The lot of us headed down into the ring after her announcement. A surprising number of the people in the audience were here for this apparently, and I handed over my ticket as the collected all of them, with Melissa (or Starbreaker rather since she was in costume) making sure to get all of them. I wondered if the tickets acted as some sort of waiver, or if we would have signed one when we got them from...wherever Emery had picked them up. The thought wasn't reassuring but I wasn't going to dwell on it. No point crying over spilled milk.

Melissa nodded approvingly as she took the last ticket, turning back to the crowd to play to her audience. "Well now! These fine people are willing to put themselves at risk to prove their worth!" She turned back to us. "Here in the Starburst Pavilion we measure our worth by combat prowess. You will be measured, tested, and strained to your very limits. We accept only the most talented and dedicated combatants, and mere Skills and stats will not be enough to see you through this trial." I was assuming the Starburst Pavilion was the name of this tent. It was kind of cool honestly.

Melissa gestured widely with both arms, her voice rising as she gestured to all of us. "Combat is more than simply Skill or power. Combat is a matter of instinct. Of drive. Of talent and determination. In view of this fact the trial you are about to undergo will be different than any other trial you have ever undertaken. It will push you to your limits and beyond, and only those with true potential will ascend the next step through the ranks to become a member of our Starburst Pavilion. Knowing this, understanding the stress and danger, do you consent to be tested?"

Her eyes, blazing orange behind her red mask, pinned us all as she waited for her answer. We all thought it over before confirming, nodding and agreeing verbally depending on the person who made the affirmation. She gave a pleased hum. "Very well. Bring out the instrument!" She bellowed the last part loud enough for everyone to hear but never took her eyes off of the rest of us as she did so. "Your test now will be one of the hardest of our trials. We have great plans on the horizon, and we need only the most talented."

The same people who retrieved the bear carried out a massive rectangular shape, and when they stopped and set it down Melissa stepped up next to it, grabbed the cloth still covering the shape, and whipped it dramatically away. "Behold!" SHe was really milking the drama here, but it seemed to be working, everyone was excited. "This is the mirror of multiplication. Look into the mirror and any of G rank or lower will find their very reflection stepping from the glass to face them in single combat. Do any of you dare?"

She didn't wait for a response, just continued speaking. "The mirror test will require much of you. In order to pass you must defeat yourself in battle. An enemy who knows your every weakness, your every thought, who can match your every Skill and ability. You will need to overcome your limits, to push past what is possible for you, to even come close to winning. Only those who have the talent to overcome impossible odds are worthy of joining our pavilion. Now, whichever of you is willing to take on this burden, step forward!"

She finally fell silent, and I honestly wanted to sigh in relief. She hadn't cared about any of us, putting on a show for her own benefit, not that I minded too much, but I didn't really enjoy being set dressing. Still, I volunteered to go first. My tricks were varied enough that I might be able to swing something interesting. I wasn't actually sure how this was going to work. Could the mirror let the clone grant wishes? I was betting not, but that wouldn't matter anyway given the circumstances. My ability wasn't combat oriented, so it wouldn't be needed in the fight.

I stepped past Melissa, gazing into the mirror as she stepped back, letting me have unfettered access to the testing implement. I stared into the reflective surface, contemplating myself. Sleek black leather armor with purple trim, a black hooded jacket with loosely hanging sleeves, and a wooden mask with no features or eyeholes. I watched myself in the mirror, checking for any sign that something unusual was happening, but I saw nothing. I stared into the blank masked face, and eventually tried moving. I raised an arm, and nothing odd happened, so I took a step back to see what it would do.

Unlike the arm raise, the reflection didn't just do the exact thing I did like it was supposed to. When I stepped back, it stepped forward, and I saw the armored form, push slowly through the surface of the glass, the reflective surface warping and shifting like mercury as the reflection passed out of the mirror. The others had all backed away, opening up the ring for me, and the assistants or whatever ran up to carry off the mirror, leaving just me and my reflection out here getting ready for our upcoming fight.

I glanced up and down the reflection, and sure enough, just like a real reflection it wasn't at all different than I was. I expected the lapel logo of my well of wishes sigil with the S in it to have been reversed, but it wasn't. I stared at it for a moment and then decided to start the fight with something to throw the other me off balance. I triggered mistwalking, filling the air around me with concealing mist. I resonated it with stealth, hoping that it would enable me to hide myself from the other me's Seek Hidden skill, even if it seemed unlikely. Any little bit helped.

I immersed myself in my own Seek Hidden skill, focusing on finding the other version of me, and was forced to roll sideways as a mirror image of my cane came scything through the space where my head had been. I cursed internally, and used the dip to begin rotation, drawing my own cane from a spot on the inside of my coat and whirling both it and myself to begin my Balam forms. The cane in my hand smashed toward the other me, only to be deflected by the whirling duplicate in his hand.

I didn't bother with poison or fire. I had no desire to wreck my gear, and it wouldn't have done much good anyway since the other version could just use the same skills. I just began to circle slowly. I was wracking my brain for what the hell to do in this situation. As expected, beating yourself in a fight was the opposite of simple. I was up against someone with the same tricks and tactics I had. He could effectively counter every move I made. I tried a few more probing strikes, only to have them met and deflected, and he tried a few of his own that I easily saw coming.

Contrary to what I had expected, this wasn't some kind of perfect mime routine where we did the same thing in unison. People were complex creatures, and the choice they made vary depending on a myriad of complicated factors. Even innocuous changes like direction faced could have an impact on the choices a person made, and any deviation would snowball into even larger differences. The optimal tactic for me didn't exist in a vacuum, and the changes to our positions and view were subtle but important factors in something as delicate in battle.

I needed to focus on those differences, to force them to expand, and to exploit them. Step one was change the game and step two was win it. I considered my options, things I could do to separate us and force him to take a different tactical route than I was. Then I realized that as much as taking advantage of differences could help, the opposite was also an option. We shared several things here, and if I affected them he would have to adjust to that without having been the initiator.

I darted forward and smashed down with my cane, aiming right at his head but making sure it was only barely on target. As I would have done, he ducked back to avoid the blow, wasting the least energy by slightly opening the distance to let it pass harmlessly by instead of committing to a block. I smiled under my mask as the attack passed him, and instead of pulling back or disengaging I continued the strike, letting it smash into the ground as I triggered the stored force in my cane, turning the ground under his feet into a crater as the effect blasted the dirt up into a shower.

He lost his footing trying to backpedal and I pressed. While knowing each other's moves was a pain in the ass was a potential weakness, it was also a great strength. I knew where I'd be vulnerable if someone opened me up like that in battle, and I was able to exploit those gaps ruthlessly. The harder I pushed the more off balance he got, and I laid into him as hard as I could in the hopes that he wouldn't be able to regain his balance and I could end this in a single concentrated push.

Sadly, the other me was about as good at fighting as I was, obviously. He took a few solid hits, but I'd wasted my force burst throwing him off balance, and his armor was the same set I had. I cursed myself mentally for upgrading before this. I might have been able to drop him if he'd been wearing my old H grade gear. Still, I had used Mercy Kill and Flurry of Blows during the exchange, and I could see the ones that had hit had damaged him enough to make him a bit unsteady as he took his stance again.

I considered coming in to take advantage of the damage and stop him before his Vitality patched him up, but the wounds were inflicted by a G ranker, so they wouldn't vanish fast. Despite how badly I wanted to overwhelm him, I recognized that a battle of attrition favored me more here. As long as I didn't let him recover, the smart call was drawing this out and taking advantage of my better condition to chip away at him. Haste made waste, and if I was too aggressive I'd leave openings for him to exploit back. If he evened out our conditions I might not be able to win at all. I had a feeling a draw wouldn't be considered my victory.

When I backed up I saw him tense. He was me after all, and he knew exactly what I did. Unfortunately, he was on the other side of that dilemma. A battle of attrition would be detrimental to him, and he couldn't afford to drag things out and let me widen the gap. I heard a muttered snarl of frustration as he dashed forward, and it was his turn to activate Flurry of Blows. I turtled up, trying to minimize my profile as I deflected the attacks, not wanting to give him too large of a target to land a hit on.

I waited for several minutes, doing my best to avoid and deflect hits without taking damage until one of the blows I landed on his ribs started to cause him obvious pain. I waited as the gaps in his offense got bigger, until finally I lashed out, smashing a blow into the side of his head. He staggered and I activated Flurry of Blows, my wait over as I finally pressed the attack. We fought it out for the next few minutes, me chipping away at him slowly until I finally landed a solid blow and knocked him out with my now refilled force cane. I slumped down onto the ground, gasping for breath. That had been the hardest fight I'd had in a while, but I did it. Now it was time for others to give it a shot. I was eager to see their fights.