Rex slowly stood, the dark tab disappearing from sight as he tried to make sense of the hall. The entire aesthetic of the hall was dominated by an overwhelming black theme. It felt as if the hall had been meticulously carved directly from a solid block of pure obsidian.
As he stood, the hall was progressively getting illuminated by light from glass tubes that were installed directly into the very structure of the walls.
The hall presented itself as bare, severely lacking in components or upholstries of any sort. It was essentially a large space with lonely pillars appearing intermittently to cushion the bare profile of the hall.
Not minding this severe lack of amenities, they were two particular noteworthy facilities in the hall apart from the walls and pillars. The first was a towering hourglass that stood at the far extremes of the wall.
The hourglass was peculiar in that the upper chamber was completely filled with sand, but not the lower chamber. Yet there was no sand flowing into the lower chamber. The hourglass stood like its functioning had been frozen just like the hall felt.
As Rex tore his eyes away from the peculiar huge hourglass, the illumination of the hall had improved enough for him to spot the second peculiar fitting of the hall,
This second fitting was a dark, imposing throne, which appeared to be intricately formed from a naturally occurring, rugged rock formation. The dark throne was initially situated facing directly away from him. However, it began to slowly and deliberately rotate around the moment his bewildered gaze landed squarely upon it, as if he had unwittingly triggered some sort of unseen and undoubtedly complex mechanism.
Slowly the front of the throne came into view. And upon this dark throne sat a dark, undeniably imposing figure. However, the erratic and flickering lightning illumination of the hall was unfortunately not sufficient enough to adequately reveal what, or more specifically who was on the throne.
Then, unexpectedly, the dark figure began to move. It stood slowly from the throne. As it stood, its overall shape began to undergo a strange and unsettling morphing process. Rex stood frozen in absolute shock as the dark figure continued to dramatically change its structure. It flowed almost like a viscous, dark liquid, while it slowly and deliberately made its way in his direction.
Finally the lightning intensified enough for the dark figure to be visible, what Rex saw shocked him down to his core.
Walking towards him was a perfect replica of him, spotting simply the same exact short of his. Every minute detail appeared to be mirrored.
Even though the figure that was currently walking towards him was an exact copy himself, Rex felt inferior to it as it walked towards him.
A haughty smile formed on the lips of the copy as it confidently walked towards him.
When this haughty replica got close to Rex, it began a slow prance with Rex at the center. Studying him like he was merchandise on display.
"That's just creepy," Rex loudly declared.
The replica seemed to understand his jab, as it humed a low dismissive "Hmmmm" under its breath.
Rex kept his eyes on the replica as it slowly pranced around him. It finally ended its walk coming to a stand directly in front of Rex.
"Here for the Overlord Trial?. . . Rex."
The replica asked with its two hands placed casually behind its back and poised like a commander.
"I think that's pretty obvious," Rex outstretched both of his hands in an explanatory pose as he said. Trying to suppress the cringey vibes he was getting from the haughty copy of him.
"How come you look like me?" he asked the one question that had been lingering at the back of his mind since the figure appeared.
"You are a curious one I see," the replica resumed its round march around Rex.
"A fair enough question though," the figure spoke with a nonchalant smile as it continued to march around Rex.
Rex felt his stomach knot from cringiness, the replica was acting so high and mighty, which he had no issue with, but acting so with a copy of his features was deeply unnerving.
"I am the embodiment of the fragment of Overlord Inheritance with which you interacted."
"The dark meteorite which you touched," It continued, its voice echoing across the hall.
"I am both the essence of the trial and the inheritance itself."
"The form I have taken, is due to the nature of your trial," the replica spoke in pauses, and ended its last statement with its eyes looking directly into Rex's.
"You fully understand what grave consequences your failure here will bear, correct?" It asked Rex.
"A ban from Cosmic Ascendance," He replied to the figure. It was silent as if it was processing his answer. After some moments it smiled thinly as it turned to look at Rex.
"Whatever 'that' is, and the fact that you will no longer have the ability to ever trigger my inheritance." The figure replied him, its voice holding a hidden weight.
"So what's the trial," Rex asked chasing back the growing tension at the back of his mind, at the reminder of what his failure could mean.
The mention of "Trigger my Inheritance" had pricked his curiosity, but not so much that he wanted to ask the figure about it. Plus, the fact that the vibe he was getting from the figure, was that it already had things it wanted to say and that was probably what all of their interaction will be based on.
"The Trial?" the replica turned to look at the second distinct fitting of the room as he spoke, The hourglass.
Rex turned towards the hourglass, following the gaze of the replica.
"BOOMM!!"
Rex was looking at the hourglass in a moment and the next he was flying backward.
"DUM", He hit a pillar that ended his flight.
"The trial is that you have to bring the hourglass back to its prior state." The perpetrator of the kick spoke in a detached tone, as if it had not forcefully sent Rex flying backward.
Rex brought himself back into standing,with one of the most ugliest expressions of his life on his face.
"What was that for!" He screamed angrily.
"Well you are here for a trial right?. . .It has begun."
Before Rex could fully make sense of the information, he recieved a punch to the face, followed by a knee kick to the tummy, and a sweep kick to the skull that sent him clashing towards another pillar.
"How Pathethic," the haughty replica's voice sounded as Rex was battling with the intense pain on his tummy and head.
"Here your health is infinite! Your Stamina is Infinite"
"Only one Rule governs Superior!"
"Beat me up and be recognized by me or be beaten up by me, and I never lay eyes on you again."
Rex was seething with anger, as he turned to look at the Haughty Copy, the pain of the kick was already almost non-existent. Probably a result of the infinite health rule of the trial.
"I am going to beat you up alright" He muttered with rage as he stood.
Bringing his two hands infront of him, poised for battle. The movement of the cringy copy of him was too fast, but that would do little to help it from the beating it was about to get from him.
His Overlord brandings spread up to his hands and feet, and his fists were lit with the purplish flame of RageBorne as he seethed with rage.
"Bring it on coward!" He screamed.
The haughty copy smiled in response to his taunt.
"Show me what you are made of, Overlord Aspirant." Its voice thundered across the hall, A command as it dashed towards Rex.