Only if he had read the third rule properly and carved that into his mind, he could have avoided this all along.
[ Incorrect or hasty actions may cause reflected versions of the participant to materialize as obstacles or hazards. ]
The answer had been there all the time. And now, as he observed the reflection of his carefully, he finally understood why the platform had vanished before.
In the previous run of his, the reflection that had showed him the method, had stepped on the second segment of the platform in the ninth step.
Yet Kaios had gone one step further, as his foot was about to press on the second part of the glass platform in his 10th step. Just one extra step broke the thread of synchronization.
And because he failed to follow the reflection exactly, he suffered the consequences of it.
The reflection shattered the platform beneath Kaios's feet within the mirror world, as retaliation. And this was carried to reality from the world of mirrors, also shattering the platform beneath his feet, sending him into the darkness down below.
But, this time it was different, as Kaios had found out about this. That's why, he memorized all the actions of the reflection of his, from its number of steps to even the tiniest movement of its.
All being carved into the mind of his, as he didn't want to repeat the same mistake twice and lose his second life.
"Now, it's time for the second attempt, and hopefully will be the last."
Kaios didn't jinx this time, knowing fully well what happened with him, in all of the previous trials.
He then slowly approached the hollowness before him, his first step pressed on the air, the same left foot as that of the reflection. Suddenly, a solid surface shimmered beneath him, it was the same transparent glass platform.
He strode forward, all his steps were measured, as if being counted in his head.
Soon, the dreaded second segment came, where he failed previously, but this time he won't let that happen twice and that in a row.
His ninth step as well as the same foot as the reflection pressed upon the second platform. And as he expected, he didn't stumble this time, instead he felt his steps were pressed on a solid surface, that supported his weight in the air.
Seeing this a faint grin appeared on his face, Now we are talking.
He continued like that for some time, his every movement mimicking that of his reflection.
Some time passed like that, and Kaios was now standing inside an unfamiliar place, he had already crossed the hollow, leaving that blanket of darkness behind.
But when he looked at his surroundings this time he found out he was inside a dome-like structure. And to his shock, he found no door or anything, that he could use to exit this dome.
As he scanned the surroundings, he found out that the walls and ceiling were different than the previous one—the one adorned with mirrors.
Though different, these still looked like they were made up of mirrors, but if one looked at them closely, they would find the difference.
They were screens—not mirrors, and as for the reflections in them, they were not reflections—instead they were echoes.
Echoes of his actions—actions he had done in the past second or a small glimpse of action that he would do in the next future.
As Kaios saw it, his face was plastered with shocked expressions—or was it?, because he had already seen himself doing that in one of the screens before.
Because of this Kaios wasn't shocked, and when the action of him differed from that glimpse,
CRIIICK…..
A sudden sharp sound of something shattering filled the air around him.
It was the sound of shattering glass. And as he looked around to see the reason for it, he found out why.
The screens that shattered were the ones showing the echoes of him being shocked or its continuation. So when he didn't follow that, each of those screens shattered simultaneously, leaving a smooth surface behind.
As Kaios saw the smooth surface, behind these screens, he realized the meaning behind, Hmm… Wait isn't that….
His thought stretched due to the realization before a smug expression appeared on his face.
So looks like, this is the solution for it..
Kaios thought before he began to work upon the realization that he got now to get out of this Dome Of Echoes.
After a couple of minutes Kaios was standing inside the same dome-like structure. The screens covering its smooth, metallic surface were now shattered.
The screens that had once covered the walls of the dome now lay shattered on the ground, their fragments scattered all around him.
Also, he could now see a door, probably leading to the exit, that was previously blocked by the screens displaying the echoes of time.
"Finally…" He said, his voice laced with joy, as Kaios walked towards it.
Kaios walked through the door. As he emerged on the other side, through the door of the dome, darkness enveloped him again.
It seemed as if someone had stripped him of his sight. But before he could complain, a sudden emergence of light blinded him.
This brightness lingered for a moment, before dimming slowly as time passed.
And when his vision returned from the sudden blindness, he saw it—
A bridge.
Fully bare and exposed, without a single bar at its side to offer any protection.
It looked like it was forged from a straight stretch of metal, while hanging in the void, without any support.
It was too narrow, just barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
He could also see a tunnel, through which a dimmed light was coming.
"So is this bridge the only path? Or is there another one?" Kaios said while his eyes were scanning the surroundings.
He was also using the Echo Amplify to scan, to make sure nothing was deceiving his eyes.
Hmm… Strange, there is nothing else besides this bridge. But why does it look simple.
Kaios thoroughly scanned again, for anything that looked strange, but he found nothing, even on the bridge.
So, he carefully approached it, not believing in the slightest, that there could be a simple thing in this whole damn trial.
After walking for some time, he crossed the middle of the bridge. He didn't rush the entire time, as he still believed something was wrong with the bridge, even when he didn't find anything the entire time.
Then another couple of seconds had passed, suddenly his hairs rose. The bridge also started to tremble faintly.
Behind him, a second pair of footsteps rang out, and when he turned around to see it, his jaw dropped.
What the heck…
He saw an exact replica of himself, walking at him. But the thing that shocked him more was its mannerisms.
The projection was not charging at him, instead walking at him, with the same posture, same movement, even its facial expressions were the same as his.
To Kaios it looked like someone had just played a recording of his past.
And that's when he remembered rule number 6. This realization dawned on him—what it was, it was a temporal echo of his.
As explained by the rule, certain places could create a Temporal Echo, but here came the twist.
If it was a future echo, he had to mimic it exactly like he did, where he lost his first life.
But in the case of a past echo like this, he had to intercept it from achieving maximum synchrony. If that happened, he would cease to exist and the echo would take his place.
And that in return, would make him lose a life and reset his trial.
While pondering about it, Kaios called out the Resonance Alloy and made a ball from it before hurling it at the echo.
He hurled the ball in a way that it went towards the echo while crashing regularly, and storing the maximum vibrations.
Kaios looked in anticipation as the ball reached near the echo, and was about to collide with it.
But against his expectations, the strike went straight through. Still, Kaios wasn't out of cards.
He immediately willed the alloy, sending a signal to it—amplifying the vibrations, then releasing it.
As if obeying, the ball of Resonance Alloy burst an amplified and concentrated shot of vibrations outward, crashing into his echo.
The bridge trembled violently upon the release, the metal hummed due to Resonance.
Even Kaios stumbled from it and was about to fall, but he prevented that by using the Gravistone Alloy, gluing his shoe with the metal bridge.
His gaze still not wavering from the echo of his. A smile slowly formed on his face, as he saw a slight hesitation in its movement.
But the smile didn't remain there for long, as he saw the echo continue again.
Why can't anything in these trials be simple?
He was frustrated, seeing that everything in this trial seemed to have some hidden twist behind it.
Okay, then let me move forward by creating as many variables for it as possible. So that it takes time to achieve maximum synchrony.
Kaios thought this as he turned forward, but alas—fate was not on his side, the path forward vanished the moment the echo appeared.
When he saw the rest of the bridge, in front of him was vanished, only one thing escaped from his mouth.
"Fuuuuck, me sideways."
A/n: So guys, can you guess the solution of it, one hint its in the rule.