Sinbad distracted the transformed Djinn while I prepared to use my first spell outside of the training environment. Without pausing to reconsider my actions, I cast a quick toss. The ground heaved beneath the wolf’s feet, throwing it a couple of feet into the air. A whispered gust of wind followed, playing with Sinbad’s hair as it parted around him and knocked directly into the twisting wolf’s snout. Sinbad pulled his arm back as the gust of wind struck, grazing his arm lightly against the closing teeth as the wolf landed harshly against the barrier. Its eyes settled on Sinbad as it pushed off, lunching for him once more.
Sinbad dusted his feet against the ground, moving back five or six feet in considerably less strides. The wolf missed again, earning a scratch on the leg for its troubles. Already recovered, the wolf spun around, catching me in its golden sights. I used teleport as it jumped. We faced each other once more from across the ring, having switched spots in less than a second.
The earth and air attribute attack had landed a neutral hit against the wolf, meaning the Djinn was weak against either fire or water. The next spell would be all I needed to know for sure.
Sinbad sprinted in, his blade glinting as its path rang true in the sunlight, cutting a deep notch in the wolf’s side. When he ducked the Djinn’s responding whip of the tail, I cast wave, sending a torrent of water that parted around Sinbad to knock the giant wolf into the wall of smoke once more. The wolf yelped, glaring at me from the fringe of fur that dripped over its eyes.
I couldn’t keep the smirk from my face as Sinbad pressed his attack against the wolf, blocking a swipe of the claws with his blade. He gathered his strength and flung the paw back, and I followed his attack through with Ice Dagger, the shards thudding into the wolf’s chest. They melted almost instantly, dripping down the fur and allowing the streams of blood they’d been holding back to mix with it, puddling beneath the wolf’s feet. It bared its teeth at me, a low, rumbling growl building up in its chest.
Muscles rippling beneath the wolf’s fur. Heart pounding, I used teleport once more to escape the massive reach of the giant beast as it lunged, not entirely confident I’d be able to finish a standard doge in time.
As soon as the ground materialized beneath my feet, I sent another wave at the wolf, followed by more Ice Daggers. The Ice Daggers followed close behind the wave, hitting the wolf in quick succession, followed by several strikes of the machete as Sinbad added to the combo.
A loud wine escaped the wolf, a cloud of black smoke engulfing it and lifting it into a vicious, tall tornado that threw Sinbad back. He flipped and landed on his feet, skidding back into the cowering Merchant. A low hissing rose up from the area, the smoke disappearing to reveal a vicious black Basilisk. Immediatly, I could feel the pounding of my heart slow as I gazed into the hypnotic familiar eyes.
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It coiled and shot at me, its powerful jaws opening wide as if to swallow me whole. I rolled to the side. It used its momentum to whip its body around, a heavy, solid weight like a door smacking into me and sending me flying into the air. The Basilisk coiled once more, ebony scales glinting under the sunlight as it coiled, fangs dripping with saliva.
“Teleport,” I shouted as the Basilisk struck the now-empty air. Next to Sinbad, I followed through with a quick gust to knock the Basilisk into the barrier, then a wave that pressed the Basilisk into the wall. I waited. Once the wave had passed, it slumped to the ground, eyelids snapping open.
Ice dagger was already forming before my hands, a simple flick of the wrist sending them arrowing into the Basilisk’s eyes. It hissed and flailed in pain. Sinbad and I sprinted in different directions. The Djinn followed me in a pain-fueled rage. I caught Sinbad’s eye and ran to the center of the battlefield, changing the field of vision and allowing the serpent’s own tail to mask Sinbad’s movements. Its maw widened, teeth arching up over my head as I stayed planted in the ground.
Behind me, I could hear a dull thud and a shout as Sinbad jumped onto the back of the snake and jumped once more, flying up to stab the Basilisk in the eye with his machete as I took half a step to the left, allowing Sinbad and the snake to soar inches past my face.
Sinbad was knocked off the head and sent through the air, slamming back first into the wall with a gasp of pain as I winced, the bruises forming on my chest sending me a twinge of sympathetic pain.
The Basilisk decided enough was enough and coiled tighter around me. I whispered ‘jump’, allowing the standard jump in Zenith Online to carry me up onto the Basilisk’s back, far higher than I’d be able to jump normally. The Djinn attempted to throw me off, the sharp and slick scales leaping beneath my feet and cutting into my shoes. I wheeled my arms to maintain balance, my feet leaving the support beneath me for a few precious seconds as the snake arched and fell beneath me, flinging me up into the air.
The head angled toward me once more, granting me sight down the fleshy pink mouth and into the black hole that was the snake’s stomach. In a panic, I shouted, “Ice Dagger.” The comparatively tiny bits of ice sailed directly into their target, knocking the head back. I landed harshly on the ground, my feet, then ankles, then knees and hips protesting as they absorbed the force of the landing.
Black smoke welled up from the tail of the Basilisk once more.