Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

“If this is all you amount to, it’s no wonder you’re a side character in your own love life. First choice of neither and who could blame them?”

Jake felt his stomach drop the second he heard Amy’s duplicate say that, the feeling changing into horror when it proved enough of an emotional blow that left an opening to get her stabbed.

Amy was the strong one among them, the responsible, dependable one and it was so easy to think she didn’t have any insecurities to her. She was confident, able to handle anything he couldn’t and now there she was, having whatever feelings were hidden in the back of her heart tossed in her face for them all to hear and he was at the center of them.

Stupid, were you really so happy thinking everything was fine even when you’re such a fucking idiot. His inner thoughts scolded himself. Ignore the girl who's been beside you all your life and agree to marry the first one who happened to be blunt enough in her interest for a fucking idiot like you to understand and you just thought things are fine because nobody’s acting like there’s any problems?

With it being enough to instantly shift the tide of the battle, the real Amy left taking blow after blow with her loss looking imminent to the point that Ben reacted and broke out of his cell, coming into Jake’s view in the same moment she managed to end the fight herself, biting through her copy’s throat and killing it before falling into Ben’s arms, with Jake having been completely powerless to help one of the women he loved.

After a moment, she and Ben both were captured by the end barrier and brought back to her original position among them, with Ben breaking down the walls again for both Vasta and Thera to give what help they could with their non-affinitied spells while he began moving back to his original section at the same time Jake’s cell opened.

“You alright, man?” Ben asked as he passed, able to see the answer was a clear no but let it go when Jake nodded.

“Fine, I’m fine. Just wanna get this over with.”

“Alright, I’m here for you if you want me to jump in.”

“Thanks, but if everyone else is handling things themselves then I can’t just not try to do my best too.”

“Alright, good luck.”

Without another word, Jake walked to his position, spells already forming as a barrier went up around him for what protection it would give before firing crystals of mana, aiming where he knew his copy would appear and getting them all blocked the instant it did, its own barrier in place defending it with an end product that was indescribably different from his own in a manner he couldn’t understand. The way the light passed through it looked strange in a way he was sure had to mean it was improved but beyond that, there was no clue to the change that made it worthwhile.

Stranger though was that unlike in the case of Vasta and Amy, his copy didn’t immediately attack. Its defense was solid enough that it had the leeway of observing the area, its eyes locking on to Amy’s beaten and unconscious body.

“Wow, you really let her down this time, huh?”

Words that stabbed him like a knife, his face giving away their effect while his copy just smiled and went on.

“But then, what else is new?” The other said with an exaggerated shrug. “Being unreliable is basically your defining trait at this point, isn’t it?”

“Shut up.”

“Yeah yeah, the truth hurts, doesn’t it?” It asked, finally launching an attack with Jake already riled up enough to get in the way of the fight as sharp points of magic shattered his barrier before an invisible blow from above slapped him to the ground. “But that’s just who you are, half-assed and useless in life and love. Always forcing Amy and Yuzu to deal with your antics and never able to live up to your teachers’ expectations because even if you know how important it is, you have the attention span of a goldfish. So important for the skills you came with through pure luck, so worth investing in but after five years, this is all you have to show for it.”

It increased the pressure of its magic as it said it, squeezing Jake harder and harder against the ground with everything he was being spelled out to him in obnoxious detail, making it hard to react, his thoughts too consumed by all of his insecurities being picked apart.

He knew he wasn’t good enough for the attention he’d received and the benefits that came with the power he wielded. He knew that his indecisiveness that had led to the current state of his relationship hadn’t been fair to Amy or Yuzu, even if they’d grown to love each other as much as they loved him. Hell, the fact that Amy had secretly been harbouring her own insecurity on the topic only made it worse. If he’d just been able to take things more seriously then she might not have been hurt so badly in her own fight. He knew everything he had was wasted on him but he just kept failing to change.

But even if I’m bad at it I still gotta try. He told himself, trying to bring his thoughts back in line. He could feel ribs snap from the force he was under and he could no longer breathe but he had gotten the chance to improve and he was going to use it, running his mana through himself to both heal his wounds and strengthen his flesh while creating a counterforce against the one acting on him, immediately being forced to duck and weave as he felt the mana around him move, aiming to impale him as spikes were created on all sides and leaving some to dig through his flesh despite his efforts.

The pain was a whole other type of distraction but it was one he could force himself to deal with, both healing himself and constructing mind spells to erase the feeling, letting him keep moving despite the injuries to launch his counterattack, throwing himself forward while boosting his strength to punch and seeing disappointment in the eyes of the false Jake while he tilted his head out of the way.

“Is that all you’re ever going to be?”

“Nah, I can be a bit of a bitch too when I want to.”

Dozens of spinning blades of mana came forth in the air, blocked by the copy’s superior barrier in a way that left the fake Jake looking almost bored, right until they all broke through at once, digging into his flesh and bringing him to the ground.

“What?”

“I don’t know if I’m good enough to overcome you by myself. Honestly, I’m probably not but then, I don’t have to be,” He laughed, tapping on the two bracelets on his arm he’d gotten from Ben. “Power of friendship baby, you weren’t made with these and even if Vasta isn’t going to be happy about me taking an easy way out, I’m done with listening to you so sucks to suck and get fucked.”

Flipping off his other and feeling nothing but relief at getting to do as much, the blades he’d made and empowered with the tools he’d been given tore through the replica’s flesh until it disappeared, leaving the real one alone in the arena.

Releasing some of the magic he had acting on himself, he was sore, he was beaten, and he’d had to cheat his way out in the end but that didn’t matter. He’d won and even more important than that, he’d shut that guy up.

The things he’d said continued to circle through his thoughts but they’d always been there to one extent or another. As bad at it as he was, he just needed to try and improve, doing his best not to let it get to him as he was brought back to his cell to watch the final fight of the day.