Miraculously, Zoe landed on her feet. A bolt of lightning flung her back.

{Lightning Resistance has level up! Lightning Resistance is now level 2.}

After soaring through the air, Zoe tumbled along the ground. It hurt, and was definitely going to leave bruises. Or it would, if she didn’t have healing. In any case, it wasn’t enough to keep her down, and with a little assistance from {Kinetic Enhancement}, she was back on her feet in no time.

“Chadwick you dolt, restrain her!”

The enormous man glanced back and forth between Zoe and the guildsmaster before lumbering towards her. Zoe backed up. The system labeled him as a scholar, but that probably wasn’t the only path he had. And regardless, she wasn’t too keen on finding out what he was capable of.

Should she run? Lily and Andric were still trapped behind the boulder. But then again — it’s not like she would be able to move it anyway. She’d have to get some kind of help. Either way, she’d have to leave and come back later.

So with that decision made, Zoe tucked her tail and fled.

As two pairs of heavy footsteps echoed from behind her, Zoe vowed to herself that she wouldn’t let this go. Even if she escaped them now, someone was going to pay for this. Whether that was the guildsmaster or someone else, she would find out later.

But really, just what the hell did everyone want with her?

One of the pairs of footsteps sounded like it was gaining on her, so Zoe put some mana into {Physical Enhancement} while simultaneously pushing herself harder. It started to burn a little, the mana just barely beginning to eat away at her flesh. Cursing, Zoe remembered that she had another option now.

She switch to {Kinetic Enhancement}.

The results were immediate and obvious, as she both felt a surge of power and also stumbled forward and nearly fell onto her face. The ability was far more unwieldy than its predecessor, pushing her along instead of granting her extra strength and speed.

She continued to stumble even as she picked up considerable speed. In fact, her own body was probably resisting the ability, as it felt like she was leaning backwards on an invisible force pushing her.

This isn’t going to work. I need to think about it differently.

Concentrating hard on both the new ability and navigating the dark tunnel, Zoe switched from pushing herself forward to suffusing her limbs and core with force. She staggered again.

{Kinetic Enhancement has leveled up! Kinetic Enhancement is now level 3.}

The technique suddenly became easier, and Zoe found herself sprinting forward once more. The air rushed past her. It felt like she was riding a bike at full speed, even though she was just running on her own two legs.

She also realized she was doing it wrong.

The way she had applied the force was off balance, lopsided, and inefficient. It had been a product of desperation, to be fair, but she could now see how she could fix it. So she did.

{Kinetic Enhancement has leveled up! Kinetic Enhancement is now level 4.}

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Grinning, Zoe pushed it even harder. As she neared the central cavern and the elevator, she realized she must be sprinting faster than an Olympic track runner. It didn’t even feel like she was using her muscles anymore — it felt more like she was puppeting herself like a marionette. It was easy and instinctive, but also super unnatural.

Dashing onto the metal platform, she skidded to a halt and grabbed the nearest lever.

The lift began to ascend, and she nearly squealed with joy. Turning around, she saw that the guildsmaster had just made it out of the tunnel and was now sprinting towards her across the central chamber.

Zoe smirked. At the rate she was ascending and the rate he was closing in, he likely would just barely fail to make it. Unless he could jump super high. Her grin faltered. He couldn’t jump super high, could he?

Backing up, she readied herself to fight as he took a flying leap. Hands outstretched, he grasped at the edge of the railing — and slipped.

Zoe exhaled.

Looking down, she saw him staring up at her through the grating.

“Adios, motherfucker!” She taunted him. And then she frowned. Adios? She hadn’t actually spoken Spanish, but it wasn’t the totally alien language she and everyone else had been speaking since she arrived. Was it this world’s equivalent of Spanish? That didn’t make any sense…

Lightning erupted all around her.

She screamed.

Arcs of electricity danced between the railings, the levers, the floor — a horrible tangle of writhing, squirming plasma leaping back and forth. And she was caught in the middle of it.

Unlike the lightning from before, this really hurt. Gritting her teeth, she shuddered as flesh blackened and peeled off. The longer it lasted, the worse it seemed to get, with more and more strokes lancing through her.

{Heal Wound}!

Her healing was just barely enough to begin undoing the existing damage — even as more strikes continued to lash out at her. Unfortunately, her mana was now running dangerously low.

{Mana: 32 / 200}

The platform shuddered to a stop, but the lightning continued.

{Lightning Resistance has leveled up! Lightning Resistance is now level 3.}

More uses of {Heal Wound} kept her alive and kicking, but with her mana so low, Zoe knew she wouldn’t last much longer.

{Pain Resistance has leveled up! Pain Resistance is now level 6.}

Thanks a lot, she spat at the system as the lightning continued to ravage her body. A little lightning resistance, maybe?

{Pain Resistance has leveled up! Pain Resistance is now level 7.}

No dice.

{Lightning Resistance has leveled up! Lightning Resistance is now level 4.}

Zoe had spoken too soon, but even the resistance level up wouldn’t be enough. She scowled. Still no {Last Defiance}, huh? Her mana had now dipped below twenty. He has more mana than me. He’s burning me up because he knows his abilities will outlast mine.

With that realization, Zoe made a quick choice. Rising to her feet, she steadied herself before dropping the healing entirely and sprinting towards the edge of the platform. She may be critically low on mana, but she and the guildsmaster weren’t the only ones.

Pushing off the edge, Zoe leapt towards the heavyset scholar, {Kinetic Strike} ready and fist raised.

I hope Lily and Andric are still alive. They seemed pretty alright.

And with that thought, she smashed into her target. Blood sprayed her face — and then a meaty fist collided with her temple.

Yet again, Zoe careened through the air. It was honestly happening far too often for her liking. As she skidded to a stop, she sat up, clutched her pounding head and groaned.

The lightning elemenatlist was walking towards her — slowly — while the big guy was clutching his head. Blood trickled out of one ear, but he seemed okay enough. Zoe groaned again. Shit.

An explosion rocked the chamber.

Throwing herself forward on instinct, Zoe’s heart pounded as rocks and debris blasted by overhead. A smattering of smaller rocks bit into her flesh, many of them drawing blood. A cloud of dust followed, and Zoe coughed.

Sitting up again, she whipped her head around in a circle.

The guildsmaster was huddling behind the ground control to the elevator, which Zoe had failed to notice earlier. The towering scholar, on the other hand, had simply braced himself and was now brushing dust and debris off of his tattered tunic.

Zoe remained still. The guildsmaster shakily rose to his feet, and the scholar turned to face him.

A shadowed figure in a long, flowing coat emerged from the swirling smoke. In his hand he carried what looked like a brick wrapped in paper. With a smooth, underhanded throw, he prepared to toss it.

“Hey fuckwad,” Andric said, “catch.”