The Convergent Path (Reincarnation/LitRPG)

Fin tightened his grip on his blade, feeling sweat bead along his hairline and trickle down his neck. His internal mana gauge flickered a warning, thirty percent depleted already from the grueling gauntlet of Wave 24. Too many techniques, too little recovery time. The previous opponents had been brutal, but this...this was something else entirely.

His Scientific Warfare skill raced through possibilities, countless simulations flashing through his mind in microseconds. No obvious patterns emerged, no weaknesses to exploit. There were no flaws to find because it was himself standing there, every strength, every weakness, perfectly balanced.

"Which me walks out?" Fin rasped, his voice grating against the silence of the arena. The words hung between them like a physical thing.

The Manikin's grin widened in perfect synchronization with his own, their expressions matching so precisely it was as if they shared a single mind. Two predators recognizing each other, acknowledging the inevitable bloodshed to come.

Without warning, it lunged.

The tantō slashed in a perfect diagonal arc, precisely the opening move Fin would have chosen. He parried instinctively, steel meeting steel with a sound that screamed across the arena. Sparks flared where the blades met, a shower of golden light illuminating their identical faces for a heartbeat. The force of the impact jolted up Fin's arm, threatening to numb his fingers.

Mirror-fast. Mirror-sharp. The Manikin recovered and struck again before Fin had fully regained his balance. He dodged backward, but not quite quickly enough, the blade grazed the fabric of his tunic, cutting a clean line just above his ribs without drawing blood.

Fin channeled mana into Thunderfang, his signature technique. The blade sparked to life, crackling with electric potential as blue energy raced along its length. But even as the technique manifested, the Manikin countered with the identical move, its blade emanating the same crackling energy, the same deadly potential.

Their electrified blades clashed, and the arena trembled. Mana flared wild and untamed around them, blue-white lightning arcing unpredictably across the obsidian floor, leaving scorch marks in its wake. The air itself became charged, making each breath taste of static and power.

Fin spun away, creating distance, and shifted his stance. Two hands up, focusing his concentration, he poured more mana into Thunderfang, transforming the technique. Blue-white bolts coiled from the blade like living whips, extending his reach, multiplying his threat.

The Manikin matched him move for move, its own dual lightning whips manifesting with perfect symmetry. When their twin arcs met in the center of the arena, lightning roared like a wounded beast. The obsidian floor cracked beneath the pressure, hairline fractures spreading outward from the point of impact. Shockwaves pulsed through the air, disturbing the dust that had begun to rise from the damaged floor.

Fin shaped his lightning with precision born of countless battles, forcing the bolts to curve unnaturally, spearing downward toward the Manikin from multiple angles. It was a variation he'd been perfecting, one that few opponents had survived long enough to witness.

But the Manikin flipped backward with inhuman grace, avoiding the main thrust of the attack. The lightning whips slashed into empty space, their excess energy discharging into the floor, shattering stone and sending dust flying upward in choking clouds.

Through the haze, the Manikin charged directly at him. Red energy gathered around its free hand, Plasma Burst forming. Recognizing the threat, Fin hurled his own Plasma Burst to intercept. Red met white in a cataclysmic reaction that rocked the entire arena. The shockwave sent both combatants skidding backward across the smooth obsidian.

Fin's Equilibrium skill engaged automatically, stabilizing his stance and preventing a fall, but his lungs burned from the exertion and the dust-filled air. Across from him, the Manikin had recovered just as quickly, its grin somehow wider than before as it prepared another Plasma Burst, this one larger than the last.

The red orb of condensed mana roared across the space between them. Fin ducked low, feeling the heat singe the top of his head as the burst passed overhead and slammed into the far wall of the arena, scorching the stone black.

Seizing the moment, Fin leapt upward, channeling Thunderfang into a spiraling corkscrew bolt, a technique that sacrificed raw power for precision and penetration. The Manikin sidestepped with uncanny prediction, countering with the exact same twisted lightning bolt. The techniques clashed mid-air, mana spraying outward in a fountain of light and power that momentarily blinded them both.

Back and forth they moved across the damaged floor, blades ringing against each other in perfect counterpoint. Thunderfang danced between them, Fin shaping electric arcs into rings that pulsed with deadly intent. The Manikin mirrored each creation, its rings colliding with Fin's, generating an electric storm that raged throughout the arena. The obsidian beneath them began to glow with absorbed energy, red veins flaring through the black stone like magma through volcanic rock.

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Fin's Perception skill pinged warnings in his consciousness. Every move the Manikin made was his own, flawless, relentless, executed with the same muscle memory he'd developed through years of training. His mana reserves continued draining at an alarming rate, forty percent gone now, while his Convergent Equilibrium strained to maintain his balance and stamina. Sweat soaked through his tunic, plastering the fabric to his skin.

The obsidian arena had changed from a simple battleground to something alive with energy, pulsing, crackling, absorbing and reflecting the massive mana expenditure of their battle. Each footfall sent ripples of red light spreading through the floor, as though they fought atop a liquid mirror rather than solid stone.

Fin pivoted sharply, gathering his remaining strength. Thunderfang flared to life once more as he gripped his tantō with both hands, channeling a concentrated sheet of lightning that surged forward as a defensive wall. The blue-white barrier rose before him, crackling with protective potential.

The Manikin slashed through it without hesitation, red bolts piercing Fin's creation, causing the wall to crack and destabilize. Fin rolled aside as his defense collapsed entirely, immediately countering with a desperate Plasma Burst that roared from his palm toward his mirror self.

The Manikin dodged with the same fluidity Fin would have shown, countering with its own blast that met Fin's in mid-air. The arena quaked from the impact, stone shards flying in all directions as the floor absorbed yet more punishment. Both combatants stood panting, grins still fixed and feral, eyes locked in mutual understanding of the inevitable conclusion, only one could survive.

It lunged forward again, blade extended for a killing thrust. Fin parried by instinct alone, their blades locking together with a sound like thunder. Visible waves of energy rippling outward from the point of contact. Thunderfang sparked to life once more, dual streams of lightning crawling along Fin's blade toward the Manikin.

But the mirror matched him yet again, its own lightning tangling with his, neither gaining advantage. They pushed against each other, deadlocked in perfect opposition. Fin's knees began to buckle under the pressure, his arms shaking from the strain. His Equilibrium wavered dangerously as his mana reserves dipped below fifty percent. The mirror pressed its advantage, sensing weakness, its tantō edging closer to Fin's throat, red mana flaring along its length.

His own tricks turned against him. His own strength made his downfall. The poetry of it wasn't lost on Fin, even as he fought for survival.

Pinned against his own perfect reflection, Fin skidded backward, the stone biting into his heels. The Manikin loomed above him now, blade held high for the killing stroke. Scientific Warfare screamed calculations and probabilities through his mind, but the conclusion remained unchangeable, same speed, same strength, same techniques. Nothing left to differentiate them except that Fin was tired, and his mirror was not.

His knees hit the obsidian floor as his breath came in ragged gasps. Mana reserves sixty percent depleted now, critical levels approaching. He attempted to summon another Plasma Burst, but the technique flickered weakly before failing altogether. The Manikin's grin took on a predatory edge, victory seemingly assured as its tantō gleamed in the pulsing light of the arena.

And then, a flash of memory hit Fin with the force of revelation.

The obsidian floor beneath him. He recalled his first entry into this arena, how the smooth surface had felt beneath his boots. Like a Resonance Orb. How violently it reacted to his mana when his affinities were tested.

His shot. His only shot.

Fin slammed both palms flat against the obsidian, channeling what remained of his mana reserves directly into the floor. He overcharged the stone deliberately, pushing past safe limits. The obsidian hummed beneath his touch, red veins pulsing with increasing intensity and frequency.

The Manikin froze above him, eyes widening in the first expression that wasn't a perfect mirror of Fin's own, surprise, recognition, perhaps even fear.

The floor cracked beneath them, spider-web fractures racing outward from Fin's hands. His Convergent Equilibrium pushed to its limits as he forced more mana into the overtaxed stone. The remainder of his reserves gone in an instant, but the gamble paid off as the stored energy in the floor reached critical mass.

The explosion roared through the arena with concussive force. Obsidian erupted upward in deadly shards, the floor disintegrating beneath them both. The arena shook violently, support pillars cracking under the strain. Dust and stone fragments choked the air, obscuring vision, making breathing an agony of sharp particles and heat.

But Fin was already moving, tantō held high as he lunged through the smoke and debris. The Manikin staggered backward, momentarily disoriented by the unexpected attack, its perfect defenses compromised for just an instant, but an instant was all Fin needed.

Its head was exposed, guard dropped for a crucial heartbeat.

Fin's blade plunged forward, meeting resistance for only a moment before breaking through. Red mana sprayed from the wound like blood, the Manikin's skull rupturing under the precision strike. Its form crumbled inward, collapsing into swirling motes of red light that dissipated into nothingness.

Silence fell across the ruined arena, broken only by the soft patter of settling dust and stone fragments.

Fin sank to his knees once more, chest heaving with exertion, muscles trembling from strain and adrenaline. His mana reserves were nearly empty, five percent left, barely enough to keep his core running. His Equilibrium skill flickered uncertainly, struggling to maintain activation.

Across the shattered arena floor, the exit scar shimmered into existence, a rippling scar of pure energy, pulsing with promise and reward. The System interface pinged in his awareness, familiar text scrolling across his vision:

Wave 25 Cleared

Shattered Echoes Full Clear: 25 Waves

Difficulty Escalated: Mid-Tier Two First-Time Completion Bonus Applied

Reward Calculating...

Reward Granted: Legendary Rank Skill Token

Fin exhaled slowly, feeling the dust settle around him like a shroud. The token materialized before him, gleaming with otherworldly light, its legendary weight and significance undeniable.

His accomplishment. His reward.