Chp 9 : Harmony - Part 1.

I woke up by myself again in shock, and when I looked around again, I found myself transported inside a pure white space.

It didn't appear like a room since it looked completely white and I couldn't see any walls around the surroundings. 

I was starting to get confused and annoyed at the same time because of it, since I wouldn't even resist or stop myself from being transported into this unknown white space. 

It has been that way since the moment I entered this cursed cave. 

First I got thrown down inside an unknown dark passage, then I had to survive the trap formations and attacks, and if that weren't enough, out of nowhere the human-faced snake appeared and started attacking me. After I somehow finally survived through them all, I was now stuck inside another unknown white space. 

I started to get even more annoyed and furious as I started remembering the incidents again, so I decided to start exploring the place to distract myself from thinking about them. 

This place was different from anything I had seen before in my life. 

It looked as though it was a mirror, a mirror that completely reflected a person's personality and showed one's true colours. 

I was distracted by the white space when suddenly, out of nowhere, a person completely identical to me appeared in front of me. 

I was surprised looking at her, as the person looked like a complete reflection of my own, just like a doppleganger, but she had a different atmosphere around her. 

I don't know how to exactly describe it; I just felt a little omnious vibe when I looked at her. 

I still decided to be careful and ask her what was going on before doing anything, as I didn't want to create any problems. 

"Umm, excuse me, but who ar-!?" 

But before I would even ask anything, hell before I would even finish speaking a complete sentence, the reflection started attacking me. 

I was honestly pretty surprised because I suddenly had a blade in my hands out of nowhere, just when I thought about defending myself. 

But after calmly observing everything clearly, it appears as if this white space or this place is a mental projection formation of sorts, and it looks like if I wanted to get out of the formation, I would have to survive and try to find a way to break out of the formation. 

I prepared myself again and tried to summon another blade this time. Even though I still didn't know how to wield two weapons at the same time, I at least had a basic 'understanding' of wielding two weapons at the same time after observing my uncle 'Wang Bun' practising while I used to play with my little siblings. 

I remembered how we used to pester him all the time to teach us how to perform the 'dual greatsword technique' whenever he came to practise, even though we wouldn't even lift a single wooden greatsword at the time. 

It was truly amusing and hilarious now that I remember it. 

I was distracted while thinking about the past when the projection or doppelganger continued attacking once again. 

I immediately focused my thoughts, readied my blade again, and prepared myself for attack once again. 

If I have to be completely honest, I have been thrilled more than anything else ever since the moment I entered this cave. 

I mean, I could have never imagined myself facing a demon beast alone and getting out of it unscathed; heck, I was still surprised I managed to survive and endure its attack for so long, and now this. 

I don't even know what else to say, but if anything, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to gain experience, even if only virtually. It was still an experience, and I knew I wouldn't even think twice before accepting it, even if I had a choice. As long as it provided me with valuable experience and a headstart over the others, I could undoubtedly accept it. 

I held both of my blades tightly once again with determination and started swinging them towards the reflection and slashing it, but as soon as I did, I felt like I had cut a part of myself instead of a mere projection. 

I thought the reason behind that was because the reflection looked so similar to me that I stopped thinking about it, and just then, before I would think anything further or understand the situation, another projection appeared, and I continued and got engrossed in fighting once again. 

This process continued for a while; the projections appeared, got defeated, and continued appearing once again. 

I didn't know for how long it lasted, but before I would even realise it, I was already in the centre of a pool of blood and corpses of myself. 

The corpses each range in age from infanthood until now. 

They were corpses of children who looked completely identical to me; no, it was as if they were me; they felt like they were a part of me, each one of them, every single one of them, because every time I killed any one of them, I felt like I cut a piece of myself instead, and each time a reflection appeared, an old memory of mine would emerge in my mind. 

It felt as if they each contained a piece of myself, a part of my memory, and a part of my emotions. It felt like they weren't just projections of myself but more like an opposite reflection of my thoughts or a hint towards my doubts. 

I felt the same way for each and every single one of them I faced each and every time. 

As I was thinking this, another projection appeared in front of me once again. She looked at me and then immediately took position for an attack. Looking at it now, I already felt I would defeat her easily in a few strikes just by observing her movements and speed. 

I have been facing them for an unknown number of times inside this formation and correcting myself repeatedly throughout the course of it. 

I wouldn't be bragging if I said I had now reached advanced proficiency in my weapon and hand combat technique since I had been facing myself repeatedly through the projections, and I have now come to understand that the stronger and more precise my movements become, the stronger the opponents appear. 

So after observing this pattern and comprehending a few other things, I came to the conclusion that they aren't just a projection of mine but a reflection of myself, and the more I kill them, the more I will continue to lose myself. What I should focus on instead is reaching harmony with myself instead of winning or losing the battle against myself. 

This white space is nothing but a dark abyss, and I either gain harmony with myself here or completely lose myself because even if I were to win against my own reflections, the consciousness that will leave this formation won't be mine since it will be devoid of everything belonging to me, be it my feelings, emotions, relations, memories with the people I cherish, or even my own personality. 

After I finally reached this conclusion, I immediately sheathed my weapon and started explaining everything to the reflections that appeared afterwards, which wasn't an easy process since the projections that started appearing were in older forms. 

This process continued for a while, and very soon multiple reflections started appearing simultaneously but started fighting against each other instead, so I decided to take a break instead. 

I continued watching them as they continued killing each other repeatedly. 

I was starting to get depressed watching this and was almost about to give up, but then a few moments later another reflection of mine, much "older" or "aged" than my current self, approached me and started saying the same thing as I was doing a few moments ago. 

I started feeling emotional listening to her, as I felt like finally someone had understood my intentions. I felt as if I were a lost child who wouldn't find their parents but had finally found them back. 

I finally calmed down and agreed with her suggestions, and then we both agreed to surrender and give up fighting against each other. 

At the exact moment we did that, a bright light immediately illuminated the entire white space and made me blank out. 

To Be Continued...