A warm sensation rolled down my spine and spread through every limb. It was familiar — a happy warmth, like Rea’s smile, Ake’s hand on my head, Mia’s arms around me.

  That warmth lifted me, cleansed me.

  Before I realized it, I was standing again, steadying my stance for the next exchange.

  The other me narrowed his eyes.

  He didn’t speak. He simply mirrored me, grounding himself.

  We both inhaled deeply.

  And in the next instant, our blades collided.

  We warped through the ruined city, trading spells and steel.

  I countered every strike he made.

  He countered every strike I made.

  Water to fire.

  Lightning to water.

  Water to earth.

  Earth to wind.

  Wind to water.

  Light to darkness — darkness to light.

  A rainbow of elements clashed violently above the shattered landscape as nature roared around us.

  I spun aside from a fireball and hurled one back.

  Focusing on it, I extended my hand.

  “Growth.”

  Vessa’s control over matter let her alter size, material — even shape. Shapeshifting was simply an extension of that.

  With her power, I could enlarge my spells after casting them.

  The other me scoffed, shrank the fireball back down, sliced through it, and launched a mana blast at me in the same motion.

  Mana control was Ener’s specialty — basic manipulation, but refined through age and discipline.

  ~Is now really the time to be analyzing every little thing?

  The thought flickered through me, but it didn’t matter.

  Remembering strengthened the core of my spells, my blade, my attacks.

  This was what it meant to weaponize memory.

  I looked at him.

  ~He probably figured that out long before I did

  “I’ve had enough of this farce.” The boy muttered with a groan.

  A click of the tongue. A bell toll. The halo blazed overhead, highlighting the eclipse.

  I scanned the ruins, senses sharp, searching for the source.

  “Besides, seems like we’re out of time– or rather… You ran out of time to stop me.” He forced a smile.

  “What? What do you mean?”

  The boy’s hand outstretched with his palm facing up. A black sphere began forming in his hand.

  ~Dark magic? No… That sphere…

  I focused on it.

  I could not detect any magic in the sphere. Instead, it seemed like mana was being pulled into the sphere and disappearing.

  ~Impossible. Energy can’t be created or destroyed, so then…

  Then I noticed.

  His mana was growing.

  He was absorbing the mana in the area and channeling it into the sphere.

  ~Well, he’s not destroying mana. But then what is that sphere?

  “You look confused.” The doppelganger deadpanned. “Are you aware of the existence of black holes in this world?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him.

  ~Black holes were said to be gravitational anomalies. Some theorized it to be antimatter, a type of energy said to be exact opposite of matter. Theoretically, yes it could exist yet there wasn’t a lot of evidence to support such claims.

  “You know what I think?”

  The sphere drastically expanded in seconds, growing to be comparable to a small skyscraper in diameter.

  “I believe… Black holes are gates to the Void. Matter gets pulled into it and immediately transformed back into energy, just as most mortals do when they enter the Void.”

  He lifted the sphere overhead, leapt, and hurled it like a baseball.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Here! Have a taste!!!”

  The approaching black hole drained the mana from the air, bleaching the world gray and lifeless. Desperately, I launched countless spells at it, but they were all absorbed instantly. If anything, my attacks only caused the sphere to grow.

  ~Damn it!

  I focused on the sphere.

  “Shrink!”

  But the Void cannot be shrunken. There was no downsizing the inevitable.

  So I had only one choice left: counter the Void with the Void.

  I took in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh.

  ~I really rather not do this but…

  I began to form an identical sphere, channeling all my mana into it.

  The makeshift voidgate slowed, expanding as it devoured the last scraps of ambient mana.

  The other me simply watched from atop a melting skyscraper in the distance, watching me intently.

  ~Why is he just standing there? Is this some kind of test? Or maybe entertainment?

  I looked at the massive vortex in front of me.

  ~No matter. You’ve got to do what you got. To. Do!

  I reshaped the converted Void energy into a blade. Then I closed my eyes, picturing the elemental barrage that the doppelganger threw at me earlier.

  Fire. Red mana wrapping around the blade, orbiting it and sparking off of it like fireworks.

  Water. Blue mana came next, following the lead of the red.

  Earth. Orange mana.

  Lightning. Yellow mana.

  Wind. Green mana.

  Light. White mana.

  Darkness. Black mana.

  I opened my eyes and took another deep breath.

  I continued to pour my energy into the sword. It grew, and grew, and grew until it was about twenty meters long.

  One step forward. A twist of my foot as I dug my heels into the gravel.

  A swing of my arms. A single slash.

  The tip of the blade made contact with the void sphere. The mana constructs of the sword began to crack and deconstruct, but instantly repaired themselves as I focused on the blade.

  With each repair, it grew — larger, thicker, denser.

  ~Pray tell… why was I the strongest among that little group of primordials?

  The question ran through my mind, almost nonchalantly as if it was a different me speaking .

  ~How could the God of Memory be stronger than the World Eater? The God Eater, as some called my brother?

  Crack.

  The sphere began to crack under pressure.

  ~How did I manage to mediate constant arguments between Loid and Ener?

  ~Why was Loid and Ener always keen to listen to what I had to say?

  CRCK—CK—CRK.

  The cracks continued to spread, little by little. The sphere struggled to keep up with the reparation of my forged blade, even with the entire area’s mana at its disposal.

  ~The answer is simple.

  CRACK.

  The blade swiftly sliced through the sphere, shattering it like glass.

  ~I simply overpowered them both.

  The blade disintegrated with the void sphere, and I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air.

  Clap. Clap.

  The sound echoed through the ruins.

  I looked over to the look-alike boy sitting atop a far skyscraper.

  ~I shouldn’t be able to hear him clapping from this far. Is he using some kind of sound manipulation?

  “Great job, other me. As a reward, I’ll let you on one more little hint.”

  I tried to stand but I found my legs failing me and nearly faceplanted into the dirt.

  “Aha! I knew you wouldn’t be able to move after that.” He smiled brightly at me, like a toddler satisfied with the results of a game. He pointed up at the sky, towards the eclipse. “Tell me. Do you know what the most common natural phenomenon that connects two worlds is?”

  My eyes went wide. I frantically pushed myself up, but kept falling down and coughing out a bit of mana material.

  ~Crap… Used too much mana!

  “Correct! An eclipse!” He waved at me and leapt into the air. “Guess I win round one! We’ll continue this later, ‘kay?”

  His figure disappeared into the blackness of the eclipse.

  The burning halo vanished as the moon began to move from the sun.

  I fell face first into the dirt, completely exhausted.

  “Damn… it…” I mumbled.

  I had lost.

  It was my first time experiencing a loss.

  And it was to myself, no less.

  I let out a weak growl as the light escaped my eyes, inviting in the darkness once more.

  “Yoiya!”

  A voice cried out to me.

  “Yoiiya!!”

  It was a familiar voice— a comforting one.

  …

  My eyes snapped open. I lurched upright, scanning my surroundings.

  Realizing I was in the car, I collapsed back down.

  “Yoiya!?” Mia gasped out of concern, catching me before I fell out of the car. “Are you okay?”

  “Huh…? Oh… Sorry, Mia…” I muttered with a weak smile.

  “Don’t apologize!” She hugged me gently, placing me back on the seat. “Just get some more rest. I’ll call the cafe and tell them I’m going to be late… I’ll just deal with whatever punishment they come up with…” Mia’s expressions were bright and gentle, as they always were. But her worry still showed as she pulled out her phone.

  “Really… I’m sorry…” It was all I could manage.

  I knew apologizing wasn’t going to help any but that was all I could do.

  “I told you it’s fine, lil bro. Geez…” She gave me a smile as well. Though obviously forced, it still felt genuine. “But I do wonder… how did you take a nap and manage to wake up ten times more exhausted? Haha… Such a weird little brother I ended up with. Hehe.”

  “R-Right…” I replied, almost in a whisper as I averted my gaze.

  In the distance, I could see the sky and the sun peeking into the parking garage. There was no shadowy moon, no eclipse to speak of.

  Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and turned it on.

  [9:58]

  My heart sank, and my expression followed.

  Only around thirty minutes had passed since I checked the car clock before.

  Thirty minutes…

  That was all it took for my energy to be drained this much.

  ~What could the other me be doing if I wait to recharge any longer?

  Quickly, I grabbed Mia’s sleeve and looked into her eyes.

  “Food. I need food. Right now.”

  “Huh…? Uh… okay…?” Mia recoiled, smiling nervously at my sudden demand.