I guess it's because I could.

"T-T-that's impossible, I would have noticed immediately if you were a clone" Yuuki replied with a tone of disbelief, the idea of being fooled by Aetheris seemed unrealistic in her eyes

"That's True, but... Who said it's your first time fighting me as a clone" The clone smiled and disappeared as it saw Yuuki's world falling apart

The Dyson sphere suddenly appeared at the center of the battlefield, steps of sand began to form a stairway and the real Aetheris began to descend while sipping a smoothie

"YUUKI!!! , it's been a while" Aetheris greeted her joyfully as he slowly descended to the ground, he was milking the moment and savoring his victory at the same time.

Yuuki slowly observed him as he descended and noticed the small changes in his hair, his hair had a single side braid similar to the tradition of Vikings which is braiding their hair before and after winning a worthy battle

"How" Asked Yuuki as she saw Aetheris slowly approaching her with a smile

"Well, to be honest, I began to use clones a month ago " replied Aetheris as he sat on a floating sand construct while making a chessboard by using the Dyson sphere

"I would've noticed if I fought clones before so..."

"Sit down and join me for a game of chess" Aetheris rudely replied while interrupting Yuuki's speech, the politeness in his tone vanished immediately.

"I am going break it down slowly, Yuuki I lost 62 times but each loss had a meaning

At first, all I wanted to do was to win quickly but that wasn't the true point of this training,

After losing the first ten times... I understood my mistake... I am a predator Who fights like prey" Aetheris chuckled as he saw Yuuki's confusion

"I began to see you as my prey and of course, as a predator I had to study you as a prey but not as an individual

I began to research your moves, strength force, annoyance tolerance, and body language exposure...yeah something like that "

Yuuki halted her movements as she listened to Aetheris, he sounded like a perfect stalker which creeped her out.

"Stop imagining naughty scenes, I told you many times I have no time for useless pursuits

Anyway, I began to understand your battle strategies, combat form, the way you move and your sadistic nature of wanting to subdue me didn't help you which is why I tricked you into giving me the [Shadow clone] technique"

Yuuki gulped as she heard his words, from her perspective she was in control of the training the entire time and hearing about how her sadistic nature was her downfall planted a seed of fear in her mind.

"Holy son, you're not making any sense because if.."

"I thought I was a little piece of shit, I am sure your question is why did I want to see a [Shadow Clone] technique" Yuuki nodded as she heard his question

"Well every time I used a speed mirage, you would find the true me without even trying to guess therefore I wanted to know... how

I began to understand that I release an energy signature unlike my mirages which have no substance, which is why I tricked you into teaching me the [Shadow clone] technique

The true reason I wanted the technique was not to fight you... but to see if I can learn it without any help and... I did, which is what cemented your loss my dear Yuuki" Aetheris smiled as he saw her face lose color.

Although they sparred many times, Aetheris lost interest in the training because he absorbed everything he was taught by Yuuki which is why although he couldn't win he wanted to leave a statement to Yuuki

"I began to understand the [Shadow clone] technique and corrected my mistakes while improving at the same time

I began to fight using a single clone while hiding my energy signature which is why you thought I was a mirage and my clone was my true body and this mistake of yours allowed me to plan my win." Yuuki looked at him with disbelief and shock, to be manipulated without even having the idea gave her even more chills

"My clones had a single problem, upon receiving too many hits they vanished however thanks to the data I gathered regarding how much force and what is the limit you can use to hit me... Although it took a long time I simply made the clones that were more durable which solved their problem

I began to plan many scenarios leading to this point " Aetheris sighed as a certain memory manifested.

The statement of not sleeping for two months is not a lie, Aetheris simply used the data he gathered and formulated Many events that might lead to his win.

If he took a certain action, he had to calculate the action that Yuuki might use to counter his, and everytime his calculations were correct... he began to predict his win.

He would formulate many scenarios and events that would happen when fighting Yuuki, and he would later on try them in real-time with Yuuki using his clones

"Yuuki don't look at me like that I am serious, through trial and error I planned everything that would happen today and of course, my chances of winning were only 97% but using some external help they became 99%"

"What... about the 1%" Yuuki asked with a heavy tone filled with bewilderment and curiosity, Her aloof nature was nowhere to be seen and her respect towards Aetheris was also growing

"Well as perfect a plan may be, an anomaly may happen to change the nature of the plan so that's the 1% but your real question is how did I make such exceptional clones and how did I break the vase right" inquired Aetheris as he saw the curiosity in Yuuki's eyes

"Well the only way to break the vase was to overwhelm it with a greater energy force therefore I simply concentrated my energy blast into the smallest shape it could take to give it more power and range

Ohhh, I also used my Dyson sphere to aim from afar, and as for the clones part that's a secret" Aetheris smiled as he checked mated her king in the chess game

"I-i-i still don't understand, so much planning for what... A mere win, to prove a point" Yuuki gritted her teeth as she grew even more frustrated, The events that led to her downfall made sense... but for what reason would one do so much planning is what puzzled her.

"Ohhh, at first I was bored of the unbreakable cycle of loss

I just wanted to see when would you realize that you were fighting clones... Therefore I had no ulterior motive... I guess I wanted to exercise my planning skills under a new unknown environment..one can even say you were my guinea pig"

....

Thank you for reading 🙏 😊