Unfortunately, even under Cove’s instruction, by the end of the day, I fell short of my expectations in learning physical magic. It was grating after my successes in picking up spaciotemporal and mental magics, and I was at my wit’s end when the day was done. Ignoring Cove’s reassurances, I stormed out of the training room, focused only on my failures.
Ani shied away from my steps, and he lingered to play with Ranch.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising–magical affiliation or not; I was never good at physically demanding activities–but my expectations had been heightened by my previous successes in magic. Once again, it served as a brutal reminder of the difference in ability between Cove and me.
I arrived home in a foul mood that evening, nearly tripping over the delivery of the What Lies Ahead novel. I dropped it off on my desk, then absorbed myself in the cooking routine, slowly releasing tension as I chopped and diced my way to the meal. After supper, I reluctantly sat down at my computer and pulled up the website for Zenith Online.
My internet was fast, and the download took mere minutes, which I spent scanning the first chapter of What Lies Ahead under the light from my monitors, relaxing as I read the words describing familiar faces. Unlike the web novel, Heirs, the writing style flowed more easily, drawing me in and making time pass by instantly.
Unlike the web novel I’d read, it was harder to tell if What Lies Ahead was a work of passion or duty. It was a strange fact to care about when I’d only ever been concerned with the quality of work, and not the passion behind it, thus so far.
My computer dinged, and I glanced at the page number, flipped the book shut with a sigh, and installed the software.
A few more minutes later, I received the message [Welcome to Zenith Online!]
More prompts popped up, with links to the official website, guide, and shop, all of which I ignored. I went through the tedious process of making an account and clicked “start.”
Immediately, I was struck with the first of far too many choices for the evening.
[Please select a server]
Figuring the closer it was, the smoother my experience would be, I selected the server closest to me and was brought to my second choice of the evening.
[Select Race]
A banner at the top offered me little help, stating [NEW RACES: Chimera, Selkie, Sidhe]
My options were as follows: Chimera, Cyborg, Dwarf, Elf, Giant, Human, Selkie, Sidhe, Werecat, and Werewolf. Each race had different physical characteristics, as well as different specialties and weaknesses.
Figuring it wouldn’t matter, I went with the first and easiest choice, the well-balanced human. Once that was selected, I was bombarded with a host of other options, from body structure to highlight color. Rather than spend time perfecting the facial structure, I chose the face and hair closest to my own, not genuinely caring about the results.
I selected the default lean figure for the body shape, figuring it was a good balance between buff and twig-like.
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There was no option to change the outfit yet, so my character was stuck in a black spacesuit-inspired bodysuit with glowing red lines decorating his shoulders and chest.
I clicked on it, praying the decisions would end. One final prompt popped up, asking me to decide on my character’s first and last name. The cursor blinked as I debated. Ultimately, I lazily went with something similar in meaning to my first name. I took a leaf from Cove’s book for the last one, though I’d never admit it to his face. It was a joke at my own expense, parodying one of the most famous last names in all existence.
[Blaze Worldwalker] I typed and hit enter.
Finally, the questions were over. I zoned in and out during the opening sequence, clicking through the informational text boxes as they laid the foundation of the sci-fi-inspired world.
My character awoke in a basement, stepping out of a cryogenic chamber. He looked around, catching sight of the seemingly endless rows of shattered glass where others had unfrozen. The game passed control to me, instructing me how to move my character and camera and how to use the minimap to find my way.
Less than a minute later, he was stuck in a corner as the camera jiggled around him, caught behind a wall. I let go of the mouse and cursed, forcing Blaze to back up, finally breaking free from that confounded wall.
Camera issues persisted as Blaze left the building, met at the top of the stairs by a female elf character labeled ‘Snow White,’ hovering over a futuristic computer. Her design was clearly inspired by the Disney movie, with liberties taken to prevent copyright. The top of her costume was the same as I remembered, with poofy red and blue sleeves attached to a tight, corset-like blue shirt. Her white collar rose to her ears, and a red cape hung from her shoulders. Instead of a skirt, however, she wore skin-tight yellow pants with red knee-high boots that looked straight from a fantasy game. As my character walked in, she looked up.
[Snow White: You’re awake!]
Blaze nodded.
The scene carried on, with Snow White explaining they hadn’t expected any more humans to wake so soon. I skimmed over the conversation, unconcerned.
Finally, a [Story Quest] box popped up.
[Use your minimap to find and collect 5 Bad Apple Cores, then return to Snow White]
Under my command, Blaze walked through the standard-looking ship corridor and down a set of glass stairs to the exit. Automatic doors lifted into the ceiling before me with a hiss, and I had to wait as the game loaded the next area.
Blaze stepped out into the city, a strange hybrid of classic fairy-tale with cyberpunk and futuristic sci-fi elements. The buildings were built in a medieval style, with sharp triangular thatched roofs and brown walls, with dull brick roads leading from house to house. Colorful neon signs decorated the outside; neon lights outlined the roofs, windows, and doorways. Steampunk-inspired lamps light the street, and two massive moons, reminiscent of Heirs, hung amongst the colorful stars in the sky above.
Unlike Heirs, however, the moons shone blue and pink in the night sky, a colorful nod to the cypherpunk inspiration for the city.
A colorful array of characters, with an equally colorful array of names, ranging from normal-sounding names such as “Bobby Bob” to ridiculous names like “Haha No,” to names which hardly made it past the censors, like “Succ My.”
The world chat at the corner of my screen leaped forward at an unreadable pace, filling up as message after message was exchanged.
I ignored them all, heading straight to the area indicated on my map. The camera got stuck a few more times as Blaze left through the city’s neon pink gates, heading deep into the North Dark Forest hidden beyond.
A grove opened up before Blaze, and red apples half his size with stick-like wooden limbs and seed-like eyes pranced around. A purple liquid–poison, I was guessing–dripped down from the top of the apple’s heads, leaving fading purple muck in their wake.
[Mission: Take down the Bad Apples]
The game popped up with more instructions, giving me a brief overview of classes and informing me I could develop them at a later date. Focusing on one class was suggested, but I would be able to switch between them at will.
The Swordsman class was the one suggested for use in this first battle, and, being a non-game, I followed its suggestion without hesitation.
The battle began, and I spammed the attack button, running around and trying to kill the Bad Apples. The five bad apples swarmed me, and I jerked the camera around, attempting to keep an eye on them all. It whirled around me, and I lost track of where any of them were.
Thinking quickly, I sprinted backward, putting distance between me and the Bad Apples.
My back hit a wall, and the Bad Apples screeched and laughed as they rounded on me.