The copy smiled like as if Rex had spoken his thought aloud.
"Is that what you think." It spoke with a smile.
Rex took several steps backward, as if it would help dispel his shock. It was the second time his thoughts moved from a private thing of his to a public stuff in Cosmic Ascendane.
'You do understand, your situation is very peculiar right?' A voice like his sounded in his mind, the copy had directly communicated with him in his mind. The voice was laced with insidious mischief, he could immediately tell.
It was his voice after all.
"Well, you have impressed me enough for me to wish for your success Player 1045B3".
The copy spoke verbally.
"But you are greatly mistaken if you think I am much stronger than you." The copy began a slow march with Rex in the middle as it spoke.
"It is actually the opposite, I am nothing but a lower-level copy of you, with the bench capability expected of an overlord."
"How pathetic will it be to test an Overlord Aspirant with an overpowered foe, What teachings can such an action bear?"
The copy stopped its march, as it looked at Rex with calculating eyes.
Its hand stretched towards Rex's direction with an outstretched palm, seemingly a product of its deliberations.
Rex felt an invisible force sandwich the whole of his being following the outstretched hand, it felt like the space that surrounded him ceased to exist, The feeling did not last for long.
The moment it ceased a series of announcement reached his ear.
"NEW SKILL AWAKENED: TRUE SIGHT"
"PLAYER LEVEL HIDDEN STATE BYPASSED (TRUE SIGHT)"
"PLAYER ACTIVE SKILLS HIDDEN STATE BYPASSED (TRUE SIGHT)"
Rex saw new additions to his view:
PLAYER LEVEL 5
CLASS: OVERLORD (Aspirant)
SKILLS
RAGEBORNE F [MASTERY: LVL 3]
TRUE SIGHT F [MASTERY: LVL 1]
'Wow, I am at level 5 already. That's very Rad!!!' Rex screamed internally, shocked by the development, it took mainstream players up to a week or two to get to that point.
The two skills were colored orange, an observation he glanced over as he focused on 'True Sight', to his delight, the skill tab expanded.
TRUE SIGHT (EPIC GRADE)
"To see beyond the seen, To understand beyond the shown. Nothing is hidden in the sight of the True Seer. But even the True Seer knows not to gaze upon the powerful"
SKILL RANK-G
SKILL TYPE: SPECIAL
MASTERY LEVEL 1
[skill property unavailable]
Rex lip almost reached his ear as he grinned from his heart, the very first line of words contained information that felt so unreal.
'Epic Grade'- Just being in possession of one, cements one as one of the very highest grade of players.
He turned and observed the replica in a new light, its attitude did not feel so haughty anymore. It rather felt pleasant and caring.
It was his benefactor, true and thorough.
ECHO: LEVEL 3
CLASS: OVERLORD (Aspirant)
SKILLS:
RAGEBORNE F [MASTERY: LVL 3]
Rex could not tell if it was the effect of true sight, but the moment he had glanced at the copy. A tab appeared beside it displaying its ability. He suddenly had an idea of what its true strength was. The feeling was stronger because the Echo was an exact copy of him but weaker.
It had the exact skills he had, but was only level 3 while he was level 5.
"So why can you trash me like that, If I am much stronger than you" Rex asked the copy in awe.
"Just because two jars weigh the same, does not mean the value of what they hold are the same."
"A sword in the hands of a child and in the hands of a warrior are not equally dangerous."
"That two warriors are equipped the same, does not mean that their abilities are the same"
"Yes–Yes," Rex cut off the haughty copy's quotes, his assessment of it regressing to its prior rating, it was clearly drunk on acting mysterious.
But he had gotten the gist of the situation from its ramblings.
The echo could use his skills and strength better than he could.
He was not very confused at how this was possible, several instances were already coming up in his head as to how.
Just like in martial art a punch of 10kg was a punch of 10kg, but several things could make a punch of 10kg more lethal than a similar punch.
The timing, the punch direction, the state of mind of the opponent, the footwork incorporated in the punch delivery they were just several things that could change the outcome two similar 10kg punches can produce.
Rex brought up his hands in a fighting pose, It was time for round two.
Now that he knew that the reason he was being trashed in the duel, was because of how crude his use of his skill was, he was itching to resume combat. His excitement was so great that he did not even pay any attention to the hourglass that its upper-chamber only had a little bit above quarter of its content left.
He was brimming with inspirations already on how he could try to integrate RAGEBORNE into his footwork or even improve the flow of its reinforcement in battle.
The echo(copy) smiled as it sensed his enthusiasm.
"Now! Aspirant, will you exceed your limits and succeed in becoming an Overlord, or are you a wimp that will fail even after receiving my support?"
"Shut up Granny!" Rex barked in response to the Echo's taunt.
He was definitely going to fulfill his promise to it, he would not only repay it for the beatings it had given him. He would even go a step further and pummel its inherent haughtiness into nothingness.