This was unexpected. I reflexively sprayed the three in front of me with a flurry of razor-sharp crystals and backed off. They reacted realistically, shielding themselves well. Studying the ripple of ice shards across the blue-tinged surfaces, I made my decision.

Being careful to give no warning, I speared the one on the left with a javelin-like length of solid ice that sprouted from my outstretched hand. Drawing myself into a leap, I flipped up and over the injured copy.

That was when I realised the beauty of her illusion. She wasn’t in that circle of copies at all. She’d been elsewhere.

As I landed, I turned to receive a ludicrously fast attack sequence that slammed past my reflexive guard. Her blade was barely an inch from my jaw when I raised my shield and forced it to a halt.

“Enough!”

Odessa stepped back from her lunge and bowed, then smiled.

“So you’re an ice mage. Amazing, I’ve never met one as powerful as you before.”

“And you are an illusionist. Well fought, Odessa-san. That was excellent.”