The runes on the arena pulsed again. Once. Twice. And on the third, the runes flashed, blinding me for a few moments. When my sight returned...something new had arrived in the Arena.

Where there had been empty ground, stood a young man.

Tan Skin. Blonde Hair. Burning Red Eyes, Neutral expression, and...

A giant, blacksteel greataxe over his shoulder.

My many eyes took in the sight of my own body. I looked different to when I'd last seen myself. Taller. Somehow a little older, though it had only been days.

The Ascension...it seems to have changed my appearance more than I thought.

But that didn't matter right now. Seeing the cold, analytical look on my body's face as it circled my unstable body...I knew exactly what it was thinking---Kill, Don't be killed.

Just what the hell am I supposed to do here? What does this Trial ask of its challenger? Do I need to kill this human version of myself? For what purpose? For what benefit?

I was unsure. It needed more thought. More analysis. More data.

My second mind...it's...not there.

It felt strange now, after having two complete awarenesses to bounce ideas off of, to be back to just a single one felt like I was suddenly handicapped. But I didn't have time enough to contemplate the reasoning behind it all. My human body had already made the first move. It cut off the circling motion with surprising speed, dashing straight in towards me, great-axe by its side as it weaved in crisscross motion that made it surprisingly difficult to track.

And the closer it got to me, the more I realized just how much bigger I was than it. This scorpion's head alone was twice as tall as my human body.

Even still, with this body lagging far behind my perception, I was struggling to keep up with my human self. My head strained, all 12 eyes forced to look up to the blinding blue sky as my human body's sprint transitioned into a motion I knew all too well.

It's exactly what I would've done...

A leaping downward chop. Full-Power.

The ground of the colosseum vibrated as he took off, and the Greataxe came down in a mesmerizing arc.

My body lagged behind, only managing to bring up one of my front claws to defend. I believed that would be the end of that. That my claw would be severed right then. That beautiful arc of the Axe demanded nothing else.

But what followed was the sharp ring of metal on rock.

CLAANGG!

The Axe's blade bounced off my claw harmlessly, sending my human body sprawling back, completely unbalanced by the ricochet effect.

All my eyes widened in realization right then.

This hardness...Crisis-Class...I truly am in the body of a Crisis-Class Scorpion...

That realization brought with it another. The thoughts of opportunity.

If I'm in a Crisis-Class body...doesn't that mean...I now have a fully functional Mana Core? And...Pathways?

I noted my human body's disoriented state, then sent my gaze inward in an attempt to glean as much information as I could. This was an opportunity I never expected to get. First-hand insight into Mana Pathways, True Mana Channeling and Fully-Manifested Mana Cores before ever having ones of my own...I didn't doubt for a second that every tidbit I learned here would come to be invaluable when it came time for my own Ascension to the Gold Rank.

The Scorpion's internals revealed themselves to my mind's eye. And I realized I had grossly underestimated how complex of an analysis this would be. I knew nothing about Scorpion Physiology. I should have known that much just based off the positioning and size of my heart. But the network of blood vessels, nerves, venom sacs and various other organs I couldn't deduce the purpose of---they were all just far too different to anything I'd seen in Human Physiology.

And now that I only had one mind again, I didn't have the luxury of conveniently delegating the task of analysis to a different consciousness. I would have to manage it whilst still fighting my body, who had now completely recovered in just those few moments of introspection.

But I continued to observe my internals stubbornly. If my hunch was right, if my body continued to act in line with what I would do...it should be running some Analysis of its own now. I still had a good few seconds, and I took every single one of them.

I analyzed the structure of it all best I could, taking in the fully-manifested Mana Core---a glowing blue sphere right in the center of the Scorpion's Torso, swirling with mana far thicker than I was used to. My gaze washed over the bona-fide Mana Pathways next, and it only took a moment of focus for me to understand that Mana channeling at Gold wasn't an active process anymore. It was constant. Automatic. A passive amplification running at all times, so long as the core could feed it.

And boy, could this Core feed it.

The mana production alone was absurd, more than enough to sustain full-output channeling without pause. And the pathways...they carried the mana from end-to-end with near instant speed, looking more akin to engineered tubing rather than the natural root-like structure of Blood Vessels.

And yet…a part of me felt just a little disappointed.

Because this artificial-looking structure was actually less efficient than when I channeled Mana with my blood vessels. Meaning, the Mana Pathways could transport Mana near-instantly, but the actual conversion, or rather, the diffusion of the Mana into my body itself, was far less efficient than that of the Blood Vessels. An unexpected discovery, but it made sense. Mana-Channeling through the blood-vessels was supposed to make a a Beast more powerful. That was the whole premise of Berserk beasts. But I flagged those thoughts for later.

My human body looked to be preparing for another attack.

I shook away the introspection, and focused wholly on the battle in front of me.

This time, my scorpion body felt just a little more familiar. I could consistently and deliberately move both my front claws now, and I had also figured out a rhythm that allowed me to turn in place, but that was about it. Linear movement was still out of my reach.

My Human Body finally made a move, Axe trailing behind it as it dashed in once again, this time taking a slightly curved path that looked to be aiming for my side rather than my middle.

It really is uncanny...how similar its actions are to what I would have done. Is it really so easy? For an illusion to capture my likeness?

One strike after another, I defended. My human body continued to dart in and out of range, adopting a style similar to Freya's, because really, with such a difference in size, the scale had now become the same. I did my best to keep up, but slowly, I could feel this strange body catching up to my mind. I was adjusting fast.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Three more strikes from my human-self, all deflected with ease, sending the human body off balance once again. I took the opportunity right there and then. My right claw shot out with as much speed and power as I could muster, sweeping out in front of me, and into the body's side.

The sick crunch of bone breaking into flesh echoed through the Colosseum, and then the power really kicked in. A shockwave burst out from the point of impact, and the body was propelled out like a missile with a resonant BOOOM! It sailed through the air, blood spraying and trailing behind it as it shot way back, and cratered straight into the back wall with such force the vibrations reached even my own position.

That had been my first-ever attack with this body.

And seeing my human body flying through the air at that speed...I could tell this level of strength didn't belong to any normal Crisis Class. The Shadestalkers were like children in front of the power I'd just wielded.

A failed Disaster...a bracket beyond Crisis, but one yet to reach the next real stage.

It was a little more than I'd bargained for in the conversation with Intisak. But then, my vision was bombarded by System Prompts...detailing...injuries..?

But...

My 12 eyes shot up, searching through the dust and debris for my human body.

...I wasn't the one injured...

[All ribs have been broken by a Blacksand Scorpion]

[Your lungs have collapsed]

[Your heart has been impaled]

...

...

...

Tens upon tens of prompts detailing untold amounts of damage. And then...

[Host's [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly: x25]

[Enhanced Impact Resistance V --> VI]

[Host's [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly: x25]

[Enhanced Pierce Resistance V --> VI]

[Host's [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly: x25]

[Enhanced Slash Resistance V --> VI]

Why is my System...reporting the injuries of an illusion..?

A theory had begun to form in my head. A worrying one.

Until a new System Prompt appeared.

[Will Resonance: 1%]

I swallowed. My eyes peered through the dust clouds to find my body staring at thin air with an expression that said he was just as confused as I was.

I knew it then. The human body with my likeness...didn't just share my likeness.

This was no illusion. This body...was me.

This body...was the Second Mind I'd been lacking all this time.

The problem was, I hadn't the foggiest idea what I was supposed to do with that information.

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