Stories of Stardust (pt2)

206. Zenith Online Chapter 52 - Leather-bound Books and Rooks (11)

Thinking quickly, I cast explosion at my reflection. The spell struck its side, but not before my reflection tossed an ice dagger at Cove. He sidestepped the first two, but his reflection snagged his arm, restricting Cove's ability to dodge. The remaining ice daggers grazed his extremities, slicing through even his suit and sending small tendrils of blood dripping into the water below.

Cove pulled back, struggling against his reflection's grip. His struggle grew more incense as he realized he was unable to–the reflection was simply far too strong. I cast toss, catching Cove's reflection off balance long enough for Cove to break free and teleport behind the reflection, striking at the reflection's exposed back. I ran forward, sticking to my initial plan.

As I reached them, my reflection acted and cast gust at me, forcing me to skid to a halt, the water sloshing beneath my feet as I narrowly avoided being struck by the spell once more. My reflection ran behind the wind, a punch aimed at my face. I blocked it, catching a glimpse of Cove's fight ahead as he was overwhelmed by the onslaught of his reflection's assault and sent sprawling to the ground.

Another punch at my face tugged my focus back to the fight in front of me, and I exchanged a series of blows that were both easier and more difficult than I'd ever expected a fight to be. From my limited training, my body knew when to block and strike, falling into a pattern without me having to think. My opponent's patterns were predictable–perhaps because they were my patterns. However, landing a hit was as difficult for me as it was for my reflection.

To win, I'd have to change the rules and pattern of the fight. As subtly as I was able, I pulled our fight closer to Cove's, even as Eliza and Sinbad's teamwork to the side began to overwhelm their opponents. Cove approached me before I could finish, vanishing to reappear behind my reflection, casting a quick quake and throwing all our enemies off balance. The red and oranges of explosion reflected in the water and against our reflections as I landed another strike on my reflection.

Feeling the drain and catching a glimpse of my remaining ability points, I winced and pulled an ether from my inventory, downing the entire thing in a few hasty gulps like my father used to down his glass of alcohol. It left an atrocious taste in my mouth, but it did the trick.

"How do you do it?" Cove asked me out of the blue as he narrowly avoided a hit from his reflection.

"What?"

"Use skills and physical magic at the same time!" The words slid from his mouth in a rush as he ducked.

"No differently than I did before we landed here."

It was clear I was having an easier time of it than Cove, who was completely outclassed and outmatched.

"I've been trying!"

Given the results? Not hard enough, clearly. "Do or do not. There is no try," I sniped, unsure how to explain it.

His voice took on a darker, more hopeless tone. "I always hated that line," he grumbled, "It's very trying."

Focused on his shortcomings, he didn't seem to notice his own pun, the action second nature to him. His view was completely opposed to the stance I'd taken most of my life. After watching the movies as a child, I'd taken the words to heart, discarding the things I wasn't good at–such as physical labor–and focusing on intellectual pursuits. However, I was beginning to emphasize his sentiment after realizing how useful fitness and martial arts were in my situation, even if I still weren't very good at them.

My eyes landed on Sinbad and Eliza, who were quickly evolving into more than their reflections could handle. "You can still read, write, and speak, can't you?" In essence, one way or another, he'd been using abilities outside of Zenith Online the entire time. "Perhaps if you think it in that manner."

"That's..." he began to protest "...true, isn't it," he stated, wonder and exhilaration coloring into his voice.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that his movements grew faster and faster, and the tide of his battle quickly flipped directions as Cove began to use a combination of his natural abilities and the ones granted to him by Zenith Online, boosting his strength. Fire leaped from his palms with some of his strikes, doing damage even as his reflection tried to block. A splash sounded from behind his reflection as Cove teleported again, landing multiple fire-impeded hits against his reflection.

His reflection didn't teleport in return–couldn't, I realized, recalling Cove's countdown earlier. Even as they fought, he must have been keeping track of all the spells his reflection had been using, conserving his strength for the moment his enemy ran out of moves.

He was far more experienced in fights than I was, so his planning shouldn't have come as a surprise. I shuddered, nearly missing a block. With his power and experience, he would make a horrifying enemy. It painted a terrifying picture of how difficult facing a monster such as Ava must have been for Jacob and how he must have felt realizing his son had that same overwhelming strength.

In slight awe that I would never admit to, I let myself be distracted by Cove's battle, staring as he teleported above his reflection, his heels digging into his reflection's shoulders as he pressed his hands against its face, light flaring between his palms. Red fire ran like lava through his reflection's body, burning it from the inside out. It shattered like glass, the shards turning to droplets that rained gently down into the water.

A tingle ran up my spine, and I followed the instinct to duck, feeling the tickling sensation as the tips of my hair brushed up against the sword that had been aimed at my head.

"Hayden!" Eliza called out in warning, a little too late.