The cavern was a cathedral of silence. Every breath Om drew echoed against the stone walls, mingling with the deep rumble of beasts slumbering all around. Thousands of them lay sprawled across the cavern floor like a sea of living mountains, their flanks rising and falling in slow rhythm. It should have been suffocating, yet the still pond had birthed something far heavier into the air: another Om.
Two boys stood facing each other. Identical in face, in frame, in the faint scars lining their arms. Their hair, their posture, even the faint twitch of a finger was mirrored exactly. Yet, Om could feel it—the subtle dissonance in their existence.
The other him blinked. When its eyes opened again, a faint silver luminescence shimmered within. The voice that came was his, but carried none of his humanity.
[Fascinating] Zero spoke, testing the tongue it now possessed. [A flawless replication at the cellular level. Your heartbeat, your breathing, even the wear on your bones—all accounted for. Yet…]
The clone raised its hand into the dim light and clenched its fist. The sound was strange, sharp—like glass flexing under immense pressure.
[At the molecular level, this body is crystalline. Its lattice is denser, ordered, far stronger than organic matter. It resembles… diamond.]
Om's eyes narrowed. He already felt the difference through their shared senses: the clone's body thrummed with unnatural stability, every movement smoother, sharper. And though it bore no aura of inheritance, its frame exuded a raw durability that unsettled him.
Zero flexed its arm, then slammed its palm against the cavern wall. Stone cracked, a spray of dust raining down. The clone lowered its hand without a scratch.
[This body's physical capacity is equal to yours in strength, speed, and resilience] Zero analyzed calmly. [But there is a division. It cannot channel Vajra Kaya, Grutva Akarshan, or Vayavastra. The Sanskrit resonance is absent.]
Om's throat tightened. "So it's just… me. Without my inheritance."
Zero tilted the clone's head. [Correction. It is you, crystallized.]
[A raw vessel without enhancements, but nearly indestructible at the molecular scale.]
The boy and his reflection stood in silence, two shadows woven together by a single consciousness. Om's mind was caught in a storm—excitement at the possibilities, dread at the implications. His abilities had always set him apart, but now there was another him, equal in body if not in soul.
And worse: it was inhabited by Zero.
Om clenched his fists. "So now you can walk around with my face. My blood. While I'm still here. Doesn't that… bother you?"
Zero blinked, slow and mechanical.
[Identity is irrelevant to me. Form is a tool. With two vessels, our efficiency doubles. I can fight, analyze, and explore simultaneously while you conserve energy.]
"That's not what I asked," Om snapped, his voice sharper than intended. His reflection's face mirrored his anger, though the silver eyes made it look hollow. "What if you decide to stop following me? What if you act on your own?"
For the first time, Zero's lips curved. Om froze. It was his smile, but twisted, cold, unfamiliar.
[If I cease to follow you, I cease to exist. Do not fear betrayal, Master.]
[Our consciousness is singular. You and I are not separate. I am a fragment of you given independence. Nothing more.]
The words should have comforted him. They didn't.
Om turned his gaze to the empty pond, its surface still and lifeless now. The water that had once shimmered with power was gone, drained into this impossible reflection. "So this place created you. A second body. A shadow. If it could make one…" He swallowed. "Could it make more?"
Zero followed his gaze, crystalline fingers flexing idly.
[The probability is uncertain. The pond's energy has vanished. But the concept is sound.]
The cavern rumbled faintly. One of the beasts stirred, its growl rolling like thunder before it settled again into sleep. Om tensed. He could not afford to linger on mysteries.
He turned back to his reflection. "Fine. We'll test this body. Now. Before Dev and Dawon wake."
Zero inclined its head. "Agreed."
.
.
.
.
They moved deeper into the cavern, away from the pond, careful not to disturb the army of slumbering beasts. Every step felt wrong to Om—like dragging his own shadow into a battlefield. Yet he had to know.
The moment they found an open space, Om stopped. The echo of his own breathing came back to him in stereo, from two throats. His hands curled, sparks of Sanskrit script flickering faintly under his skin.
"Don't hold back," he said, steadying his breath. "I want to see if I can beat myself."
Zero's silver-lit eyes gleamed. "As you wish."
The clash began instantly.
Om lunged first, his fist arcing with sheer force. The clone mirrored him, stepping in with equal speed. Their punches collided. The cavern thundered with the shockwave.
Om staggered back, his bones reverberating with the impact. He'd struck men, beasts, stone—but never himself. His own power thrown back at him felt alien, horrifying.
The clone, however, stood firm, crystalline structure absorbing the blow. Its knuckles bore no bruise, no blood.
[You hold back instinctively] Zero noted coldly.
[Fighting oneself induces hesitation.]
Om snarled. "Shut up."
This time, he activated Vajra Kaya. Sanskrit sigils blazed across his skin, his muscles bulging with divine reinforcement. He charged again, faster, heavier. His knee drove toward the clone's chest.
The strike landed. Bone should have cracked. Flesh should have torn. Instead, the crystalline body only skidded back, dust scattering beneath its feet.
Zero exhaled calmly. "Your inheritance abilities create overwhelming force. This body cannot replicate them—but it can endure them."
Om's eyes widened. "Endure…?"
The clone blurred forward, faster than Om expected. Its fist slammed into his gut. The force wasn't enhanced, but it was solid, perfect. Om's breath exploded from his lungs as he stumbled back, pain spreading through his ribs.
For the first time, Om realized—this was not a simple copy. It was him… stripped of limits.
The spar raged on, fists and feet clashing like mirrors at war. Each strike Om threw was matched. Each dodge he made was mirrored. Yet the clone's diamond-like resilience made it relentless. Where Om bruised, it did not. Where Om bled, it remained unmarked.
By the time he stumbled back, panting, the clone still stood tall.
Zero's voice carried from its lips.
[Conclusion: this body is physically equal to yours, Om. But its resilience exceeds.]
[Against an opponent unable to match your inheritance, it will outlast them. Against you… it can stalemate indefinitely.]
Om spat blood, his chest heaving. "So I can't even beat myself."
[Incorrect] Zero replied.
[You are the original. You wield abilities this body cannot. That is the difference. That is the hierarchy.]
Om glared at his reflection, sweat dripping from his brow. He wanted to believe that. He had to. But deep inside, a voice whispered: If this body ever learns to evolve… it could surpass me.
And the thought chilled him more than any beast in the cavern.