Long ago, Cove had explained that spaciotemporal magic was primarily defensive magic, not an offensive. There were only a few known offensive strikes–to teleport an item to be used as a weapon, as I had in What Lies Ahead, or to teleport the enemy, using the environment to your advantage. It was why Cove and many other mages used physical or elemental magic instead in their offense, boosting their movements and reactions with aspects of spaciotemporal magic. I wasn’t yet well versed in physical or elemental magic, having only recently learned how to slightly boost my strength. I had yet to learn any elemental magic and was dying to see what would happen when I used an elemental-based spell here.

More importantly, I was dying to see if the ability would carry over when I left Zenith Online.

However, although I was already a level 20 mage, I didn’t have many available spells to cast. Many abilities were only obtainable through quests, so the level was a reflection of my base power rather than any skill or variety.

Currently, I had only a few basic abilities. Teleport, a power that allowed me to instantly change locations on the field, was the only one at level 2. Everything else was at the first level, and I’d have to defeat enemies with these abilities in order to raise it. My options were limited to five: explosion, a fire-attribute attack that bursts flames in the area of the selected target; Toss, an earth-attribute move that threw the enemy into the air; Ice Dagger, an ice-attribute ability that sent daggers of ice at the opponent; Wave, which sent a wave of water crashing down on the enemy; and Gust, an air-attribute attack that sends a gust of wind to knock over the target.

Zenith Online’s battle system had not been rated kindly by avid video game fans, who complained that the system was uncomplex and thoughtless. Even so, it had a few extra rules I was ready to use. Where more complicated games might have six or more, Zenith Online had only five basic ‘elements.’ These were fire, water, earth, air, and space. Space-based attacks were neutral, able to be used with the same strength against any enemy, regardless of element. Affiliated enemies, however, were weak against attacks from their opposing element. Fire was weak against water, water against fire, air against earth, and earth against air.

For example, as earth-attributes, Bad Apples and Spinning Wheels were weak to air-attribute attacks, such as gust, and resistant to earth-based attacks, such as toss. It was counter-intuitive for many players, who’d grown up on more complex and slightly more realistic games, where plants and wooden beings would be weak to fire. This counter-intuitiveness was yet another gripe from the players, who spent hours memorizing enemy attributes and weaknesses. Despite this, Zenith Online had a strong player turnout, counting millions of log-ins per day, boasting its forgiving yet competitive system and unique world.

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[Use Mage abilities to deliver crushing blows to 5/5 Bad Apples!]

In this particular moment, none of that really mattered. I was there to test out the different abilities and their usage, discovering the best combinations and learning how to transition between them smoothly, racking up combos so I wouldn’t be killed while searching for the fragments.

The Bad Apples wiggled in place, their robotic pre-programmed motions uncanny in real life. As they were earth-arributes, I would begin with an earth-attribute attack and end with the air, in hopes of prolonging their usefulness and cutting down on the number of rounds to fight.

“T-” embarrassment cut my voice short. I could feel my face coloring. It would be better to get over the embarrassment here, so it didn’t trip me up in battle.

“Toss…” I forced out, my voice so quiet it was nearly a whisper.

My legs bent, and my arms dropped to my sides as my body moved on it’s own, crouching to touch the floor. For a horrifying second, I was a prisoner in my own body, watching and feeling as I was moved in a mechanical, precise way. There were no wasted motions, no aborted movements. Even if I’d wanted to, I wouldn’t have been able to stop the motion once it had started.

I felt a sudden great drain of energy as the ability points dropped down.

My hands smacked the ground, sending shockwaves through the earth and the Bad Apples flying into the air, the damage halved due to their earth attribute. Suddenly, I could move again. I tipped back onto the floor, heaving in deep breaths. Embarrassment was the furthest thing from my mind, overtaken completely by dread and horror.

I’d not gotten drunk in years, detesting the lack of control I’d had over my loose-lipped mouth. That lack of control was nothing compared to the sensation of imprisonment in my own body, watching through unblinking eyes as it moved without my permission.

The Bad Apples hovered in the air before me, still floating from the effects of toss. Dread drowned me. To survive here, in Zenith Online, I would have to do this again. Not just until I was free of the tutorial.

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I’m having difficulty deciding how I want attacks to be written. Should they be written as normal, ex: explosion, in italics (explosion), or is there another way you guys prefer? Same with enemies and usernames. Lmk, please. You can either drop a comment or email me at [email protected].