Stories of Stardust (pt2)

204. Zenith Online Chapter 50 - Leather-bound Books and Rooks (9)

Cove shot off a powerful fire shot, aimed at his reflection, who vanished. Something glittered on my left, and I turned to see ice daggers soaring through the air, behind them a quickly fading afterimage of Cove's reflection as he teleported once more. My eyes widened, and I dropped to the ground as they whooshed over my head, slamming into something hard. The floor beneath us shook and heaved as someone–Cove's reflection, I assumed–cast toss at me. I was flung into the air, the crystals and the darkness spinning in a dizzying manner around me.

I landed roughly on my side, skidding across the crystal floor near Eliza's feet, water slapping my face. With a swirling head and a drenched face, I almost missed the flash of Eliza's sword as she gracefully blocked heavenly sword, keeping my head in one piece. The movement was ruined by the particularly vile words pouring out of her mouth, a frantic look on her face as she risked a glance down at me.

Eliza stumbled in the water as she narrowly avoided tripping over my limbs while I scrambled to my feet. She recovered just in time to block another swipe of her reflection's sword with a loud grunt.

I cast a quick gust in their direction, aiming to throw Eliza's reflection off-balance. My skill didn't reach the target, blocked in the middle by an identical cast. The light from the crystals reflected off my reflection's teeth and through Eliza's reflection as he grinned, vanishing from sight.

Light exploded from a corner as Cove threw another fire shot. It smacked into the wall harmlessly, and his reflection disappeared once again. Cove and I met each other's eyes in a quick searching glance, spinning around to search for the missing enemies.

"They don't stop!" Eliza complained, her sword interlocking with its clear reflection once more.

I ducked another volley of ice daggers, silently agreeing with her assessment as Cove's reflection appeared next to Sinbad, who was exchanging a flurry of blows with his own reflection, his eyes darting around as he looked for an opportune moment to switch targets. The real Cove wasn't far behind, casting a quick explosion at his reflection's back. The reflection vanished before it did any real damage, and Cove appeared at Sinbad's side, grabbing him by the arm and vanishing them both from my sight.

Sinbad's reflection turned his attention toward me, his machete moving inches to the side as he adjusted targets.

I cast wave at him. It caught, throwing him back into the wall as the sound of gushing water reached my ears. A wave bowled me over, sending me back down onto the ground. I lifted myself onto my elbows, spitting out water and gasping for air as the water at our feet rippled. My eyes followed the ripples to my own reflection as he crouched near the ground, preparing to cast toss.

Recalling the neutralized wave earlier, I hastily mimicked him. The floor trembled beneath our hands; however, I counted it as a win when no one was thrown into the air. From my knees, I staggered back to my feet, expelled a deep breath, and focused on my hearing. I ignored the sounds of weapons smashing against each other, inspired by the ripples that had saved us from a toss. I let my eyes unfocus slightly, listening for the slight sound of splashing water as we and the reflections moved through it I reached out with mental magic, searching and latching onto the presences of my companions.

Now that I'd latched onto the sounds and the feelings, I slotted the combination into the same section of my brain where the little jingles of my sister's cat's bells stayed. Using my new mental map, I spun and shot a gust behind me, where Cove's reflection had just landed in the water. Cove followed through with an explosion, sending fiery cracks down his reflection's body. Cove shifted through the water to my left, his foot sliding back as he sent a fire shot at the still-recovering reflection.

It missed, crashing into the wall and sending piles of dust to scatter through the water, dulling the light of the crystals beneath momentarily. Cove's reflection reappeared a few feet from Sinbad, the water lapping against his hand as he shifted positions, preparing to cast another spell.

Behind me, my reflection moved as well, his hand dipping near-silently into the water. Near, but not quite.

I froze for less than a blink of an eye as my brain ran through the calculations, placing Cove's reflection as a higher priority.

It was a costly blink.

The spells went off one after another, shake sending us careening to the side, off balance, and gust picking Cove off, slamming him into the wall. In less than a second, he was blinking the water out of his eyes, all of the reflections honing in on his moment of weakness, drawn like sharks to blood.

They moved to corner him as Sinbad, Eliza, Cove, and I recovered our balance. From his spot on the ground, Cove cast a whirlwind, knocking two of the reflections back. The Cove's reflection blinked out as the wind began to tug at his clothes. He reappeared next to the real Cove, lifting and swinging his leg in a powerful kick that slammed into Cove's blocking arms. Cove's arms smacked back hard against his face as he was knocked back a few feet.

I paled, the single movement collapsing many of my previously held views. And plans.

The reflections should have been stuck with the same stats we'd had walking in and their classes dictated by our own. None of us had cast any boosting spells before entering, and none of us had switched classes since entering the chamber.

Cove's base stats were far higher than I'd anticipated.

...except a glance at the text boxes hovering at the corner of my eye told me they weren't.

Did the rules change? Or was there something else at play?