The party of 4 entered the dungeon and what greeted their sight was a dimly lit corridor and a small yet annoying rattling noise assaulting their ears.
Michael could see a few spider like creatures, it made a shiver run down his spine as he was not a very big fan of them.
And neither was Elizabeth as it seemed her hand holding the sword was slightly trembling.
“What’s wrong Elizabeth, scared of a few spiders?” He couldn’t help but tease even though he himself was a bit spooked.
The others looked at them with pitiful expressions and began killing the spiders, it seemed they were not as affected as the two of them were.
Kevin and Chloe dealt with them swiftly, the spiders were very low level, akin to even goblins, perhaps even a tad bit weaker.
But Michael had to keep in mind that the boss would likely be a bit troublesome.
From what he gathered, it most likely was some kind of a monster that dealt with emotions, much like the first monster he had faced in this world.
It would show him an illusion, a loved one perhaps, maybe even his father?
But Michael was not stupid, he knew the past was behind him.
He talked with the group and they mutually agreed that Michael would be the one dealing with the boss monster.
“Kevin, what’s with the look?” Michael glanced at him and saw a conflicted expression.
“I think I have heard about a monster like this before.. it’s a mimic” Kevin said and began explaining.
“They are monsters who either completely copy an individual or someone they love, they are annoying creatures because they can perfectly copy you, albeit for a pretty short time.”
‘So am I basically going to be fighting myself then? That sounds pretty interesting’ Michael thought with a raised brow.
It would be an interesting experience, fighting against himself after all.
“It’s alright, I got this” He reassured Kevin and they began moving deeper into the dungeon, following the map straight to the boss room.
As he was walking, an idea suddenly sprung into his head ‘System, what are the chances of me fighting one of my past selves?’
Hm… Not sure, but it is certainly a possibility.
The reason this thought sprang into his mind was because of the encounter he had in his dream, he was not sure if the mimic could see it, but if it could then it wouldn’t end well for Michael.
Though that was for the future him to handle, he had all of his HP and MP at a maximum, he had new skills that could even pierce defenses.
Even if he fought himself, he was confident in not losing.
As a massive door finally greeted their sight, Michael stepped up and walked towards it, placing his hand on top of it.
However, it did not seem to budge, he channeled some mana and tried again, surprisingly, the massive door slowly creaked open.
He turned to his party and nodded before heading inside the boss room with the door closing right behind him.
‘It’s quiet..’
Michael looked around and saw torches being lit, eventually revealing the place he was in.
It was an arena of sorts, a circular one at that.
However, what caught his eye was the weird blob in the very middle, it seemed like some kind of a slime.
But as he approached it, the blob began morphing, its body expanding and eventually taking shape to look similar to Michael.
However, just as the being finished transforming, it suddenly popped, its slimy body flying in all sorts of directions.
Just as Michael was about to rejoice at the fact that the battle ended without him having to do anything, the blob once again came together, this time much faster.
And much to his surprise, turned into the same figure he had seen in his dream, the older golden haired Michael who he had seen in the mirror, was now standing right in front of him.
“Can you hear me now?” He tried talking, his voice a little choppy as he attempted to readjust it.
“I can” Michael replied skeptically and watched as a halo appeared above the man’s head.
‘System, you still there?’ He attempted to call out to the system who ever since entering the boss room, remained quiet.
And that did not change, he did not get any kind of a reply from it.
“It’s no use trying to contact it, you won’t need it anyway” The man said and reached out for the halo, shrinking it and putting it into his pocket.
He noticed Michael’s perplexed look and chuckled “Don’t worry about it, I don’t want to have an unfair advantage against you.”
Michael watched as the man began cracking his knuckles and suddenly made a few Swords of Light manifest.
‘Is he serio-‘ As he was thinking that, he felt a few more Swords of Light appear from behind him, flying towards him at immense speed.
He protected himself with Aegis of Light, while at the same time attempting to dodge, however, as he was in the midst of a movement, the presence of all the Swords of Light disappeared.
And in the next moment, he felt a sharp pain coming from his arms and legs.
Looking over, he noticed there were fist sized holes, like those he himself made with Piercing Light.
However, in the next moment, a golden light enveloped him, healing him and making his previous injuries completely disappear.
The man looked at him with a small smile and once again, summoned a few Swords of Light, this time a bit less than before.
Michael attempted to counterattack this time, casting Swords of Light to deflect the attacks coming at him.
As he sent his own Piercing Light towards the man, before reaching him, it suddenly felt difficult to control.
And in the next moment, he felt another hole appear on his body, this time it was in his abdomen.
‘Did he just reflect my fucking Piercing Light spell?’ Michael groaned while bearing with the pain.
“You seem a little distracted, what’s wrong Michael?” The man walked up to him and healed his injuries once again.
Michael ignored the man’s words and attempted his strategy again, this time preparing to parry anything that came at him.
He could feel a Piercing Light spell approaching him and he waited for just the right moment, before using the Parry Mode on Aegis of Light.
However, to his surprise, the spell stopped right at that very moment, before continuing forward and making another hole in his abdomen.
‘I can’t reach him neither can I defend against him..’ Michael cast a heal on himself a few times, patching up his own injuries before attempting to rush at the man again.
This time, a normal looking Sword of Light appeared, heading towards him at a relatively slow speed, something he could either dodge or block, it did not look strong at all.
However, the closer it got, the more he felt that something was off.
‘It feels just like a normal Sword of Light, sure as hell looks like one too… so what’s going on?’ He kept paying attention to it.
Casting a few shields in front of him, he prepared for the small impact, but it never came.
The Sword of Light slowly traveled through all of his shields, not even making contact with them, before finally arriving in front of Michael and cutting his arm off.
He looked at the man in front of him with shock.
‘Just who the fuck am I fighting?’
