longsword!" Jack exclaid.
"Hehe," Demon Jack only sneered in response.
"Hehe," Jack grinned back. "Do you think you can beat in my own ga? Think again, pal! Eat this!"
Jack used Sword of Light. Demon Jack's reflex and movent speed were as fast as Jack's. He easily dodged the crescent light, even after Jack altered its trajectory to chase after his opponent.
Despite failing to hit his target, Jack wasn't discouraged. He had expected that. He did a second slash. As he did, a huge tear in space occurred in the area where Demon Jack was jumping toward.
This was the Void-tearing Slash. When the tear should have engulfed Demon Jack and caused him damage, Demon Jack was instead fine. A thin layer of distortion was seen around Demon Jack's body.
"Void Defense!" Jack exclaid when he realized what his opponent had used.
He suspected Demon Jack's skills were the sa level and grade as his. The max-level Void-tearing Slash lasted 20 seconds, while the max-level Void Defense lasted 30 seconds. His offensive skill wouldn't hit Demon Jack.
Any other offensive skills he sent to Demon Jack while Void Defense was active would also fail to reach Demon Jack, except one. Jack used Void Slash. This attack instantly hit the target without traveling any distance, so Void Defense was useless against this skill.
However, Demon Jack's mana sense was as advanced as Jack's. Demon Jack was able to detect the attack before it hit. He used Teleport Slash to avoid the instant attack.
Jack sensed his demon counterpart appearing behind him. He used Wind Dash and dodged the ambush. His copy did the sa. The two exhausted their three dashes chasing one another before continuing with Shooting Dash. Their swords clashed between each dash.
When the dash ended, it was Demon Jack's turn to use the Void-tearing Slash. Jack used Teleport Slash to escape the affected area while backstabbing Demon Jack at the sa ti. His attempt was blocked by the extra limbs sprouting from his opponent's back. Demon Jack had used Soul Asura. Jack did the sa. The two then used Penta Slash. None of their slashes hit their opponents.
"Crap…! You are truly as good as ," Jack cursed.
Jack didn't give up. Skills after skills were exchanged between two equally skilled practitioners. When all the big skills were exhausted, they competed in sword arts. Jack thought his doppelganger wouldn't be able to compete with him in sword expertise because he had Sword's Heart. But after uncountable clashes, he had no choice but to admit Demon Jack also had Sword's Heart. Furthermore, Demon Jack's understanding of the martial art wasn't below his.
Fighting soone as good as himself, how could he win? In his turmoil, he got careless and received a slash.
Demon Jack grinned wickedly after successfully landing that slash. He mocked, "You won't win against yourself, hehe."
"Won't win against myself…?" Jack muttered. The words brought back a mory.
The mory was from his childhood days when he stayed with his grandfather, not long after his parent's accident. Domon forced him to learn martial arts. Domon thought the training might help Jack take his mind off the sadness of losing his parents.
Jack followed Domon's teaching. Partly because it did take his mind off pointless thoughts. The other part was because he didn't wish to disappoint Domon. Unfortunately, his heart was not in martial arts, so he never truly made much progress.
During one such ti, he was using a practice dummy to train so moves Domon had taught him. He failed to execute the full sequence of the moves in the allocated ti. He failed even after trying lots of tis. He dropped to the floor while panting.
"I can't do it! It's too difficult!" Jack complained.
Domon was observing from the side the entire ti.
"Get up!" Domon instructed.
"I already said I can't!" Jack replied defiantly.
Domon sighed.
"Afei, you have great talent inside you. After seeing you trained these few weeks, I'm sure of it. You just need to be more confident. Don't lose to yourself."
"I'm not fighting against myself. I'm fighting against this practice dummy!" Jack exclaid.
"The dummy is stationary. It can't move. The one you are fighting is not this dummy, but yourself," Domon explained.
When Domon saw Jack's confused expression, he asked, "What are you thinking about right now?"
"Uh… I want to go out and play," Jack answered.
"There you go. That's the thought that caused you defeat. Instead of focusing on how to complete your training, you let your mind think about stopping your training and doing other things, other more comfortable things. The first step to success is to acknowledge you have a voice inside you that will always try to tell you to stop trying. The next step is to confront this thought and stop it from controlling you. Only after that can you defeat yourself!"
"Defeat… Myself…?" Jack asked, still confused.
Domon nodded. "All martial art practitioners… No, everyone in the world fights a constant battle against themselves. Those who give up are those who have been defeated by their own selves. By acknowledging and stopping the thoughts that ask you to stop trying, you can push yourself further than you think is possible. Only by outworking yourself can you defeat yourself and beco better than you are. Only by persisting to never give up you can continue to improve. Defeat yourself! Be better than you are at this mont. And when you beco better, you need to strive to beco even better than you are then! Continue to improve! Continue to grow! That's how you defeat yourself!"
Jack was still sitting on the floor with a confused expression. In his mind, he thought, 'Gramps, are you sure this is the right way to lecture a kid like ?'
Jack didn't fully understand Domon's words then, but he was no longer the little kid from before. This mory reminded him of Domon's sermon. Unlike that ti, his current self understood the words Domon uttered many years ago.
"To defeat myself… by being better than I am now…," Jack muttered. He then grinned.
"What are you smiling at?" Demon Jack asked.
They hadn't stopped crossing swords even when Jack was lost in his thoughts. Jack had the Hundred Synchronous Thoughts. He had no trouble thinking and fighting at the sa ti. Demon Jack had the sa ability. That's why he could taunt and mock Jack even when he was fully concentrating on the fight.
"To defeat you, I simply have to be better than I am right now!" Jack exclaid. His swords slashed at high speed.
"Never stop improving," Jack uttered. His swords started to turn at different angles multiple tis.
"Never stop trying," Jack continued. He was using his swords in a way he had never done before. He was executing different patterns of swordplay than his usual style.
"What is this?" Demon Jack asked in surprise. He had no idea what Jack was doing. This was not how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to be exactly like the one he possessed. All Jack's abilities, skills, habits, and even thoughts. He should know everything about what Jack was doing and was going to do. But at this mont, he had no idea what Jack was doing.
"Persist in making new moves!" Jack exclaid as his sword flared with a strong fla.
It was his fla strike. He had practiced manipulating the form of this skill. He could cause the fla to burst upon impact, thus damaging the opponent even when the attack was blocked.
"I know that move!" Demon Jack exclaid. He also executed Fla Strike. The fla following his slash was condensed at a spot, ready to explode once the sword hit sothing.
However, he noticed the fla on Jack's sword behaved differently. Instead of condensing, it was forming a long line.
"What…?!" Uncertainty clouded Demon Jack's mind when Jack did sothing unknown to him. Because of that, his slash wavered a little.
Jack didn't let the chance go. His sword tilted. Their two swords ended up passing one another without clashing. Because of that, the condensed fla on Demon Jack's sword didn't burst. The fla on Jack's sword, on the other hand, extended. Jack was as if holding a fire whip. The extra reach of the fire whip allowed Jack to hit Demon Jack, even when his sword didn't. Damage number ca up on Demon Jack's head.
"This is how I defeat myself! By improving and becoming stronger than the mont you copy !" Jack exclaid.
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