The rain had dripped down my skin as I memorized the campus layout etched cleanly into my head. The holographic map of the system had floated around me and within hours, I'd figured out the entire area. It had been weirdly comforting until my gut clenched without warning.
I didn't even think. My body had moved on its own, jerking sideways and launching me into the air like I was strapped to springs. The second my feet had left the ground, the spot where I had been standing exploded in a burst of flame and shattered stone. Heat slightly scorched my back before the rain drowned it out. My ears buzzed.
"What the—"
I felt a distortion in the air like reality had been folded wrong around me. I recognized it instantly.
A Fluve Field.
MoDS had enemies called Fluviums. They are monsters of Altera Earth that came in every terrifying flavor. The Fluve Field was their cage and their hunting ground. Once you were inside, you didn't leave unless they let you. It was a self-contained domain separated from the world. And one had just spawned right in the hidden corners of the damn campus.
I barely had time to curse before blazing spheres of fire came hurling toward me. My body froze. Was I about to die already? I barely lasted a day in this world, and I was about to get roasted like a marshmallow before even figuring out where the bar was?
Instinct had hijacked my limbs again. My legs dug into the wet ground and suddenly I was flying across the field. It was not literally flying but close to it. My speed had been unreal. Fireballs screamed past me and exploded in the mud, scattering steam and light into the downpour. I skidded to a halt. My lungs were burning but somehow my stance was already steady. The truth had hit me then.
This wasn't my body. I was Phaser Argemenes. I was inside his skin.and he was strong.
I took a shaky breath and forced my focus outward. The open field stretched around me, drenched in rain. The sky above glittered with stars. No one else was here. It was just me, the storm, and whatever monster was stalking me. The Fluve Field wasn't massive. I could feel its faint boundaries pressing inward, like walls made of mist. That meant there was only one Fluvium.
"Just one. Like that makes it better."
Another fireball had come shrieking past. My legs had coiled, launching me upward as it exploded beneath me. Heat licked my shoes as I landed in a sliding crouch. I still couldn't see it but it was here.
I was taller now, around 195 centimeters. My hands looked longer. The ground sat farther below me than it used to. Back on Earth, I barely hit 175 centimeters. Here, I was taller, faster, and unnervingly strong. My body was moving on reflex. Muscle memory was saving my life. Okay, take to focus.
What did Phaser use again?
My brain had scrambled through old game memories. Phaser wasn't a main character. His combat scenes were rare, hinted at through side quests and lore. But one image had stood out.
He fought with his biological strings.
Another blast had screamed by, exploding in the mud. I ducked low, rolled through the muck, then sprang back up. The motion was smooth. Phaser's instincts were taking over. My fingers had twitched, trying to recall the rhythm. They wanted to form something but nothing came. I didn't even know how to use Flux. I wasn't a hero. I'd never even managed to survive gym class without nearly collapsing.
Another fireball emerged. I dodged again as heat grazed my skin. My instincts were keeping me alive.but it wouldn't last.
"Think!"
Strings. What were they supposed to be? Okay, they are thin, flexible.but strong. Also razor-sharp, like cutting wire. Maybe they could bind or slice. They should have been as endless as thought, spilling from my hands when I needed them most.
Iscoffed between ragged breaths.
"This is pointless—"
The words had died as something slammed into my back like a cannon.
I didn't even scream as the air was punched out of me. I hit the mud face-first. Pain burned down my spine. Groaning, I rolled over and froze.
In front of me was two-meter-tall humanoid… cow?
"You've got to be kidding me."
Its head had been broad he has curled horns and molten red eyes. Its muzzle was stretched into something like a grin. Its entire body was muscle wrapped in skin etched with orange veins pulsing like magma.
I laughed.
"I'm really about to get killed by a cow-man."
It didn't like that. Fire had gathered in its hand the size of my torso, boiling and hissing against the rain. Instinct had taken over before fear could. My arms snapped up. Emerald light burst from my fingertips, stretching outward in sharp, glowing threads. Dozens of strings whipped into the air before lashing forward. They wrapped around the Fluvium's arm just as it drew back to throw.
I yanked.
The strings tightened. Flesh tore. The Fluvium's arm was ripped clean off. It screamed and the fireball detonated in its severed hand.
The explosion had ripped through the field, throwing both of us across the mud. I hit the ground hard. The rain and steam battled over my skin. My shirt was burned to ash, leaving only mud and bruises. Somehow, my pants had survived.
My hand went to my pocket automatically. I pulled out my phone. It was cracked, but still there.
"Great. At least I didn't lose that."
Across the field, the cow-thing had staggered up, clutching its stump. Half its face was melted. The rain sizzled against it. It glared at me with one molten eye in hatred. I rolled my shoulders and raised my hands again. Emerald strings flared to life. They coiled around my forearms like glowing bandages.
"So this is it, huh? Strings. Guess I'm not totally useless after all."
The Fluvium steadied itself, smoke hissing from its mouth. Half its face was a ruin.
"Damn. You were ugly before. Now you're just tragic."
Something in me had shifted then. The fear burned away, replaced by confidence. Phaser's body remembered what I didn't. I lowered my center of gravity, the mud squelching under my feet.
The Fluvium let out a furious bellow.
"Alright, cow-face. Round two."
We both charged.