In the middle of Montalban Valley, a 12-year-old boy named Wei sat beside a stream. He dipped his right hand into the water. At first, it seemed like nothing was happening, but after a few seconds, the water began to ripple and move rapidly. Energy emanated from Wei's hand, causing the water to glow. Slowly, he lifted his hand, pulling the water upwards as if he were raising a blanket. Standing up, he continued to lift the water, which began forming a humanoid figure resembling himself. Releasing the water, Wei watched as it solidified into a clone of his own image. Wei stepped back, taking four deliberate paces as he prepared to face his creation. On the ground lay two wooden swords. He picked one up and tossed the other to the clone, which caught it effortlessly. Wei could sense they were both ready for a duel. He shifted into a fighting stance, and the water clone mirrored his posture perfectly. Taking a deep breath, Wei exhaled slowly, pausing to observe his opponent. Despite creating the clone himself, he was puzzled by its exceptional fighting skills. Wei had battled the clone numerous times since discovering his ability, but each fight seemed harder than the last. The clone improved rapidly, always staying a step ahead of him. Of the dozen times they'd fought, Wei had only managed to win twice—and those victories had left him limping. Most of the time, he treated these duels as exercise rather than serious battles, wary of sustaining serious injuries. Even now, as he faced his clone, Wei debated whether to go all out or just use the fight as a warm-up.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and he decided to speak.
"Hey, how come you're so good at fighting when you're just my clone?"
The clone smirked wickedly.
"Heh. Your magic is designed to create a mirror image of you with triple your strength and fighting abilities. The stronger you get, the more ruthlessly powerful I become."
"Really?" Wei replied, surprised. "I never realized my magic was that impressive. But remember—at the end of the day, no matter how strong you are, you're still just my copycat! So prepare to be defeated!"
With a loud battle cry, Wei charged at the clone.
The duel erupted with intensity as the boy clashed swords with his reflection. Determined to push himself to the limit, Wei resolved to use every ounce of his strength to defeat the clone. His ultimate goal was to level up and unlock new abilities. Currently a Level 3 Swordsman, Wei had three skills at his disposal. But he yearned for more.
Wei opened the fight with his Level 1 skill, Boost, which allowed him to execute rapid sword strikes for four seconds. His flurry of attacks was relentless, but the clone parried every blow, fully aware of the skill's time limit. As soon as the four seconds elapsed, the clone countered with a powerful slash, striking Wei in the lower chest and sending him sprawling several meters back. Groaning in pain, Wei clutched his chest and muttered in frustration,
"Damn it! If only I had upgraded my attack skill first, I could've landed at least one hit."
Determined not to give up, Wei activated his second skill, Holy Water, which restored his life points from 300 to 400. Rising to his feet, he devised a strategy.
"I can't beat this clone with brute force alone. I need a plan to land a critical hit!"
With renewed resolve, Wei rushed at the clone.
"This time, you're going down!" he shouted.
The clone smirked mockingly as it dodged Wei's normal attacks.
"You couldn't hit me with a skill. What makes you think you can hit me with this?"
Enraged, Wei retorted,
"What makes me think I can hit you? Because I'm better than you!"
Using precise timing, Wei executed a powerful swing, catching the clone off guard. Although the clone parried the strike, Wei followed up with a swift kick to its stomach. The impact forced the clone to bend forward, and Wei seized the moment, delivering a hard blow to its head with his wooden sword. The clone tumbled backward, crashing to the ground.
"Ha! After all those battles, I've finally figured out how to beat you!" Wei gloated. "Come on, get up! I thought you were stronger than me. What happened to your big talk?"
The clone rose quickly, launching a sudden counterattack. Wei activated Boost again, meeting the clone's assault head-on. The clash of swords was fierce, but the clone's inability to parry while attacking gave Wei an edge. Exploiting this flaw, Wei dealt significant damage to the clone's life points. As his skill ended, he unleashed a final, full-strength slash.
The clone's form burst into droplets of water, which splashed onto Wei before evaporating. A glowing screen appeared before him, announcing:
"You just leveled up! Press the screen to view your new skill."
Excited, Wei pressed the screen and upgraded his Boost skill to Level 2.
Before Wei's dad left him, he gave his son a magical stone called "Wisdom" that embedded itself in Wei's brain. This magical stone allows its user to view both their physical and magical stats through a generated screen. It also enables the user to manage their fighting skills and magic levels. This magical stone could also interact with the user and serve as a source of almost any type of information, such as magic, swordsmanship, and more.
As he laid his sword down, Wei sat on the ground, thinking about his dreams. He imagined living in a big house in the city, wearing new clothes, and going to school with shoes that didn't have holes. Though only 12 years old, Wei was dissatisfied with his current life. Living in a small hut on the mountainside with his mother, he envied the city kids who enjoyed luxuries he could only dream of.
One day, Wei asked his mother if they could move to the city so he could make friends and live like the other kids. However, his mother explained that he was no ordinary child. She told him that he possessed a special ability and needed to focus on training to grow stronger. When he came of age, he would be able to journey to the supernatural world of Birigan, where he could earn gold by fighting monsters. She assured him that once he had earned enough gold, he could return to their world and live a wealthy life. For now, however, she warned him not to get too close to other children or adults and never to reveal his abilities, as it could bring trouble to them both. From that moment on, Wei dedicated himself to training, determined to become stronger and prepare for his future. He dreamed of becoming rich, not just to experience the life other kids in the city enjoyed, but to surpass it and live even better.